Troubleshooting well pump electrical issues

[noahguy446]

Hello all! First time poster here . I have a 240v well pump that I replaced about a year and a half ago. We got up yesterday morning, and found we unfortunately had no well water. When we turn the pump on, the breaker immediately trips.
I have already replaced the well pressure switch, and pulled the pump for a physical inspection and to reterminate the connections at the pump with some expensive underwater cable sealing kits from ACE hardware. I also switched out the breaker for an extra one that matched (30 amp 2 pole) I also tested the wiring; so far, I have found that disconnecting at the well head still causes the breaker to trip. If I disconnect at the pressure switch, the breaker doesnt trip. In short (pun intended), my short is somewhere along the underground line heading to the pump if Im understaing this correctly.
At the top of the well, I was also getting a reading of 158v on one leg, and 46v on the other, which leads me to believe that one leg is feeding in to the other? I hope this all makes sense, curious to know anyone's thoughts. Thank you! My apologies in advance if this is in the wrong place, or if Im missing any information.

 

[Reach4]

It sounds like you have pretty much determined the problem.

Yet you want to go beyond that, and I would be glad to discuss that. First, when "getting a reading of 158v on one leg, and 46v on the other", what were the conditions? Breaker is open? Measuring from where to where to read each voltage?

With the breaker open, what is the resistance from each wire to a water pipe ground?

With the breaker open, what is the resistance from hot to hot on the de-energized wires?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[noahguy446]

It sounds like you have pretty much determined the problem.

Yet you want to go beyond that, and I would be glad to discuss that. First, when "getting a reading of 158v on one leg, and 46v on the other", what were the conditions? Breaker is open? Measuring from where to where to read each voltage?

With the breaker open, what is the resistance from each wire to a water pipe ground?

With the breaker open, what is the resistance from hot to hot on the de-energized wires?

Reach,
Thanks for the reply. I have fixed the issue (Ill explain), however Ill answer your questions in case someone comes across this with the same issue.
When getting those voltages, I was measuring at the top of the well, where the wires coming out of the ground splice in to the wiring running down to the pump. I measured each pole to the ground wire coming out of the romex.
I was getting 0 resistance wherever I tested. I dont have a megger, so couldnt feasibly do a load test.
I had actually dug up and done a repair on a leak previously, and knew that I had a twisted 3 wire well pump wire setup running to the house. I also knew that the wire coming out of the ground was romex, and none of it was in conduit. With that being said, I surmised that the issue may have been wherever those 2 different cables spliced together. We started digging down by where the wire came out of the ground by the well pump, and quickly found a cable run that was spliced in to the romex with some wire nuts with electrical tape wrapped around them. Knowing this wasnt correct, we cut the wires and retested. This time, the breaker did not trip. Reconnected the well pump wiring normal through, bypassing the mystery connection running towards the barn. Pump didnt trip, everything is working fine now. I will go to the store today to get some ground rated, water proof connections.
EDIT: Also would like to add we verified the current when the romex was isolated. Got a clean 120v from each leg to ground