Is my Well pressure switch wired right?

[JOE.G]

Hi, Today I decided to clean out the tube that the Well pressure switch is connected to ( Completely clogged not sure how it was working ) and I cleaned up the switch.
I have a Sta - Rite SK 2 switch which I adjusted to be a 40/60. I also have a 1/2 HP 230 Volt well pump.

Now I have had no problems but my wiring does not seem to be like anything I have seen on the net.

The first pic is of my cover
2nd is my switch
3 and 4 are samples off the Net.
Mine is wired 2 out side posts to a 2 pole 20 amp breaker and the middle wires go to my Pump.
I did attach wires better when I put it back together.

Thanks

 

[1500hd]

Looks to be correct. It is switching both legs of the 240 volts.

 

[JOE.G]

Why do most of the pictures on the net show the 2 whites on one side and the 2 blacks on the other side ?

 

[Bert_]

Black and white don't matter. This is 240v so it's not a neutral. If you want to be technical the white wire should be colored black. Then you wouldn't even know the difference.

 

[JOE.G]

Okay so mine is right? I could switch the two power wires ( White and black from breaker box ) with each other and also switch the two motor wires ( White and Black center wires ) with each other and it would be fine?

Why do the pictures I took from the net have black with black and white with white? It appears they dont have the motor hooked to both center screws which the label says they are for the motor.

I am trying to learn and I thank you guys for the help

 

[Bert_]

Why do the pictures I took from the net have black with black and white with white? It appears they dont have the motor hooked to both center screws which the label says they are for the motor.

I am trying to learn and I thank you guys for the help

Because they don't know any better and think it matters.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

The order doesnt matter.

If you ran THWN to the switch and used all black it still wouldnt matter. The hot legs from single phase 240v can go any way.

 

[walta]

There is nothing wrong with the way you wired the switch.

The only possible danger is the next time you disconnect the wires and switch you could put the wires back slightly differently and short the circuit making the breaker trip and maybe damage the switch. If you keep the whites and blacks together you can’t make that mistake.


Walta

 

[Junkman]

My only suggestion is to change out your switch for a new Square D switch with low pressure cut off. If you left your home, and a pipe broke, the pump would shut off because the broken pipe would be pulling more water out of the tank than the pump could recover. We had a ruptured water hose on the washing machine, that started flooding the laundry room, until the pump shut down. Now, I have hoses on the washing machine that also shut off the flow should one rupture.
They sell in the $25 range at Home Depot.. Cheap Insurance....

 

[JOE.G]

Thank you guys, Ill look into the Square D Switch.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Okay so mine is right? I could switch the two power wires ( White and black from breaker box ) with each other and also switch the two motor wires ( White and Black center wires ) with each other and it would be fine?

As stated, it does not matter, but if it makes you feel better, switch either the motor wire OR the power wires, BUT NOT BOTH.

That is, make the colors line up like the other picture. (It does look a bit odd, like the first time you see a white wire going to one of the legs on a 240V breaker.)

 

[JOE.G]

I get it now, I can swap 1 and 4 or 2and 3 with each other and have colors matched. Ill leave it for now and if and when i replace switch I ll do it then. Just wasn't 100 % sure.

 

[Norcal]

One thing I see wrong is the NM cable “Romex” being used. Doubt anyone could say it’s protected from physical damage or in a dry location.

 

[s14kev]

One thing I see wrong is the NM cable “Romex” being used. Doubt anyone could say it’s protected from physical damage or in a dry location.

That should be fine if in a well house. My pressure switch is outdoors in a valve box and I wired it with UF cable.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Does it work - Yup.
Is it wired right - yup.

 

[nsula_country]

One thing I see wrong is the NM cable “Romex” being used. Doubt anyone could say it’s protected from physical damage or in a dry location.

This is all I see wrong too. Damp location, exposed.

