bakerjw
New Member
This is a great forum and I've learned a lot by reading and searching but I didn't see my question specifically answered and that is.
As long as horsepower ratings are maintained, are 3 wire pump control boxes interchangeable?
I have an well with an older Jacuzzi control box that has been sitting idle for a few years. It was running fine 3 years ago but after testing it and finding bacteria in it we switched over to city water. That was about 3 years ago. My wife and I have recently decided to get the well back in service for watering our garden and modest livestock. So I pulled the motor control out of mothballs and hooked it back up. When I went to run the pump there was no large current draw and no noise from the motor.
I ohmed out the motor and the start and run windings agree with what is listed on the cover of the motor control.
I know that the starter capacitor is bad (tested on cap checker) and is readily available (47-56 mfd).
The overload is about half an ohm and the relay contacts are at 0 ohms.
The coil of the relay ohmed out higher than what was listed on the panel but was close enough to some of the other measurements that I have seen listed here.
The well itself is 45 feet deep with a 6" casing and unfortunately blocked by construction in the house to make removal a bit tedious.
So rather than mess around tracking down a start capacitor and dealing with the potential of a bad start relay I've considered picking up a new 3 wire motor (1HP) control box from one of the big box stores. I just some guidance to see if they are compatible or not. If they are I might pick one up and try it. If the pump works, then great. If not I can take it back and get a new pump to drop back in there.
Thoughts? suggestions? Other ideas?
fwiw, I am a system test engineer for Siemens and have done industrial electronics for 20 years. BUT I don't know everything and each facets of electrical equipment has its own little quirks and idiosyncrasies. All help is appreciated.
As long as horsepower ratings are maintained, are 3 wire pump control boxes interchangeable?
I have an well with an older Jacuzzi control box that has been sitting idle for a few years. It was running fine 3 years ago but after testing it and finding bacteria in it we switched over to city water. That was about 3 years ago. My wife and I have recently decided to get the well back in service for watering our garden and modest livestock. So I pulled the motor control out of mothballs and hooked it back up. When I went to run the pump there was no large current draw and no noise from the motor.
I ohmed out the motor and the start and run windings agree with what is listed on the cover of the motor control.
I know that the starter capacitor is bad (tested on cap checker) and is readily available (47-56 mfd).
The overload is about half an ohm and the relay contacts are at 0 ohms.
The coil of the relay ohmed out higher than what was listed on the panel but was close enough to some of the other measurements that I have seen listed here.
The well itself is 45 feet deep with a 6" casing and unfortunately blocked by construction in the house to make removal a bit tedious.
So rather than mess around tracking down a start capacitor and dealing with the potential of a bad start relay I've considered picking up a new 3 wire motor (1HP) control box from one of the big box stores. I just some guidance to see if they are compatible or not. If they are I might pick one up and try it. If the pump works, then great. If not I can take it back and get a new pump to drop back in there.
Thoughts? suggestions? Other ideas?
fwiw, I am a system test engineer for Siemens and have done industrial electronics for 20 years. BUT I don't know everything and each facets of electrical equipment has its own little quirks and idiosyncrasies. All help is appreciated.