Water well problems

[Kfbeal]

I ran 440' of water line to a well to water cattle. The folks leasing the pasture is currently using my water well so I wanted to remove this water from mine to the one it should be on, so I don't have to pay for their watering.

Well to make a long story short, I ran this line and went to open the valve to find out the breaker was off. Upon turning the breaker on, the well made a humming sound inside the well head, and after a few seconds of humming I heard a click and it got quiet. It did this periodically.

I pulled the starting capacitor out and will see if I can get a replacement in town tomorrow. What are the odds that's the problem? Any way to check it? I've checked across the two terminals with digital multi-meter and nothing changed on the display so I'm assuming it isn't charging and it's open and no good?

Any info is appreciated.

 

[tommu56]

What type pump submersible or jet?

I'm assuming sub.

The capacitor causes a phase shift in the windings you shouldn't see the cap charge up like on a dc circuit.

Take the cap out put your meter on ohms and see if it is shorted it should read open.

tom

 

[TheGoose]

Sounds like a jet pump, common for S. Texas.

See if the motor shaft is free. If it's not free then there's your problem. Check the start capacitor and then check the switch.

 

[SPIKER]

easiest & best way to test a cap is with a analog meter, put it on OHMS and put the leads across the CAP, watch the meter it show swing quickly up then drop back as the meter charges the cap, a Digital dont work this way unless it has a CAP setting. then just for fun lick you fingers and grab both terminals of the CAP after it is good & charged up (I'm sure you will get your batteries charged up from the cap really quick )

Few Submersible pumps have CAPs usually only the JET pumps do, you probably need to make sure the pump is primed for a JET pump as well. Submersible pumps dont need priming but you may need to make sure you are getting flow out of the system no valves closed? good power available when running voltages OK?

Mark

 

[Kfbeal]

It is a jet pump. The capacitor has some shiny liquid looking substance around the terminals as if it were leaking. This is an older pump, I'd say we drilled the well 20 years ago.

I took a pair of channel locks and WD-40 today and the shaft turned freely. That was my first suspicion yesterday so I tried that first today.

I got 242V on at the pressure switch.

Should I prime the well before it would run or turn on?

 

[tommu56]

Should I prime the well before it would run or turn on?

Yes both pipes have to be full of water if its a deep well jet

But the pump should run (don't run it too long) even if the pipes are dry.

I'd fill the pipe('s) and wait awhile to see if the level drops you might have a bad foot valve or leak at the jet if its down the well.

 

[TheGoose]

Your motor is not starting, which is making it "hum" and then it trips the thermal overload. You need to find out why the motor is not starting, which sounds like it's a bad start capacitor. Most 1-HP jet pumps use a 161-193 start capacitor. Lower HP use slightly lower but I have used the 161-193 in a pinch.

Good luck.

 

[Kfbeal]

You were all correct. I took the capacitor out yesterday evening, tested it as bad and replaced it today after purchasing a new one. The capacitor was a 161-192, but the new one is 161-193. 1 MFD isn't gonna make a difference.

After replacing the capacitor, the pump would run. I ran a water hose from my house and hooked it to the faucet and filled the tank and pump in reverse with washing machine hose. I then removed the guage and kept filling that up releasing the air bubbles until the air bubbles stopped coming up. I installed the guage and kicked the well on and it cut off when it hit the max pressure. I cycled it a few times and it appears to be working.

I work for the electric utility so I'm graphing the load on the electric meter to see if it's gonna cycle more than it should be. Hopefully the foot valve or anything else isn't leaking. Thanks for the info.

 

[Milton Burro]

Hmmm,, I wonder if my electric co-op would loan me a graph ammeter???

 

[TheGoose]

Make sure the tank is not water logged. You should be able to draw about 5-10 gallons out before the pump starts.

 

[Kfbeal]

We read the meters electronically, so I'm scanning this every 15 minutes and graphing the KW. If the meters are electronic (AMI) then you might ask them to see if they can do it for you and provide the graph. They also have devices they can hook up to each voltage phase and current to log usage for troubleshoot high bills, etc. Coops are you best resort for that sort of help.

I think it's pumping as it should. It took about a minute of running until the well kicked on which I estimate about what you said. It's been about 20 years since I've messed with these kinda wells, probably when we drilled that well and installed it. The tank was put on new about 3 years ago, I did that.