Question on Septic System.


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Old 10-19-05, 01:15 PM
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Question on Septic System.

About 12 months ago I had a septic system installed at my cabin in Virginia. For reasons known only to American Power it took over a year for them to run 220v to the cabin. This septic system is the two tank type with the floats and pump, where the second tank pumps the waste on the hillside through the lines. The system was never used and I recently noted it was full of water, in fact both tanks were full of water, it would have to be ground water. Getting to my question, since the pump, switch and floats obviously have been submerged for an unknown period of time, should it still work? Are those components waterproof? The reason I asked is after hooking it up to 110v the breaker keeps tripping. I was told that it didn't matter if it was all submerged, once I hooked the power up it would pump it down. Thank in advance for any help.
 
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Old 10-19-05, 01:39 PM
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Any pump of this type (sump style) should be waterproof. It may not have been wired correctly. This would be the next thing to check. I have seen pumps that are plugged into an outlet in a pit. If the electric was not turned on, the pit may have filled so much that it covered the outlet. This would cause your problem. Good luck.
 
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Old 10-19-05, 04:51 PM
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There are two underground type wires coming from the tank running to the cabin. One goes to the alarm and the other goes to the pump I was told, they are identical wires and not labeled. I just wonder if the septic tank installer put in a 220 pump instead of a 110. But that wouldn't cause the breaker to trip i don think.
 
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Old 10-19-05, 05:25 PM
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If the installer put in a 220 pump, it would probaly not work or would burn up from not having enough voltage to operate it. I am not an electrician so I really cannot say which would happen.
I am going to move your post to electrical to get you a better answer.
 
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Old 10-19-05, 06:34 PM
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Guessing is almost always the wrong strategy in electrical work. It's also a bad idea to reset a tripping breaker more than once until you fix the problem. You need to get the electrical specs (volts, amps, horsepower, etc.) on the pump before connecting it to power. Furthermore, it sounds like it is miswired. Can you contact the person who installed the pumps? If not, you need to examine the pumps. Can they be removed for maintenance? If not, you may need to rent a pump to get access for inspection.
 
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Old 10-20-05, 04:52 AM
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I will contact the installer...let him come out and check it out..thanks for everyones help.
 
 

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