230v wiring question

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Jun 5, 2003
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Apple Valley, California
My well pump was 230v. Since my well has gone dry I'm running off a storage tank and using a 110 v pump and extension cord to put water in my pressure tank.

I would like to make the 110 v water pump work off my existing pressure switch.

I have 2 red wires at my well. Wouldn't they both be 115 v? If so where is the ground wire? If I just use 1 and a ground wouldn't that work?

How can I wire this so I'm not getting up all hours of the day and night to refill my pressure tank?

The first pic is of my pressure switch and the 2 nd one is at my well.

I can get more pics if needed.
 

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Easy/definitely not to code way: cut the extension cord you're using for your pump and wire it to go through the pressure switch.
 
Get a Google Home mini and a smart outlet, that you plug the extension cord into.

Next say "Hey Gooople", "turn my outlet on all hours of the day and night." ;)

Kidding aside, I don't know the setup on your pressure switch, but if it can just open/close the circuit then I'd use it to trigger a relay in a box I built with an outlet in it, that you plug the extension cord into.

Edit: If you want to use your current wires, then determine which of the two is the switched wire, wire that to the 110V pump, then you will either need to run a new ground wire, or disconnect the other end of the other 110V wire and connect that to ground. This latter option opens up the potential for misunderstanding so as always, telling you to get an electrician is the safest advice.
 
My pressure switch on my 115v jet pump interrupts both the hot and neutral. There are two sets of contacts. This switch could also be used on 230 by interrupting both hots.

Think of your red wires as +115 and -115. Together they make 230. There's no neutral required. Grounding, I'm not up enough on the code to know why it wouldn't be grounded, but, heck, it's in the ground.

They use the same pressure switches for 115 and 230, so you know what to do.

As an alternatively elegant solution you could Tee in some more pipe and add another pressure switch, they're only $30, and use the new switch to run your transfer pump. That way your initial switch would be in place if the groundwater comes back.
 
Does the switch have two load and two hot connections for the 230v?
If so, any reason why you couldn't just use 1/2 of it for the 110v
After all, 230 is just the peak to peak between the two hot wires. You get ~110 from one to the neutral?
If the switch is mechanical AND it's switching both hots, I'd just use one half of it to provide power to your 110v load.
 
In all seriousness, get an electrician.

This.

It can be done with your existing wires if you have all four.

If it is a two wire setup, it would require about 10 minutes work inside the breaker panel and possibly a 110v switch if your isn't dual voltage.

But using just hot and ground is very bad and you should hire an electrician.
 
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With 230v, yes, you have (2) wires each carrying 110-115v. At your breaker panel, those (2) wires connect to (2) lugs. Disconnect one wire on both ends.
 
Does the switch have two load and two hot connections for the 230v?
If so, any reason why you couldn't just use 1/2 of it for the 110v
After all, 230 is just the peak to peak between the two hot wires. You get ~110 from one to the neutral?
If the switch is mechanical AND it's switching both hots, I'd just use one half of it to provide power to your 110v load.
The issue with this is it's probably a 30+ amp breaker which won't adequately protect his little extension cord. And there's no neutral at the switch, currently, so he'll have to bring one in.
 
I'd just use one half of it to provide power to your 110v load.
With 230v, yes, you have (2) wires each carrying 110-115v. At your breaker panel, those (2) wires connect to (2) lugs. Disconnect one wire on both ends.
Still won't have a neutral at the pressure switch.

Would need to disconnect the red or black off of the double pole breaker for the well pump and connect it to the neutral bus in his electrical panel and like @eljefino said, would be a good idea to connect the hot to an appropriately sized breaker.
 
Still won't have a neutral at the pressure switch.

Would need to disconnect the red or black off of the double pole breaker for the well pump and connect it to the neutral bus in his electrical panel and like @eljefino said, would be a good idea to connect the hot to an appropriately sized breaker.
All of that runs there, and the insulation is broken at the switch to get the two hots. So I'd imagine the neutral is there. It's not like the neutral takes a different path. It's in "the neighborhood."

It's doable and would eliminate the extension cord.
Now, the question is how many amps does the 110v pump draw? As @eljefino noted if you have a 30a 220v breaker, it's like 2 15a 110v breakers working in tandem. So you would have 15a for each 110v leg or about 1700-1800w depending on the voltage at the pump in round numbers.
 
Each of the hot wires in your existing 240v are 120v to neutral. Running one hot to neutral is 120v - it's the same thing as a 120v outlet in your house. You can see this with a multi meter.
 
If there are other things on the 230V circuit than the pressure switch and old well pump then you are S.O.L.

Otherwise you could move one hot wire to the pressure switch to Neutral to make it a 115V circuit. Electric code will not be happy because Neutral is supposed to always be a white wire for the sake of safety of anyone working on it in the future.

You could disconnect everything from the pressure switch and use it to make/break the hot wire to your 115V pump. If it switches 230 then it will have no trouble switching 115V.

A full 230V circuit consists of L1, L2, Neutral, and Ground. Ground is not supposed to carry current because a wire carrying current has a voltage drop and for safety you don't want people touching the case of a grounded device and getting shocked. Ground and Neutral are connected to each other at the service entrance and no where else.

Most 230V devices do not need or have Neutral. A Tesla Wall Connector, for instance. The Mobile Connector uses a NEMA 14-50 plug, common among RVs, which includes Neutral (and Ground) so the RV can have both 230V and 115V.
 
If there are other things on the 230V circuit than the pressure switch and old well pump then you are S.O.L.

Otherwise you could move one hot wire to the pressure switch to Neutral to make it a 115V circuit. Electric code will not be happy because Neutral is supposed to always be a white wire for the sake of safety of anyone working on it in the future.

You could disconnect everything from the pressure switch and use it to make/break the hot wire to your 115V pump. If it switches 230 then it will have no trouble switching 115V.

A full 230V circuit consists of L1, L2, Neutral, and Ground. Ground is not supposed to carry current because a wire carrying current has a voltage drop and for safety you don't want people touching the case of a grounded device and getting shocked. Ground and Neutral are connected to each other at the service entrance and no where else.

Most 230V devices do not need or have Neutral. A Tesla Wall Connector, for instance. The Mobile Connector uses a NEMA 14-50 plug, common among RVs, which includes Neutral (and Ground) so the RV can have both 230V and 115V.
When a conventional 2-wire cable with one BK and one WH conductor is used as a switch leg (wherein both conductors are hot), best practice is to disidentify the WH conductor with BK tape.

Is it permissible to disidentify a BK or RD conductor with WH tape to show it's being used as a neutral?
 
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