Pump Won't Run, Trips Breaker / Blows Fuse

Water Pump Won't Run, Trips Circuit Breaker Q&A

Submersible well pump won't run: trips circuit breaker

Pls i have a Shimge submersible pump with attach floater but of recent the pump has been tripping the circuit breaker when its put ON.

What can be the cause of the triping? On 2018-02-24 by Eras.

Answer by (mod) - check for shorted wires or a damaged well pump.

Eras

Several unsafe conditions can be causing the circuit breaker to trip, but the most common for the situation that you described would be a pump motor that is siezed.

On occasion I've also found damaged pump wiring that is short circuited. That can happen as wires run down in the well casing when a subsmersible pump torques or twists the pipe and wiring each time the pump starts and stops, particularly if the wires were not well secured and prevented from rubbing on the well casing.

Check to be sure that nothing is clogging or binding your pump.

Then follow the well pump circuit and inspect the wiring and connections for a loose or damaged wire or connection.

Water Pump trips circuit breaker in freezing weather

So we’ve had a bout of extremely cold weather and it tripped my well breaker. I tried tripping it back on. It sounds like it’s trying to pump water and then trips off. What can I do to fix this or do I have to wait until Spring? On 2018-01-05 by Corinna

Answer by (mod) -

Corinna,

Possibly the cold weather has frozen a water line or even the well or well pump, though most-likely it's a well pipe freeze.

The pump, pushing against solid ice is perhaps overheating and tripping the breaker.

Watch out: I would not keep re-setting the breaker as you may burn up the pump or wiring.

A savvy plumber in your area may be able to help you find and thaw the frozen line if she confirms my guess.

When I last dealt with a frozen (buried too shallow) water line between the well and the house the plumber brought a combination pony pump and heater that he used to pump and recycle hot water into the well line, gradually feeding the outlet end of his hot water line down the well line as the frozen section was thawed.

Later we excavated and insulated the water line - not absolute proof against freezing in prolonged extremely-cold weather, but good protection against well line freeze-up in more brief cold snaps.

That plus perhaps use of a heat tape or other heat source should get your well working again if the pump has not already burned up.

Well pump kept blowing breakers then the relief valve blew

I found that our water pump tripped the circuit breakers (220V).

So I replaced the pump presure switch.

The pump worked ok but took awhile to get up to the cut-off pressure.

But then I saw the 75 psi pressure relief valve was spewing water.

When I forced the pop off valve closed the pump blows breakers, drawing twice the amperage, from a 6amp to 10amp and blew a 15amp as well?

I'm thinking it could be wiring short in the well? any suggestions? (June 6, 2015) kevin kleinsmith

Reply: Watch out: very dangerous - never force a pressure relief valve closed!

Watch out: turn this water pump system off and drain water pressure immediately as you are describing possibly fatal hazards of electrical shock or injury from exploding pressure tank or piping.

You should never force a pressure relief valve shut - you're defeating a critical safety device.

Now about the tripping circuit breaker, it sounds as if the pressure control is defective or its pressure sensing port or tube is clogged so the pump doesn't turn ON nor does it turn OFF when it should - that is, not in response tothe actual water pressure.

A short circuit in pump wiring or a failing pump motor will also trip breakers. Check the wiring and connections and then get help from a trained electrician so that you can check the current draw of the pump motor. You may need a new pump.

Well pump circuit breaker trips repeatedly

The circuit breaker for my well puump has tripped twice today. Well pump is 20 years old. This occurred both times when we had outside spigots open for watering flowers. - Dean 7/1/12

Reply:

Watch out: for electrical shorts, fire hazards, shock hazards - if a breaker keeps tripping, leave that circuit off until it's properly diagnosed and repaired.

Circuit breaker trips could be due to a pump motor that is seizing, or a fault in the circuit, wiring, or control switch.

How much electricity does my well pump use? What's the normal current draw of a well pump?

How can i find out how much electricity my well head and pressure tank are using? The well pump is 1/2 horsepower. The pressure tank has no label or information on it. I am in the process of installing a back-up generator and I need to know the amount of power consumed at start up by these systems. - Anon. 3/5/12

Reply: some ways to figure out how much electricity an appliance or well pump is actually using

Anon, here are several approaches to finding out just how much electricity your well pump or any other electrical appliance in your home is actually using:

1. You can record the information on the data tag for your pump motor, noting the RLA figure.
   
   See DEFINITIONS of ELECTRICAL TERMS and understand amps, current, volts, watts, and you can calculate the theoretical electricity use.
2. You can turn off every single electrical thing in your building except the well pump, then watch your electric meter spin.
   
