Well pump or water pump protection switch & control FAQs:

Questions & answers about switches & controls useful to protect a water pump from damage if the well runs out of water or if the pump is not turning off for any reason. FAQs about how to protect the well pump from damage due to pump short on-off cycling or protect the well pump and its circuit from electrical overloads or lightning damage?

This article series describes all of the devices to protect water pumps from damage from continuous running, short cycling, overloading, no well water, low yield wells, power surges, or lightning strikes.

Water Pump Protection Switch Questions & Answers, FAQs

Repeated use of the override lever on the pump pressure switch burned up my pump or control

Had a friend come to my house to check my well. Pressure switch kept shutting off pump.

My friend kept forcing up the pressure switch lever and then water started up for a couple of days. Finally it blew the cut off box out. My question is by forcing that pressure switch to stay on did it burn my pump up? On 2019-01-04 by Snuffy

Explanation by (mod) -

Yep, Snuffy, your friend, as I've done from time to time, busted it by demonstrating the presence of a problem.

When the pump protection switch is doing its job it's preventing the pump from

- running dry

- overheating

Once a pump has been shut down for either of those risks, it needs time for

- the motor to cool down

- water to return to the well

If we run the pump too soon we are asking for trouble.

 

Water pump switch burst into flames

please what could make the switch of a water pumping machine connected to an automatic voltage switchers to burst in flames. without affecting the AVS but damaging the pumping machine. On 2019-03-07 by onyekaba ogechukwu

Explanation by (mod) -

Onyekaba

Why would a pump switch burst into flame?

I don't have a full understanding of what happened in the case you describe, and also it would be helpful if you could attach some photos (use the add image button to add one image per each comment) to let me look at the equipment and the control.

But in general I suspect that if a pump control switch bursts into flame, what is burning must be the plastic cover of the switch, possibly ingnited by a combination of high voltage and a short circuit in the switch itself or in wiring near the switch, OR alternatively, a combination of other improper conditions such as

- a pump drawing abnormally high current, possibly because of a failing motor or low voltage to the pump

- an ineffective or improper over-current protection on the circuit involved, such as a fuse or circuit breaker that is not properly sized to match the wiring and circuit

I also speculate that when the switch shorted and burned those same conditions of overcurrent either caused damage to the pump OR the pump itself was already damaged and was drawing abnormally high current (measured in amps).

We Have No water after I worked on the well piping

I bought a small home built in 1977 with a submersable well pump (unknown brand and info other than Black, Red, & Yellow wires. Wiring is braided wire)

My Problem started after I turned off water pump, and released water pressure from home plumbing to replace a 10ft. section of leaking copper water line,( leaking copper water line is located after pressure bladder tank).

Which led to me replacing the entire pressure tank, along with all the adjacent plumbing.

List of New plumbing; 20 Gallon bladder pressure Tank, copper tee, union joint nut, drain Spigot, Pressure Gauge, Square D-Pressure control switch, copper tube connecting Pressure switch to Tee, high pressure relief valve, Check valve before Tee, <--pointing to tee.) 3/4 on/off inline valve located after pressure pump, - in open position) 1 inch brass screw on connector,
ok, my pressure control switch is wired;

from breaker box into switch left to rught > 1-BLACK Wire (RAW Wire to green ground screw below) 4-WHITE Wire (( Wiring from submersible well, running into pressure control switch is wired to= 2-BLACK Wire (Ground-YELLOW Wire to green ground screw below) 3-RED Wire.

When I lift Pressure control switch to ON, I hear water flow into pressure tank, but pressure will never go above 0 on new pressure valve. i have tried both closed, and ive tried opening highest shower cold water line, & I will only get about 1/8 of a 5gal. bucket of water, and spitting water & air, then nothing. i even opened, every inside, and outside house faucets, spigots, with same result or just a pencil thickness stream of water stream.

i just cant get the well pump water pressure strong enough into the pressure tank to make the pressure gauge rise from 0. One Wiring item to please note, i only tonight read that it is possible that a submersible well pumps with Red/Black/Green wires require a control box, or panel??? my submerseble doesn't have a 4th green or raw ground wire.

( just bought the house and there was no control box of any sort) well is plumbed directly from submersable Well straight into pressure Tank, on to the house plumbing. we had water pressure before the leak, not great pressure at some spigots, but strong at others

How do I get the well water to flow enough to move the pressure gauge, and to kick on pressure control switch 40/60? what do you see wrong, or what do you suggest i do next? On 2018-12-08 by Gary

Answer by (mod) -

It's possible that you have lost Prime in the pumping system.