CT

 

[JOE.G]

I fixed up the connections, I did not use Romex as this passed inspection in 2010, It is in the basement of my home. I have seen a few wired like this with no romex.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I fixed up the connections, I did not use Romex as this passed inspection in 2010, It is in the basement of my home. I have seen a few wired like this with no romex.

The well is in your basement? That would make it impossible for a derrick truck to change it out.

how deep is the well and what type of drop pipe does it use?

 

[Bert_]

The well is in your basement? That would make it impossible for a derrick truck to change it out.

how deep is the well and what type of drop pipe does it use?

Pretty hard to put a pressure switch, tank and pump control in a 6" casing...

I'm sure the well is in the yard somewhere. It's pretty common to put the rest in the house basement. And yes I've wired them with Romex.

 

[JOE.G]

The well is about 135 foot deep, it is about 70 Ft from my home, The Pressure tank and switch are in the basement.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Pretty hard to put a pressure switch, tank and pump control in a 6" casing...

I'm sure the well is in the yard somewhere. It's pretty common to put the rest in the house basement. And yes I've wired them with Romex.

most of the wells ive serviced out here have had everything right next to the casing so I didnt think of a divorced setup

 

[Bert_]

most of the wells ive serviced out here have had everything right next to the casing so I didnt think of a divorced setup

Don't get me wrong there are some like that here but you either need a pit 5-6' in the ground or a shed with a heater to keep it from freezing.

Used to be real common with dug or early drilled wells to have a pit 5-6' deep with all the equipment in it and the well would be in the bottom. Now the well head needs to be above ground to prevent ground water contamination.

 

[nsula_country]

most of the wells ive serviced out here have had everything right next to the casing so I didnt think of a divorced setup

All wells I have seen have a pump house and everything is near the casing.

Interesting setup. Haven't seen a divorced setup before.

CT

 

[walrus]

The well is about 135 foot deep, it is about 70 Ft from my home, The Pressure tank and switch are in the basement.

Just like 99% of wells in Maine, the guys in warm climates don't have to worry about freezing water but in the Northeast...........

 

[Norcal]

Just like 99% of wells in Maine, the guys in warm climates don't have to worry about freezing water but in the Northeast...........

Yup, the people who live in god forsaken country have to worry about that, my tank is sitting outdoors but back in 1990-91 there were temps in the single digits that caused a lot of water damage here, the 1/4” galvanized ****** under the pressure switch froze causing the rental to run out of water.

 

[JOE.G]

Around here almost all set ups are like mine, Tank and switch in basement or some where in the home. Funny how some thing you think is normal and the same everywhere is not.

 

[Blk88GT]

The only thing I don't care for in the pictures are the lack of loops on the wire ends to get a positive wrap around the screws.

 

[JOE.G]

Blk88GT I corrected that. This was first time I had the cover off.

 

[Arne73]

Just had to replace the line from my pressure tank on Tuesday. Galvanized pipe sprung a leak, replaced it all with schedule 80 PVC.
Here's my switch~SQ-D, no low pressure shut off.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Junkman]

This is my low cut off switch. I had to replace it last year, because the one that was installed 30+ years ago, had clogged up with rust. Where I live, we have something in the water called "iron bacteria", which gets as thick as chocolate pudding in the filters. There are only 2 ways to get rid of it... filters or chlorinating the well and letting it sit for a few weeks with chlorine in it, which isn't going to happen. Last time I did that, was when we were going away for 2 weeks. When I came back, the iron bacteria was gone, but the water smelled of chlorine for a couple of months afterward.
This switch came from Lowes, and is branded "Everbilt". I also keep spare parts in the event my well gets struck by lightning. It was a problem for a number of years, but for some unknown reason, it hasn't happened in the last 10 or 15 years. Before that, it was every 2 or 3 years, lightning would blow out the well pump and the control. It happened enough times that I kept spare parts including the 2 HP well pump on hand.
It has a place in the box for an optional run capacitor, but it was never installed, and I often wonder if it might be of some value to add it?

