Ask Me Help Desk - Square D pressure switch wiring melting points.

Hi everyone,

I am having problems with my well this week and right now have no water at all. I saw earlier in the week that the old pressure switch contacts were in very bad shape so I cleaned them but a day later it quit working. I bought a new switch this morning and put it in after about 10 seconds the points melted and it was ruined. I went out and bought another switch and tried again but the same thing happened to me.
I made sure that the power in wires went to the outside terminals of the switch and the 2 wires from the electric motor were in the center 2 and of course I connected the ground wire as well to the back plate on the switch as shown on the instructions. My question is about the 2 wires coming from the motor does it make a difference if they are still connected to the 2 center terminals but IF I had them mixed up? I don't see why it would be a problem wouldn't the motor just run in reverse if I had done that? I took a picture of them before I started so I know the 2 outside wires are in the right place.
If that doesn't matter why do you suppose I keep shorting out the new switches?
Please help I have a sink full of dirty dishes and need a shower asap!

Thanks!

MikeyMacaw.

It makes no difference about the wires going to the pump. Since you are dealing with AC, it will also not cause the pump to run in reverse. The two inner terminals go to the pump, while the two outer wires come from the breaker.

When you say the old switch stopped working, do you mean that the points were no longer closing, or were they closing and the pump not cutting on?

At this "point", it would seem to be a reasonable guess that the switch is not the problem. It would seem that your pump is drawing too much power for some reason, or you have not wired the switch correctly.

Are both sets of points melting or just one?

First time it was the 2 points on the left side then on the second switch it was the 2 points on the right side?

What you are referring to as "points" are actually terminals. It must be one of two things:

1. You do not have it wired correctly. You are putting the two wires from the breaker on the same set of terminals. This is why only one set of terminals are melting. HOwever, that would show up as soon as you reset the breaker and would be, I would think, pretty dramatic.

2. Only one "leg" of the pump is bad. That would explain why one set of terminals at a time is melting. The melting would switch sides if you switched the two wires going to the pump when you put in the second switch.

When you say the old switch stopped working, do you mean that the points were no longer closing, or were they closing and the pump not cutting on?

In the old switch the point farthest to the right was completely worn down to nothing so I tried to bend it over with needle nose pliers to make a better contact and it worked a couple of days on and off until it was of no use anymore. Tomorrow I am going to check all the wires to see if a rat or mouse ate the wire somewqhere along the way otherwise I am out of ideas. My back is killing me from spending 4 hours in the pit today. If you have any other ideas for me to try I would appreciate it.

Thanks for you help.

MikeyMacaw.

1. You do not have it wired correctly. You are putting the two wires from the breaker on the same set of terminals. This is why only one set of terminals are melting. HOwever, that would show up as soon as you reset the breaker and would be, I would think, pretty dramatic.

2. Only one "leg" of the pump is bad. That would explain why one set of terminals at a time is melting. The melting would switch sides if you switched the two wires going to the pump when you put in the second switch.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly I know I have the 2 power wires in the right place and when you say one leg of the pump is bad does that mean I need a new pump now? If I do what do you think it would cost me to have someone come here and do it? My pump is a submerged type but that's all I know about it I rent this place but the landlord doesn't help us with bills like this or the boiler etc. Looks like I won't have any water for the summer we just spent 500 on the boiler yesterday and 1200 on the car this month. The driveway is so rough here I needed a LOT of suspension work and brakes because the 1/4 mile long driveway is so muddy all the time it ruins the brakes every 6 months. What a lousy month this is and its only half over...
Take care and thanks again.

MikeyMacaw.

Probably time to bring in a well specialist. 220 volt pumps run off two 110 volt circuits. They are out of phase so that is how the 220 volts develops. It sometimes happens that one circuit (leg) of the pump goes bad.

You might want to put this topic on the electrical forum of this board. A good electrician might have a better answer for this.

Do you have any idea how far down in the well the pump is?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Probably time to bring in a well specialist. 220 volt pumps run off of two 110 volt circuits. They are out of phase so that is how the 220 volts develops. It sometimes happens that one circuit (leg) of the pump goes bad.

You might want to put this topic on the electrical forum of this board. A good electrician might have a better answer for this.

Do you have any idea how far down in the well the pump is?

Some how the motor is drawing too much amp,for contacts and wires to burn... yes it best to move this to the electric forum