Take a look at the instructions at

PRIME the PUMP, HOW TO 

Let me know if that works or if you have more questions. Daniel

We want an automated way to empty a graywater tank

We have an inaccessible grey water tank with a manual pump to empty it. We would love to be able to automate the process so that when there is water present the pump will empty the tank. At the moment, the only solution I have come up with is a three part system:

1) put the pump on a timer

2) install an auto cut off valve so that the pump is turned off if there is no water flowing

3) install an float valve to stop the pump when the receiving tank is full.

Do you have any better or less complicated suggestions? On 2018-07-25 by Phil

Solution by (mod) - float switches can activate a pump based on water level in a tank rather than water pressure

Typically people install a float switch that activates the pump when water has reached a desired level and turns it off when water falls below a cut-off level.

You'll see the same switch design in some sump pumps.

Shown here is a single-level water-activated switch produced by Madison and retailing for under $20. U.S.

by Phil

Sounds perfect... except we only have a pipe coming out of the tank and do not have any real access to the tank itself.

If this is the only solution, we have to start taking up concrete, and digging down. We do not know where the tank actually is! We just have the pipe coming to the pump!

by (mod) - photo showing a one-line jet pump - where's the pressure tank?

Phil

Chances are your tank needs cleaning and sanitizing and even inspection for un-wanted un-sanitary leaks-in as it's been in use so long that it's exact size and location are unknown.

There are some pressure-sensitive pump setups that don't use a separate pressure tank but your photo looks like a conventional one-line jet pump.

Find the pressure control switch that is used to turn this pump on and off - follow the electrical wiring. That's usually where you'll find the pressure tank.

I want a device that will protect from pump failure when we are not home

We have an 18 month old well pump, a 625 ft deep well, and two large holding tanks. On Saturday afternoon, we completely ran out of water.

We determined that the well pump must have failed on Wednesday or Thursday and without any alarm to let us know that, we kept using water until there just wasn't any left. Our well pump contractor doesn't know of any kind of alarm to notify us if this ever happens again.

Seems to me that I can close my garage door or lock my front door from hundreds of miles away (current technology), so why isn't there some kind of audible alarm (old technology) to notify a homeowner that the pump failed. Our sump pump has an audible failure alarm. Isn't there a similar thing for well pumps? Any assistance on this would be greatly appreciated. On 2018-03-19 by Ruthanne Eastwood

Suggestions by (mod) - first a warning about water use when you're away, then a solution to your concern

Ruthanne

You make a perfectly-reasonable point about wanting to be protected from burning up a pump when the well runs out of water.

First: Watch out: with a few exceptions such as an automatic water feeder on a steam boiler or timer-contrlled lawn sprinkler systems, I would not expect water to be consumed when you are not home. So I worry about keeping a pump running if, for example, a water supply pipe bursts when you're away.

That said:

The pump protection switches discussed in the article WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH - all focus on simply turning off the pump to protect it. I think the manufacturer figures you'll notice. Some of these controls like the CLA-VAL include a light alarm.

The FCI FlexSwitch FLT93 pump protection flow switch from Fluid Components International (FCI) detects dry running conditions caused by irregular liquid flows or slurries and can provide an alarm feature.

Contact FCI at
Fluid Components International, 1755 La Costa Meadows Drive, San Marcos, CA 92078 USA
Tel: 800-854-1993 Website: http://www.fluidcomponents.com/

DeltaM provides a pump protection switch that includes an alarm though I'm not sure either of these companies offer products suitable for residential water wells.
Contact
Delta M Corp., , 003 Larsen Drive, Oak Ridge, TN 37830 USA Website: https://www.deltamcorp.com/

Suggestions for pump protection by Lonnie

@Ruthanne Eastwood,
My electrician setup a low level warning light at 10ft and a pressure pump shutdown at 5ft.

So you could get a bulb replaced with an alarm or run both an alarm and warning light. My light is red and all my tenants can look out their window and see the warning low water light. Then if we don't get water back on right away Everyone knows to stop using water till I can troubleshoot the issue.

Works great. I wish I had wifi close to well house and I would have the warning send me an email when low water alarm was activated. I don't live on site I live about 5 miles from my mobile home park this water system supplies water too.

Followup by (mod) -

Lonnie

There are indeed wi-fi controllable electrical control switches that can be used for the purpose you describe. Your electrician can install a controller that you can switch on and off by your cellphone connected to the internet connected to the switch's wifi system as long as you have a wireless internet router set up at your mobile home park and as long as the receiver for the pump control is within range of your wifi network.