 

[850xpeps]

All wells I have seen have a pump house and everything is near the casing.



Interesting setup. Haven't seen a divorced setup before.



CT

Everything here is a deivorced setup. Sometimes older houses that had jet pumps had the at the well. But any submersible I’ve seen has everything in the house. And a bulldog or snappie or whatever you wanna call it about 6-8’ down to stop from freezing and that’s where the water line connects to go to house

 

[JRC3]

The wiring is fine, not how I'd do it. Luckily electric current/phase is colorblind.

My only suggestion is to change out your switch for a new Square D switch with low pressure cut off. If you left your home, and a pipe broke, the pump would shut off because the broken pipe would be pulling more water out of the tank than the pump could recover. We had a ruptured water hose on the washing machine, that started flooding the laundry room, until the pump shut down.
They sell in the $25 range at Home Depot.. Cheap Insurance....

That only happened by chance. Most plumbing is restricted enough so the pressure wouldn't drop below the 30psi or whatever the pump saver switch is set to cut-off? I mean a tub or hos bib should deliver pretty much the full flow of any pipe feeding it. Do most well saver pumps trip when either of those high flow faucets are used? Nope.

 

[SGKent]

anyone know what the red wire in there is doing?

View media item 100889

 

[Arne73]

anyone know what the red wire in there is doing?

View media item 100889

From what I can see it looks like it's the ground. The NM cable appears to be older 3 conductor without a bare ground wire.

Those terminations got my attention, make a loop and land them on the left side of the screw.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[JRC3]

I'd guess the Romex is 12/3 and someone discovered they didn't need the common for the well application. If so, I'd used the red instead of the white for the other hot.

 

[JOE.G]

Wires are wrapped and hooked up correctly now, this was a before shot. Yes the red was from a 12/3 and it is tapped off, Why would you use the red just because of color? Both have bare grounds which are grounded to switch ground screws.

 

[Bert_]

Wires are wrapped and hooked up correctly now, this was a before shot. Yes the red was from a 12/3 and it is tapped off, Why would you use the red just because of color? Both have bare grounds which are grounded to switch ground screws.

You are putting way to much thought into this whole thing. They used 12/3 for some reason (doesn't matter) and capped the extra wire. None of the colors matter because it's 240v single phase.

All that matters is that the pump gets power when the pressure switch calls for it. The two hot wires can be flipped back and forth and they could be black, red, purple, blue, ect. It just doesn't matter.

The only thing wrong is the white wire should be marked black, or any color other than white, gray or green. But that is a very minor detail.

 

[JRC3]

Yes the red was from a 12/3 and it is tapped off, Why would you use the red just because of color?

The only thing wrong is the white wire should be marked black, or any color other than white, gray or green. But that is a very minor detail.

And that's why I'd use the red instead of the white. Red and black mean hot. But the pump don't care, it is color blind.

 

[SGKent]

IMHO - to me it is just the whole reason for this thread - someone looks at it and instead of having a pretty good idea what has been done, the first thing that goes thru their mind is, "what have they done here?" I hope the rest of the wiring on this property is more standard. The way the wires were jammed into that switch doesn't speak highly of whomever did/maintained the wiring on that property.

I'd probably turn the breaker off and verify that a white and a black were used, use a sharpie to put a bold black stripe on the white, then do the same at the relay, and make the sides so that black/black is one side and white/blk / white/blk is the other. My guess is that this won't be the only wiring on the property that could use some tuning. The red may be too short to use, and using it instead of white would require changes at the pump. If the pump wiring connection is above ground then use the black sharpie there too and make sure the connection is solid.

 

[JOE.G]

What are the difference between these Square D Switches, One is a 40/60 the other 2 are 30/50 I think one of them has adjustable pressure spreads and the others are fixed? Does it matter which I get as they are adjustable between 30/50 and 40/60?


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Am I better off getting one with out low pressure cut off?