Reset a 2 wire w/o pulling?

I have an unknown 2-wire pump in one of my 2 wells; I'd really, really like to avoid pulling it if possible. The well was running just fine until two days ago, when it simply didn't come on.

I've checked the wiring and I'm getting power at the well head; the pressure switch appears to be in good working order as well.

This well is at about 150ft lower elevation from the house. I've posted about this in the past, but I've had some issues with water hammer in the past (the charge on the tank was wrong) and various 1" fittings in the pit (this is not a pit-less setup) have failed, filling the well cover (pit?) with water. In the past, when the wires have been flooded, the short has kept the pump from coming on.

I had a broken 90deg. elbow replaced last spring, but now something else has failed and the pit is flooded again. I'm running on the first (upper) well, and the check valve there seems to have prevented constant leak-down and cycling.

Anyway - the well cut out suddenly (mid-shower!) on me, and after pulling the cover off, the wires were flooded. I've dried them off, stripped off the badly corroded part, and re-wrapped them, but still no-go on the pump. I need it to come on so I can find where the leak is now, and so I can use it again! Any hints/suggestions? Is there anything to the wiring other than getting a nice, clean connection and using wire-nuts? This is how it was originally done.

Thanks!

Polarity

I forgot to add: does the polarity on a 2 wire system matter? I may have inadvertently reversed these when I stripped off the old ends and re-connected.

power?

There is no manual reset, only thermal.

Have you really checked to see if there is actually power out at the pump? 220V?

Check for voltage on both wires. If there is line voltage and the pump is not working, it's going to have to be pulled.

There is no polarity on a two or three wire pump; they are both 120v (to ground).

And as Cacher said, ya gotta pull the pump.

On a 3 wire pump, one wire is to the start winding, so one wire is the common and one is the run and one is the start.

If you ment to say the third wire is the ground, then yes it doesn't matter polarity.

Rancher

On a 3 wire pump, one wire is to the start winding, so one wire is the common and one is the run and one is the start.

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Rancher, you of all people must know there is no common in 230 volts. Explain what you meant to say. I know your an Electrical Engineer so you must have meant something other than what I understood you to say.

I think I would be looking into a good Sump Pump for that pit.

bob...

Rancher said:

On a 3 wire pump, one wire is to the start winding, so one wire is the common and one is the run and one is the start.

If you ment to say the third wire is the ground, then yes it doesn't matter polarity.

Rancher

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No Rancher, the red Start wire is not "common" or ground, it is Start.

With a three wire pump and its required control box (not used for a 2 wire), yellow and black are 120v each (measured to ground) and red is Start from the box to the red pigtail on the pump motor, green is ground.

Yellow and black once out of the control box can be wired to either black motor lead/pigtail wire on the pump.

The green to the green ground motor lead/pigtail (if a ground is run) and red to the red motor lead/pigtail.

Two wire pump motors have two black and one green wire leads or pigtails. The green is not needed but some codes call for a ground.

well, I didn't think there was the possibility of polarity, but was grasping at straws, and yeah, I've got power on both legs of the circuit. I measured with a multi-meter to be sure, and I'm getting ~220v AC.

While a sump pump would treat the symptom, the real problem is the leak. A leaking water line results in low pressure at the house, and constantly cycling pumps. The flooding in the pit is the result of the leaky line. The line is leaking because there has been some water hammer for a while now.

It just got really cold here in VA today, so I'll wait and pull the pump later in the week when things warm up. In the meantime, I can manage about 18PSI from one well - that's the point at which the line starts leaking.

So, I'll be pulling the pump and trying to fix the leak. Ugh.

I suspect that the leak is in the ground AFTER the pipe leaves the casing. If the leak is where you would have to pull the pump to get at it, the water would fall down the well.

Water in the pit means that it is seeping in from the pipe in the ground near the pit. If you pump out the pit you will probably see water seeping in along the pipe that exits the pit.

The only way to get a waterproof connection is to use the heat-shrink connectors with sealant inside them. If it isn't going to be immersed you can use wire nuts with grease, taking care to point them up so any condensation drains out. You can buy wire nuts with grease in the big-box stores but they are almost as expensive as the heat-shrink kits.

You can check the electrical condition of the pump with a multimeter. You need to verify that is is not shorted to ground and that there is the correct resistance in the circuit. The wires should all be at least 100,000 ohms to ground and really a lot higher than that is recommended.

speedbump said:

Rancher, you of all people must know there is no common in 230 volts. Explain what you meant to say.

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He hadn't said that it was a 230 Volt pump, or at least if he did, then I've missed it twice.

Rancher

Gary Slusser said:

No Rancher, the red Start wire is not "common" or ground, it is Start.

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Gary, I never said the RED Start wire was the common/ground wire.

Rancher

He hadn't said that it was a 230 Volt pump, or at least if he did, then I've missed it twice.

Rancher

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Your right, he didn't say that. But he did say it was a two wire. If it's a half horse, it could be 115 volts.

bob...