Hi,
Thanks for the quick response.
The pump is actually a Sears Best model, sold through, you guessed it,
Sears.
From what I can tell, the control box contains two capacitors and some sort
of circuit breaker (the kind with a big red pushbutton). Good to note about
the electrolytic. Being 20 years in service, it COULD just be drying out.
We have had a few incidents in recent years where the circuit breaker
feeding this box has literally detached itself from the buss. (The face
panel has been off the main breaker box as this place has been eternally
under construction, and the stiff #10AWG wire would tension against it,
causing it to sometimes pull out.) I'll check the connections and tighten if
necessary at that breaker.
There are a secondary pair of fuses in a small fuse box just above the well
pump controller. These are snugly installed.
One thing concerns me though, although this has been so for some 32 years: I
see no evidence of an earth ground on the pump controller. The only wiring
between the little fusebox above it and itself is the two 220vac legs. The
earth ground stops at the fuse box and does not follow to the pump
controller. I'm tempted to add one, just for good measure.
But the electrolytic start cap now raises my suspicions as a culprit.
Keeping in mind here that this seems to be a cold weather problem, the
potential of a loose electrical connection that fails when cold is something
I did not think of before.
--
Take care,
Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . DVD MASTERING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at:
http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-
"rijo1" wrote in message
...
Depending on whether your pump is a Goulds or Red Jacket or other brand ,
you
may very well need to replace the relay contactor . The capacitor is other
good
or bad and is almost never border line unless it is leaking . Also check
all
wiring connections as well as fuses if fuses are used for loose
connections . By
the way , the start capacitor should be a electrolytic capacitor what is
not oil
filled . Oil filled caps. are used as run capacitors . Hope this helps .
Mark & Mary Ann Weiss wrote:
I'm looking for input on whether oil-filled motor start capacitors can
develop a 'cold failure' mode. The situation is as follows:
We started having a consistent problem with our submersible well pump
since
the temperatures have started dipping to 0ºF this winter.
The first time it happened was the first week of December, when the
temperature hit zero. The water pressure in the house dropped to a
trickle
and the tank pressure gauge was down to 10PSI range but the pump was not
running. After some troubleshooting, I hit the 'overload reset' and the
pump
started up and all
was well... until January, when the temperature hit zero again. Then the
same scenario--no water pressure, go down and reset the pump controller
and
pump starts up. All is well for the rest of the week. Until the next
time
the temp hit zero or below.
There is a clear pattern. The pump overload cutout occurs when the
temperature reaches zero or below.
The pump is submerged some 220' below ground surface. The lines leading
from
the well casing is 4' below surface of ground all the way to the house.
That
should be below the frost line. And since 1973, we have had much colder
winters and no problems with the pump overloading and shutting down like
this.
Once I reset the controller, the pump kicks on and refills the Extrol
pressure tank at the usual rate of speed and reaches the upper cutoff
pressure and shuts off until needed again. It usually stays working
until
the next bought of cold weather.
The controller box is in the cellar, which normally maintains around
66ºF,
but on the very cold nights gets down to 60ºF. I'm wondering if the
capacitors' electrical characteristics can change that much because of
temperature if the cap is marginal and on the verge of failure.
I'm at a loss as to what the cause of this behavior is. I doubt that the
pipes at 4' depth are freezing (and if they were, we would not get water
at
all once reset), but the overloads only happen on the coldest nights of
the
season, and with predictable consistency.
The last time this happened, I had more difficulty starting the pump. I
pressed the reset, but 5 seconds later, I heard a click and nothing
happened. I could not reset it for another two minutes, but after that
time
elapsed, the reset button finally clicked in and I heard water rushing
in
though the main pipe.
Does anyone have another idea as to what could be causing the overloads
on
cold nights? Is it a failing start capacitor?
--
Take care,
Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . DVD MASTERING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-