2 Wire Problem Well Pump Issue

I did do a little searching before I decided to post so please do help me out. I am not an electrician however I did work with electricians for several years before college. I have lived in this house for almost 7 years and we have had terrible electric bills, 1500KW + each month. I began doing some digging around in the basement and I noticed this and I am not sure if it is a big deal or not. I have a double 30 amp breaker in my panel for the well. Two wires which are 14 gauge go from the double 30 amp breakers to a pressure switch and then continue on to the bottom of the well. So the well pump is getting two hot's and no neutral or ground. Then I discovered there is a ground wire which used to be connected to the well but it was disconnected when the previous owners changed from galvanized to plastic. They left a chunk of galvanized pipe and it is attached to an old ground wire that is connected to my panel.


I talked to one electrician and he said that is how the old pumps used to work. They would be supplied with two hots and that was that, if it works leave it alone.


Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

The electrician is right about older 2 wire pumps, the NEC didn't mandate that pumps be grounded until sometime in the 80's.

Your high electric bill could be pump related, the pump maybe so old and worn that it won't ever shut off, you may have a rotted fitting someplace in the drop pipe or at the pump, a leak at the pitless or in the offset piping.

Call your local power company and ask them to come out and do an energy audit to determine why the usage is so high.

craigpump said:

The electrician is right about older 2 wire pumps, the NEC didn't mandate that pumps be grounded until sometime in the 80's.

Your high electric bill could be pump related, the pump maybe so old and worn that it won't ever shut off, you may have a rotted fitting someplace in the drop pipe or at the pump, a leak at the pitless or in the offset piping.

Call your local power company and ask them to come out and do an energy audit to determine why the usage is so high.

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I can hear when the pump kicks on and off, I know it is not running all the time. I think I am going to replace that pump and the wire going down the well. It looks as if it is 30 or 40 years old. The issue is that the well is below grade in a pit, it has no pitless adapters the water and the electric pass through what they call a "butt plug" that is rusted and rotted. I am going to need to bring it above grade while I am in there.

My energy company does no such audits,

No energy audits? That's outrageous....they just want you to keep paying huge bills, how nice is that?

Never heard them called butt plugs, we call them well seals and they can be a real pain in the ass! Whatever you do don't take the bolts out all the way out or pieces of the seal can drop and trap the pump in the hole.

johnny1720 said:

I have a double 30 amp breaker in my panel for the well. Two wires which are 14 gauge go from the double 30 amp breakers to a pressure switch and then continue on to the bottom of the well.
Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

I'm not a well expert, but I do have a couple of comments:

#14 wire should be protected with a 15 amp breaker - a 30 amp breaker offers no protection with this size wire

Based on your entire length of wire from the breaker box to the pump, #14 wire may be too small for your application. In this situation, it's voltage drop you should be concerned with - generally, one should never exceed a 3% voltage drop. For example: A 1 HP pump rated at 220 VAC - 9 amps will exceed the recommended 3% voltage drop if the 14 gauge wire length is greater than 155 feet.

You can use the following site to enter your exact information to help determine if you are safe with 14 gauge wire:

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

I called in a well guy to give me an estimate on bringing the well above grade and rewiring it with 12 gauge wire and possibly replacing the pump as well.

If it is crazy expensive I will replace it myself and weld on another joint of pipe to bring it above grade with a pitless adapter and such.

Most pump men follow the AIM manual rather than the NEC.
http://www.franklin-electric.com/aim-manual/page-11.aspx

What is your idea of crazy expensive?

Not sure yet,

I have pulled a few pumps before at the farm and a few at work. It does not seem to be rocket science. I think the job is worth about $900

Pump, pipe, wire, casing extension, pitless, well cap and labor for $900?

Not in Ct

I was thinking casing extension and a pitless adapter, would be worth $900 to me. I just got the quote for the whole thing, casing extension, cap, pitless adapter * 2, one for the supply and one for the drain as it is a free flowing well, pump, wire, pressure tank and install. They quoted me 4k

I am gonna bring home a mini from work and do it myself, I just got a quote for $1100 for supplies online I know my local place will beat that. It will take me part of a saturday.

$4000.00 would be an average price here depending on the tank & pump.

It's gonna be tough welding casing on a flowing well, I'd use a 6" dresser coupling.

Update: I did the entire job with a goulds pump, new goulds pressure tank, wire, pipe and the casing extension for under a grand. It took 8 hours but the job is complete and it is done right.