hey guys im new here,so if this is in the wrong place im sorry

we lost water couple days ago,me and my dad was like no big deal the switch must went bad,so we got a new one and installed it, and what do you know nothing happened.so we got a new well pump and installed it, got it back in the well and went to try it.

every 3-10secs i would say, it trips the breaker,

you flip it on and you can hear the water come rushing out the sink and bath and then it starts to slow down, and you go to the breaker and its tripped.

could anyone have an idea? the switch is new. pump is new.

 

First thing I would suggest is to check voltage to make sure you are getting the proper voltage to the switch and pump. The voltage should match the pumps voltage.

Is this a submersible pump or on top of the ground? Is there a pressure tank? Is there a control box mounted near the pump? Is the new pump and same rating as the old?

 

its a submersible pump and no control box and we do have a pressure tank

 

Sounds like a submersible well pump.

There are two types of pumps...... self contained where there are two hot wires and there may be a ground wire and there is remote starting that has three hot wires and may have a ground wire. The remote start type will have a box topside with a relay and caps in it.

They are not interchangeable and with remote type starting.... the control boxes are not always interchangeable either.

 

its a 2 wire submersible pump,2 wires and a ground wire
just looked.
and the old pump was 230v and the new pump is 115v, would that have anything to do?

 

I’m sure some of the other guys will confirm this, but unfortunately I think you will need a different circuit breaker for that pump. A 240v breaker is different than a 120v breaker and is wired differently. I’m sure that’s why it keeps tripping. The breakers aren’t expensive and the wiring isn’t difficult, but it can be very dangerous working at the panel. You could probably do it yourself but you would have to be very careful.

You could probably post on the Electrical Forum and the guys there could walk you through the steps to change the breaker, and also offer their opinion about whether or not they think you should do it yourself or hire an electrician.

But hopefully some of the other guys will confirm here that the breaker is the problem.

 

that would be good news.

when you switch the pump on the water starts flowing,but you can see the lights start to go bright and dim slightly.

 

You replaced a 240v well pump with a 120v pump ????
That's like taking a step backwards. Not really the best move.

That would indicate that your new pump is smaller than your old one.

If it's a 120v pump DON'T power it any more on 240v.

 

its the same hp 1/2
and 10gpm

 

You need to check the manual for the required sizes, but if the pump is the same spec and you cut the voltage in half I would assume that your breaker and wire size are too small.

 

As mentioned..... when you convert from 240v to 120v you double the current that the circuit uses.
What size breaker is currently feeding the pump ?
That should help determine the wire size.
What current does the new pump require ?

One big advantage of using a 240v submersible pump is a much lower voltage drop at longer wire lengths. The starting load is also smaller at 240v.

 

It is very possible that you have damaged the pump trying to run it on 240 volts. Double the voltage will destroy most things. I would recommend getting the same pump in a 240 volt model.

 

supposedly its wired at 110v,

but if the old pump is 230v it wouldnt work would it?

both pumps had 2 wires and a ground

 

You told us you changed from a 240v pump to a 120v pump. If you did.... someone had to change the wiring at the panel. The 240v pump would use two hot legs of power and be on a two pole (double) circuit breaker. The 120v pump has one hot leg and one neutral and uses a single pole breaker.

Both voltages would require two wires and a ground.