basic questions

Good Morning,

I just have a few questions, trying to clarify some things at my place. I posted awhile back about some well problems I was having, and I have those temporarily cured. I plan to pull the pump this weekend or next (we'll see) and replace the wiring. There were some bad spots in the cable that were just shorting out I guess. I fixed those but had some general questions.

On a control box for the submersible pumps, I have two. One well is 120v 1/2 HP and is in a 90 foot well that feeds the house. The other is a 230v 1/2 HP that is a well i use for irrigation, I think the pump is down about 25 - 30 feet. No pressure tank or anything, just turn it on and there you go. The question is, that well is actually fed by a 120v line, not 230v. Is that a bad thing? I loked at new controll boxes, and what is available locally is 230v, any others would be a special order.

That pump will probably get pulled as well as the down pipe has a split or hole in it. My daughter left it on after washing the car one day and I didn't notice it for a coule days.

Next question, on the well that feeds the house, there is a short section of 12/2 wire from the breaker panel to the pressure switch. From the pressure switch to the well is mostly 10/2 with a splice and about six feet of 12/2 to the control box. That splice was one of my problems... Should I go ahead and replace those sections of wire? I ask, because apart from the splice problems (wire nut came loose) it's probably been that way since the house was built. When I moved in, the wires were just twisted/taped and placed under a rock. Nothing against farmers, but this guy would do things as cheaply as possible.

I'm trying to resolve all the older issues and get things as reliable as possible. I figure I have two or three months to make sure my wells are reliable before I have to start worrying about winter here in ND. Thanks.

Chris

eod4647 said:

The question is, that well is actually fed by a 120v line, not 230v. Is that a bad thing? I loked at new controll boxes, and what is available locally is 230v, any others would be a special order.

Click to expand...

Sorry, don't know on this one.

eod4647 said:

Next question, on the well that feeds the house, there is a short section of 12/2 wire from the breaker panel to the pressure switch. From the pressure switch to the well is mostly 10/2 with a splice and about six feet of 12/2 to the control box. That splice was one of my problems... Should I go ahead and replace those sections of wire?

Click to expand...

Check your circuit breaker. If its 20A or less there is no reason to replace the 12/2. 10/2 is used on long 20A circuits for most of the run to prevent voltage drop over the long distance. A few feet of 12/2 isn't a problem. If you have a splice underground you should use a underground splice kit to make it water tight.

-rick