Here's a more-scholarly description of the method for android phones

Dandge, Jagruti A., Rashmi Shirwadkar, Priyanka Gite, Nikita Odhekar, and Chanchal Kakad. "ELECTRIC SWITCH ON/OFF SYSTEM USING ANDROID APP VIA WI-FI." (2016).
PDF at irjet.net/archives/V3/i3/IRJET-V3I3270.pdf
Abstract -

Mobile devices are the part of our day-to-day life from last few years. Consequently, providing facilities and security are becoming increasingly prominent features on mobile devices. In this paper, we have to developed a home automation system that interfaces with Android mobile devices.

The mobile device and system can communicate with each other from long-range via Wi-Fi. The mobile application can be loaded and interfaces with system from any compatible device.

Commands to ON/OFF electrical equipment like lights, fans, air conditioners etc at home or any organization can be sent easily and quickly from the mobile devices via a simple and comfortable GUI application, which is easy to use for the any normal users.

The system then acts and respond to these commands by taking actions per commands and gives the result to the user. The user can also see the result on Android mobile application from anywhere.

A commercially available product is the AiCan Plug but I"m not sure it handles sufficient ampacity (it can switch up to 10 Amps) for your application - that's something to review with your electrician.

Our well pump control trips off and we have to re-set it using the lever on the control

My water system consist of a submersible pump with pressure tanks. The pump is about 15 years old but the tank and control are just over 1 year old. The systems works fine most of the time except when we happen to create a large water demand - shower, dish washing and flushing the toilet at at once.

IN that instance the control trip off and we loose all water pressure in the house. We then have to go to the control and reset the pump by using the small lever on the side of the control. Could use trouble shooting advice. 7/27/2014 Ben Seguin

Reply:

From what you describe most likely the control is working properly, protecting the pump from damage by shutting the system down when your well is running out of water - when the demand exceeds the well flow rate. When you wait a time for well to recover the pump is then OK. Some pump pressure control switches require manual reset.

More explanation is in the article WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH.

 

My new well pump burned up after 15 months

My well pump was replaced 15 months ago and burned out last week. The installer thought the problem was due to iron in the water clogging the check valves. Besides the check valve that comes in the pump there is a gate type check valve and an additional spring check valve above the pump.

There is also a 6 GPM reducer in addition to the 3 check valves. Does this seem excessive? 25 Feb 2015 JD

Reply:

JD

If your installer can show you a clogged check valve s/he'd be on reasonable ground, as if a pump can't push water into the pressure tank to satisfy the pressure control switch it'd keep running and risk burnout.

A check valve installed backwards or one that is stuck shut can also burn up a pump.

Flow reducers have a different purpose: to slow the flow rate out of the well in an effort to avoid burning up a pump in a well that has a slow recovery or flow rate into the well bore. The presence of that device on your system makes me suspect that the root problem is poor well flow rate; if the pump gets ahead of the flow rate into the well bore it can indeed burn up unless it's protected.

InspectApedia has more advice about well pump protection devices in the article WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH.

 

To Get My Pump to Run I Have to Use the Manual Over-ride on the Well Pump Switch

My tank will only fill if I do it manually. I need to push the reset button on the outlet to fill and to turn it off. What is going on? (Sept 14, 2014) Anonymous

Reply:

Watch out: don't keep manually running the pump as you may be over-riding a pump protection circuit. The risk is ruining the pump motor. I'd ask for help from your pump and well plumber.

 

I want an automatic shut off switch that will turn off the well water pump if a pipe breaks

I am looking for an automatic shut off switch that will turn off the well water pump if a pipe breaks in the house and no one is there to turn it off. We have a mountain house that we visit about once a month and sometimes forget to turn off the water pump. This would be a back up safety switch that would need to be manually turned back on once tripped. (Mar 25, 2015) Anonymous

Reply:

Check out the Pumpstop product described at WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH but keep in mind that a pump doesn't know if it is being called on to deliver water continuously because people are running water in the building or if the demand for water is from a broken water pipe.

 

Why is my water pump tripping its circuit breaker?

I just installed a new shallow well 1.5 hp water pump. When I run it, it runs for about 30 seconds, then the internal breaker shuts the pump off? Any suggestions? (Jan 14, 2016) peter

Reply:

Peter,

Check for

Low voltage
Bad capacitor

Seized motor

Seized impeller

Watch out for death from electrical hazatds. Hire an electrician if you are not qualified to do these tests.

