Deep well submersible pump question

[bcp]

My neighbor has a well used about two weeks at a time twice a year(vacation place). I take care of the place when they are gone. About once a day or two, when in use, pressure falls to zero and the pump doesn't come on. Tapping the control box usually makes it work. They had a new pressure tank and pressure switch installed about a year ago.

The pump is an Aermotor A+12B-100.

Control box is Grundfos SA-SPM4 with an electro-mechanical relay. This could be replaced with the same. Well installer says fault is likely the relay or the circuit board. The relay connections are green with corrosion. Cost of replacement box = $78

The other option readily available locally is a Franklin control box of the same rating, but with a solid state relay. Cost is $43.

The Franklin seems like it would be more trouble-free and has fewer connections to corrode.

The cost difference is not significant.
Will the Franklin box work with this pump?

Is there something better for these conditions that I might find in the Portland/Vancouver area?

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[Egon]

Any chance the connections can be cleaned up and then see if problem persists.

 

[Kays Supply]

Most of the older pumps I worked on had either 4 wires up from the pump or 3. The 3 wire didn't require abox. The 4 did. If the pump you have has 4 wires a Franklin box of the correct size should work. They are sized by HP. I have heard of some pretty fancy newer pumps. They have variable speeds. They would require the box they came with to work. The reason we used the 4 wire Franklin was also that the relays and capacitor was changable in the box. The 3 wire pumps had the parts down in the hole and you had to pull it to replace the whole motor if one part failed.

 

[gauthier]

Both of mine have two wires[as opposed to three wires],,

 

[k0ua]

In my opinion, and I am not a "well person" but do have over 30 years of electronics experience, the mechanical relay has the advantage of ruggedness in that it is not nearly as likely to suffer from lightning or power spikes, of course a direct hit will kill anything, however it is much more prone to wear/corrosion than the solid state relay, which probably contains a thyristor. Of course if you used good lightning protection on the AC input, good chance the solid state relay would work well for you. Like everything in life, there is always a trade-off.
James K0UA

 

[Mousefield]

We have 2 Franklin controls that run our 2 submersible pumps. Both pumps are 4 wire. Around here the Franklin seems to be the main pump control that is used. In 12 years we have not had a problem with the Franklin controls. Have had one pump repaired and one replaced so the controls seem to be good ones.

 

[Kays Supply]

I think you are correct about the 2 wire. Anyway. The pros and cons of each stays the same.

 

[bcp]

I asked Aermotor (pump) and Franklin (control box) about compatibility.

Replies came in today:

Aermotor said they do not use a Franklin motor.

Franklin said their box is only compatible with a Franklin pump.

I'll just replace the box with the same as the old one, and put something on it for better corrosion protection.

Anyone know if dielectric grease is good for long-term protection(years)?

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[Ray_Fort_White]

I just replaced the pump and tank at my vacation place. The well guy told me that the one called a 2-Wire pump has 3 wires and uses a simple pressure switch and relay. I had been having to whack the box once in a while. I had the box replaced first and the problem went away for a few months, then the pump motor failed.

He suggested I go with a higher HP 3-wire pump, which has 4 wires, with greater capacity. I've added a garage with plumbing and plan to do some irrigation as well. The 3-wire requires an electronic control box. He also suggested that I go to a bigger tank so that the higher capacity pump wouldn't short cycle. The motor needs to run a while to cool down after start up.

When he pulled the old pump it turned out it was only down 40' in the well. (installed by the low bidder) We went with larger pipe and put the pump much deeper. I'm just down the road from a spring that flows 4 million gallons a day, so there's a lot of water down there.

 

[Mousefield]

I asked Aermotor (pump) and Franklin (control box) about compatibility.

Replies came in today:

Aermotor said they do not use a Franklin motor.

Franklin said their box is only compatible with a Franklin pump.

I'll just replace the box with the same as the old one, and put something on it for better corrosion protection.

Anyone know if dielectric grease is good for long-term protection(years)?

Thanks,

Bruce

Both our pumps are not Franklin. Wonder why they would say that. They are control boxes and you should be able to use them with a number of different pumps. I would think the number of wires and size of wire would be the determining factor.