Cant get sprinkler pump to run

Jim Raz

Jim Raz

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I just bought a waterace 1 1/2 hp pump. It is a preset 230 volt pump and I have it wired into my meter breaker box with a dual 30 amp breaker. I have power coming out of the breaker and at the connection to the pump but the pump will not run. I called the company and they said to take the pump back and I did but the second pump has the same result. Any ideas on what to try next would be great. Thanks in advance....Jim
 
Does the pump have a pressure switch on it? If so, is it wired correctly and do you have electricity going through it?
You can remove the back cover of the motor at check at the terminals there. If you have power there, but the motor doesn't run, there is a problem with the motor. If you don't have power to the motor terminals, then you have a problem in the switch or other connection.
WaterAce is made by Myers, but keep in ming that they are probably downrated from it's Myer's counterpart.
Ron
 
I also thought there was a problem with the motor when I took the first pump back, It must be terrible odds to get two bad pumps...Thanks for the thought, I guess I will have to battle the company on tuesday when they open back up. I dont have a pressure switch, do you reccomend that I get one?
 
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No, I'm not recommending that you get a pressure switch. I mentioned this switch because many times the problem with a pump not running can be tranced to a bad switch.
Even with a WaterAce pump it's doubtful that you would get two pumps back to back with bad motors.
If the electrical is buried, you might try running power above ground to eliminate any underground problems, just to see.
Ron
 
I ran a breaker from my meter box through a conduit to the pump, nothing is buried and everything appears to be right. I took readings with a voltmeter with the power on at the back side of the breaker switch and down to the pump, there is power and the same voltage at the breaker and the pump, so at this point I am out of ideas. Usually with a bad motor you will hear a hum or a clicking sound when you hit the power but with this pump you hear nothing, the contacts dont move or anything. Like I said this is the same that happened with the last pump. I looked in the book and checked the waterace website and neither says anything about what the voltage should be other than 220/230, I am getting about 150 on either side.
 
Rancher, what do you mean? What I meant is that I am getting 150 at the breaker and at the pump? I thought that was normal? I know nothing about electrical, what do you think the problem is? Thanks Jim
 
150 is a bit high, but your meter may not be that accurate. You said:
It is a preset 230 volt pump and I have it wired into my meter breaker box with a dual 30 amp breaker
Click to expand...
Does this mean you used two different breakers? If so, you have 150 volts from two breakers to ground, but on the same phase. So you don't have 230 volts (or in your case 300 volts). You should be using one breaker that is designed to provide 230 volts directly from the panel box.

So is this one double breaker or two seperate breakers?

bob...
 
As you can tell I am no electrician, it is one breaker with 2 30 amp switches, this is what the guy at lowes said I needed. I thought 150 was a little high as well but according to neighbors that is normal for our area. I called the company today and they say they are sure its a voltage problem. They said I should check the continuity across the pump and I really dont know how to do that. I have a voltmeter but I dont know what setting to use nor where to put the leads. Checking if you have power and how much is as far as I know.
 
In that case, put your meter leads across both leads from that breaker. If you have 230 volts there, go to the next junction and check there and so on until you get to the pump. If you still have 230 volts there, the motor has a problem.

Getting 115 volts to ground on each wire does not necessarilly mean you have 230 volts. You have to put a lead on each wire to read the 230 volts.

bob...
 
Thanks for the tips I finally got the pump running today. As it turns out one half of my breaker wansnt working. I guess I learned a bunch from this experience. Thanks again to all that responded to me
Jim
 
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