Well pump light

[thatguy]

My well pump is in the ground and the pressure tank is in the crawl space of our house.. Would it be possible to install a small light/indicator coming off the breaker box or pressure tank to tell when the pump switches on/off?

With a light I could tell if the pump is running more than it should (ie due to a water leak, pressure tank being water logged, etc)..

thoughts.. suggestions.. ideas

Brian

 

[heehaw]

oh yes...done it many times...really easy if the pump is a 120volt pump, if its a 220, you can either get a 220volt bulb?? not sure where you would find that, or just come off one side of the pressure switch to get your voltage...in my opinion, its always good to know when power is applied to the pump....just in case theres a problem.
heeaw

 

[NC4AB]

Your pressure switch should be located at the tank so it should be fairly straight forward to tap on to the pressure switch and add a light bulb base. Go to your local Grainger or other electrical supply house and pick up a 230 volt bulb and you're in business.

If they don't have one you can get one from McMaster-Carr for ~ $4.00 plus shipping.

 

[dodge man]

We have one in our house, and yes, it is really nice to know when it is running. As far as how to do it, I'm not sure, it was in the house when we got it. Our light is in the kitchen, and it is mounted up high on the wall, and it has a cover kind of like a switch plate, with a red lens over the light bulb.

 

[thatguy]

Thanks for the info - I am going to look more into getting what I need and see where/how I can run it from the crawl space up into the house......

I did a google search and didnt find much and thought I would ask here.. And as always TBN delivers!

thanks

brian

 

[TedLaRue]

If you run 115VAC lines, consider using them to power an "always on" (no photocell) LED night light so you won't have to change the bulb.

If you're knowledgeable enough, you could connect the output side of the pump switch to a cheap AC cell phone charger (wall transformer) close to the switch, and then run low voltage wire (cheap doorbell wire) into your house and use it to power an LED.

Most newer cell phone AC "chargers" will take any voltage from 110 through 240 VAC as their input and still have the same 5VDC output voltage. The input and output voltages should be written on the transformer.

The cheap $2 LED flashlights sold as impulse items near cash registers use three AAA batteries wired in series for about 4.8VDC, so the output voltage of a cell phone "charger" can be wired to the battery terminals of such a flashlight. You might need to break off some of the LED's so it isn't annoyingly bright. The LED's are wired in parallel, so breaking some of them off should not cause any problem. After breaking off the plastic, if the metal stubs are still sticking up, clip them off or at least make sure they don't touch each other.

Also, when connecting the wires to the flashlight, polarity matters. If it doesn't work one way, try reversing them. No damage is done by connecting them backward.

 

[jinman]

I find that with a light it either irritates me or I learn to ignore it. I have a pressure gage on my tank. I can simply watch that pressure gage for a few minutes and tell if the pressure is slowly bleeding off. I do that probably once a month. In my case, I used to have a commode valve leak and discovered it by watching the gage. I think you could easily put a pressure gage T'd into the line at a convenient location in the house and not have to fool with running an electrical wire to a light.

Recently, we had a power outage that lasted for 6 hours. By using the rule, "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down," we were able to conserve our pressure in our 80 gallon tank and had plenty of water for the whole 6 hours for drinking, hand washing, etc. That was the ultimate test of our tank checkvalve and house plumbing.

 

[techman]

You can use a 120 v bulb on a 240 v pump. Just wire to one switched hot leg and the other side of the bulb to ground. Try to find a neon indicator light, since it is very low power and will last many, many years.

paul

 

[LarryD]

I have a pressure gage on my tank. I can simply watch that pressure gage for a few minutes and tell if the pressure is slowly bleeding off. I do that probably once a month.

Jim, his tank is in the crawl space under his house. I do the same as you and just check the pumphouse guage every so often, but that's easy.

Why not just get a 120V LED and wire it to one leg of the switch and ground. You gould do this with phone wire or some CAT5 cable.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Amber-Indicator-Light/dp/B000K2IKUK

 

[TedLaRue]

Why not just get a 120V LED and wire it to one leg of the switch and ground. You gould do this with phone wire or some CAT5 cable.

I wouldn't recommend putting 120V on bell wire nor on CAT5 cable. Although the wire could carry the current for an LED, the insulation isn't rated for 120VAC.

Moreover, if someone is doing maintenance at the house, they would assume such wire only carried low voltage or a signal, not 120VAC. That could be dangerous.