   That timing or LCD readout combined with the meter specifications from your electric company can give you a good idea how much electrical power the pump is actually using when it's operating. To that you'll need to monitor how often and for how long the motor runs during an average month.
3. You can also measure the pump's current draw using a clamp-on ammeter.
4. You can also rent or buy electrical use metering equipment that you'd hook into the circuit.

To compare the energy efficiency of different versions of a home appliance such as an air conditioner, refrigerator, or heat pump,

see SEER RATINGS & OTHER DEFINITIONS.

Well Pump keeps Tripping Circuit Breaker or Blowing Fuse

JRS5 Jet Pump Trips the Whole House Main Breaker

I have a JRS5 jet pump pushing water from an in ground cistern into the house. When I try to connect a low level switch it's like a ground fault and the power to the whole house goes out.

If I leave it connected long enough it will burn the cord from the low level switch, literally catching fire underwater. The pump runs fine, cycles like it's supposed to until I connect the low level switch. Any ideas? On 2023-06-07 by Mark

by InspectApedia Publisher - jet pump from ground cistern will burn the cord from the low level switch, literally catching fire underwater

@Mark,

Watch out, there are hazards of death by electrocution: leave the circuit off and call for repair by an electrician. It should be easy to use a VOM or DMM to check the current draw and grounding and continuity on the circuit as part of diagnosis.

Watch out: when your pump or pump control or wiring has a fault that trips the whole house main circuit breaker that tells me that

1. The individual circuit breaker for the pump circuit involved is defective or bypassed or not working or there's a serious wiring error
2. The short circuit is drawing so much power that it trips the higher ampacity main circuit breaker

This sounds scary as all get-out to me. I want to help but from just your brief text I can't bet your life on a mere guess at what's wrong.

Look for a wiring error in your low water level switch setup, but first I'd look at the pump and its wiring and control for improper wiring or a short circuit.,

You may already realize this but you're describing an error that can kill you or anyone else touching the pump, its wiring, controls, or anything else having to do with the water system.

Can you attach a photo of your pump and in a second comment a sketch of your wiring plan?

Do you have the IO manual for your Gould JRS5 pump? IF not check these documents

GOULDS PUMP MOTOR APPLICATION INSTALLATION GUIDE

ITT GOULDS PUMPS INSTALLATION, OPERATION & TROUBLESHOOTING MANUAL [PDF] (2005)

or for newer models of the same pumps

https://inspectapedia.com/water/Goulds-Jet-Pump-Manual.-2022.pdf

For other readers, the Goulds JRS pump is illustrated below.

Other pump instructions from Goulds - submersibles, motors, controllers, other controls

GOULDS JET PUMPS INSTALLATION & TROUBLESHOOTING MANUAL

GOULDS PUMP MOTOR APPLICATION & INSTALLATION DATA [PDF] - includes wiring details for control box for several pumps

You need help from an electrician.

Followup by Mark

Thank you for the quick response, I won't be working on the pump again until this weekend and I will take pics of the pump and pressure switch. I have replaced all the wiring from the meter to a new service panel dedicated to the pump and the pump runs and cycles like it's supposed to right up to when I connect the low level switch.

I really don't understand because I had a low level switch that was working and one day it just quit. I'm thinking this weekend I will also replace the pressure switch and if I have to I can replace the pump with one i had rebuilt. If that doesn't do it, I don't know.

One other thing, I don't live in the U.S. and reliable power is not common here. Supposedly to save rolling black outs the power company will drop the voltage on an irregular basis. To the point you can see and hear when they do it.

Plus if I try to call an electrician the guy that shows up will know less than I do and want to use my tools, if you get my meaning. Once again, thank you and I will get back to you after the weekend.

by InspectApedia Publisher

@Mark,

I get it, but

Watch out: if you are not trained and familiar with proper electrical wiring & safety, you could be shocked or killed.

Update by Mark: updated electrical panel, service, wiring

Ok, here is what it was. The old system was a 100 amp service via #10 wire connected to a "fuse box" with a manual shutoff handle. From there #10 wire to an outlet mounted on the wall in the pump room. A pig tail from the outlet to the JRS5 pump pressure switch. The low level shut off was wired to the pressure switch. Oh yeah, none of this was grounded.

What it is now. 200 amp service via #6 wire to new Square D service panel and a new 20 amp breaker. From there it's new #10 wire to new plastic gang box mounted on the wall in the pump room. Brand new pigtail from the outlet to the pressure switch and a new pressure switch.

A new low level shutoff cut into the new pigtail to act as an interrupt for the pressure switch. The new system is grounded front to back, direct from the ground rod outside back to the pump.

