I've got a question about my 1 & 1/2 HP 220V submersible well pump. Is it supposed to keep turning on and off when supplying water out through a garden hose? My pressure switch is set with a cut-in pressure of 40 psi and a cutoff pressure of 60 psi. When the pressure drops below 40 psi the contacts close providing power to turn on the pump. With the water still running, pressure builds up to 60 psi turning off the well pump. After about a minute of continous water flow the pressure drops again below 40 psi causing the pump to turn back on. Cycling like this about 4 times before the 'overload' button pops on the Franklin Electric Control box at which time it's take about an hour before I can turn on the well pump again without poping the overload button.

When I use my pool fill valve the well pump will stay on continously becaue the pressure will hold steady at 20 psi. Checking the pressure on the tank reservoir with no water pressure on the system reads 38.5 psi.

Is it normal for the pump to cycle like that? I don't know what the well was doing when it worked before besides providing continous water. This problem just started happening the last two weeks.

Thanks,

Dave Bock

 

Hi.

Its normal for the pump to cycle like that but not normal for the overload to trip.

You need to test several areas to find the cause. Here is a trouble shooting link that may help.

Troubleshooting | Submersible Well Pumps | Fuses Blow or Circuit Breaker Trips When Motor is Started.

When your all done and find the issue check and adjust the air in your well tank.

Mike NJ

 

The heater kicken out like that could also indicate a bad capacitor or it going bad.
For off times over a minute or two that should not pop the heater.
For a 1.5hp the off time should be closer to two minutes.
The best thing to do is run enough water to keep the pump running while your filling the pool.
Run two, or more hoses, the longer the run time the better.

 

Okay, So I read out the motor and got 2.8 ohms for the Main B-Y, 9.6 ohms for the Start R-Y and 11.4 ohms for the B-R. I'm supposed to have a 1 1/2hp motor. The book I have says they should be B-Y 1.8-2.0 R-Y 4.3-4.7 and B-R 6.0-6.7. But a note says that a hot motor may have as much as 20% increase in values. When I can get the motor to run I had 8 amps of current on the Red and Yellow wires. Using resistance measurements to read out the capacitors with them disconnected showed an initial small resistance then a rising resistance as long as the meter was connected.

Funny thing is it works when it's cold (sitting off for about 2 hours) then after a couple cycles of on and off then it trips the overload button while trying to start back up. Could it be a bad start Capacitor?

 

Cycling on and off while you run a hose is normal, but it is bad for your pump. It is also what causes the capacitors to blow and the overload to trip. You need something that stops cycling. Google is your friend.

 

Yep it was the start capacitor that was bad. The cycling only happens when using a single garden hose. Comes on when the pressure switch drops below 40psi then goes off when it reaches 60 psi. Off time is just over a minute before it cycles on again. If I use the sprinkler system or the pool refill valve it will stay on constantly to keep up with the high volume demand of those systems.

Thanks for the help on this one. Spend $950 last year to fix a no pressure flow problem and wasn't really looking at spending that again this time to pull up the pump. Total cost this time.....4 days of frustration...and $12.00 for new start and run capacitors. Thanks again for the help.