DIY Well Pump Test

[BobMane]

I got a property with drilled well + old well log of 40 GPM. very remote no pros in area.

At this point I dont care about flow rate or anything other then just seeing if the pump in there is working and pushes water to the top of the metal casing before investing in pressure tanks and other gear.

No manual for the submersible pump - dont know breaker size or wire size I could hook up to it for a quick n dirty test. I have an electric panel nearby.

 

[Valveman]

If there is no control box on location, you will probably need to ohm the three wires coming out of the well to find out if you need a control box or not. If there are four wires coming out of the well I am pretty sure you will need a control box. The ohms between the wires can help you size a control box if needed. If it is two wire pump and doesn't need a control box, I would guess it is 230V, but could be 115V, so you don't want to fry it.

Also, if the wires coming up have a short to ground the pump most likely will not work.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

At this point I dont care about flow rate or anything other then just seeing if the pump in there is working and pushes water to the top of the metal casing before investing in pressure tanks and other gear.

Ohm all of the lines to each other.

If measuring vs ground wire, expect all resistance to be > 1 megohm.

Measuring the other three wires to each other, expect probably less than 10 ohms. Use an ohmmeter that can measure low reistances accurately. I can do some math with your numbers. There should be 3 low-resistance numbers.

Also estimate the wire gauge for the wires, or better yet, see an AWG marking.

 

[BobMane]

If it is two wire pump and doesn't need a control box

So you mean 2 plus ground = 3? Or actual 2?

 

[Valveman]

So you mean 2 plus ground = 3? Or actual 2?

If there are three wires it could be 2 plus ground or an old 3 wire pump without a ground.

 

[Fitter30]

Having no idea what you have it would only be a educated guess without pulling it. Most well pumps do 40 gpm. Take your ohm readings to a motor shop let them take a educated guess. But if you have to pull the pump I'd replace the pump and measure depth of well and water level.

 

[BobMane]

It was drilled in 2008 and according to previous owner has the pump but never been run (house is/was plumbed to dads well next store so never got around to using it. Good well report. Just checked it has 4 wires. There is a control box I found onsite of course dont know if its the correct one for that motor.

 

[Reach4]

1. What is info from the control box?
2. More importantly, what are the resistances?

A regular 2-lead ohmmeter that measures to 0.1 ohm is good enough, but a 4-wire ohmmeter such as VC480C+, which I have, is better for this purpose. That is a cheap meter as those things go. rather than a rugged meter that a pro could throw into the tool box. But a pro could find it useful for occasional use. For you, a general purpose 3-1/2 digit multimeter would have more uses.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Mi...er-new-accuracy-with-power-cord/122027387915?