What happened... As near as I can figure out the low level connection had grounded out and since there was no breaker to trip there was effectively 100 amps going directly into the cistern via the low level wiring which did exactly what you would expect.

Now with the new service the pump is working correctly and cycling at the proper time.

Quick side note here: The power was off from 8am Sunday morning to 5:30pm Sunday and then on again off again the rest of the night with 100 volts max. all day yesterday which is not good for the pump or any other machinery but oh well.

Thanks for the responses and the help it's greatly appreciated. Background... retired master carpenter with. degree in architecture, more than 50 years in the field working with the other trades. Plus I know that if I don't know, go find some one that does. Thanks again.

by InspectApedia-911 (mod)

@Mark,

Thank you so much for taking the time for that detailed follow-up note. It will certainly help other readers.

It sounds like we are of a similar age and have similar work experience and interests. We appreciate the note.

Why does my Sumo pump pressure breaker keep getting hot and tripping off

Why My sumo pump pressure breaker keep getting hot and tripping off On 2021-10-28 by Uche

by inspectapedia.com.moderator (mod) -

@Uche,

When a water or well pump keeps tripping the circuit breaker,

most-likely there is a failing pump motor drawing high current, perhaps from a bad bearing, or perhaps from having run the pump dry.

Also see the electric motor diagnostics

at ELECTRIC MOTOR DIAGNOSTIC GUIDE

Why does the pump circuit breaker trip at the house but not out at another breaker at the well?

My well is powered from the house. There is a 30 Amp breaker there and another one at the well. The breaker in the house trips immediately upon being reset but not at the well. I wired it to a different 30 Amp breaker and it tripped. Would the problem be between the well breaker and the breaker in the house? On 2021-09-28 by Dennis

by inspectapedia.com.moderator (mod) - location of the electrical problem in the pump circuit

@Dennis,

Thank you for an interesting question. I don't think that we can assume that we know where the fault is by which breaker is tripping. While your speculation is reasonable it's also the case that two different circuit breakers May simply not respond on exactly the same time line to the same overcurrent. I'm saying that the difference could be between the breakers not where the fault is occurring.

by Dennis - how to test the pump wires

@inspectapedia.com.moderator, can I remove the wires from the breaker in the house and put an ohm meter on them and if it shows an open would that eliminate the wires from the house to the breaker at the well?

by inspectapedia.com.moderator (mod) - electrical tests on well pump vs dead short

@Dennis,

I don't think that's a complete analysis or test. Even disconnecting the hot and neutral or two hot (if it's a 240V circuit) at the panel would not disconnect them at their other end - in the pump.

 

Why does my water pump keep tripping the circuit breaker?

Water pump keeps tripping breaker. I replaced the pressure switch and I am still getting same results. On 2021-04-30 by chris

and

Bore hole pump keeps tripping electric fuse , pump not old about 5 years

I tried new fuse , cleaned steady press inverter out no blockages,

The inverter runs for a bit then status light comes on trips fuse On 2020-05-11 by ablservices150

by (mod) - causes of well breaker trip off

@chris,

A tripping circuit breaker usually means that the current being drawn on the circuit is too high. In the case of a water pump that may mean that the pump motor itself is failing.

For example a bad bearing can cause the pump to draw more current as it tries to turn.

An experienced plumber or electrician who installs pumps can do some simple tests for you to examine the circuit and the pump to determine if you need to replace it.

That approach is particularly useful if your pump is a submersible one that's in the well because it's nice to have an idea of the problem before you go to the trouble of pulling the pump up out of the well.

Ableservices: I'd check the supply voltage, and wiring size, then check the current draw of the pump.

Also see the electric motor diagnostics

at ELECTRIC MOTOR DIAGNOSTIC GUIDE

There is no electrical power to our pump, what's wrong?

We have no electrity to our pump what could be wrong and how to fix it? (Apr 11, 2015) barbara

Reply:

Barbara

Start at the pump switch: assure that power is on; check the main panel for a tripped breaker or fuse; if power is on and no fuse is tripped then check the pump pressure switch itself: some pump pressure control switches include a pump protection circuit that shut the pump off if it is running too long or seems to be running dry (which can ruin the pump motor).

Some of those switches need to be manually re-set. If your switch has a metal lever on one side that may be the control: check the instructions for your particular pump switch or tell us the brand and model.

If that doesn't get the pump going, I'd suggest calling an electrician as I'm a bit worried about shock hazards if you start taking things apart or messing with wiring. The problem could be a broken wire, bad pump switch, or a seized pump motor.