 

Is there a device which protect water pump like submersible or well type from burning / short circuting

Is there any device which protect water pump like submersible or well type from burning/short circuting. (Feb 7, 2016) shubham

Reply by mod: 3 options

Sure, here are three common options

the circuit breaker or fuse for the pump circuit

a thermal overload switch in some pump motors

a separate pump protection switch that protects against overheating or damage if well water runs low or if pump is short cycling

see the devices described at WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH

 

How do I protect my pump from electrical power fluctuations ?

How do i protect my pump from power fluctuations? 2016/05/29 Steve

Reply: how to protect a well pump from power surges

Steve:

Great question. As my Tampa FL home inspector genius Mark Cramer says, ".... well, .... it depends".

I would start by finding out the range of voltage fluctuations that occurs in your area - your power company can tell you. Compare that with what the pump manufacturer says their pump can tolerate.

We need also to understand if your area experiences power surges or spikes (sudden big rises in voltage) - (just install a surge protector on your pump circuit) or power drops - below nominal voltage. Those are opposite problems and have different effects. But both can damage the equipment.

Power surges can be protected against with a point-of-use surge protector for a specific device as well as (and separately from) a surge protector installed at your electrical service entrance. The latter protects everything in your electrical system. Beware that some surge protectors that protect against a surge caused by electrical storms (lightning strikes) may be burned-up following a strike and will then need replacement.

To protect from low voltage (power drops) you can install an electrical power load controller. These devices can respond to a power drop in a fraction of a second. (Example: a UPC Universal Power Cell from Load Controls Inc.) Here is an excerpt from the installation instructions of one of those UPCs

The Universal Power Cell is a Motor Load Sensor that monitors power (HP or KW).

It works on both fixed and variable frequency power and has two analog outputs. It also works on single phase, DC, and brushless DC.

The Universal Power Cell has Three Balanced Hall Effect Sensors, each with a flux concentrator. Each phase passes through a window. A voltage sample for each phase is also taken.

The Hall Effect Semiconductor does a vector multiplication of the current flow and voltage which also calculates the power factor. The output is proportional to power (HP or KW).

You can contact the manufacturer I just cited at
Load Controls Inc.
53 Technology Park Road
Sturbridge, MA 01566Toll-free: 888-600-3247
Phone: 508-347-2606
FAX: 508-347-2064
E-mail: Sales@LoadControls.com

If you have frequent voltage drops below what the pump motor safely tolerates and power **outage** you'd need a backup power supply or power conditioner system.

At inspectApedia.com we discuss this problem in our articles on ELECTRICAL GENERATORS.

 

Can an overloaded electric motor cause a fire in the pump control switch?

Sir, can electrical motor cause fire to the power switch because of return power supply from the electrical motor 230V-240v single phase, and there is overload protection and ELCB;
1) pump size 1hp
2) isolator switch 32A.
3) 2.5mm wire.

Supply given from distribution Board with all prediction MCB-ELCB.

Pump supplied direct from D.B. with MCB 32A. On 2016-11-26 by h.yaseen45845m

Reply by (mod)

An electrical motor that is defective and causing an overload might be the underlying source of a fire IF in addition the overload protection circuit or device did not work as it should.

 

Pump has a manual reset pressure switch, it frequently trips off: how do I fix this?

Ever since my pl umber installed a manual reset pressure switch, it frequently trips which requires reset. Which direction should the larger nut be adjusted? (Aug 8, 2015) Damion

Reply by (mod):

Damion, the article WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH explains how the pressure cut-out and cut-in settings are made on a typical pressure control switch.

But the manual reset is a different feature. That is installed to protect a pump from damage that occurs when the pump runs dry because the well water flow is not keeping up with the pump demand. Messing with the pressure control switch won't fix that. You need an expert to examine your well and piping checking for:

1. loss of pump prime

2. leaks in well piping

3. poor well flow rate

 

 

I Want a Sensor to Shut Off Well Pump if the Basement is Flooding or Wet

Does anyone make or sell a system that will shut a well pump down if water is detected in a basement (or any other room that is not supposed to be wet)? - On 2016-07-21 by Doug

by (mod) re: water entry or leak detection product sources to shut off a well pump

Certainly there are water entry detectors; you'd need to run the pump through such a device. Some of these include controls that can take some action in event of a leak detection.

For example
Aqualeak Detection ltd.
at http://www.wayscale.com/water-leak-detection/products-overview

...

Continue reading  at WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

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• WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING
• WATER PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL REPAIR
  
• SNIFTER & DRAIN BACK VALVES for pump protection related to freezing well pipes

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