220 volt wiring trouble shooting?

First off why do people come here and answer electrical question when they have no clue what they are talking about.

I am assuming that your pump it self will be a straight 240V load. It is fine for them to run a 2 conductor(black and white) to this pump. In this situtaion you are supposed to permentaly change the colour of the white wire to some other colour(black or red would be the best choice) this is usally done with electrical tape.

Now if the pressure switch is a 120V load then there should have been a 3 wire ran out ther(black, red, and white) The black and red would be hot and give you 240V. Then you would tie either the black and white, or red and white to the pressure switch for the 120V.

My first place to look would be at the switch. It may look like a 4way but it is a 2P switch for 240V loads. On that switch 2 of the screws should one colour, and the other 2 a differnt colour. Your line in from the breaker would go to two of the screws(the same colour ones) and then the load out would go to the other screws and then to the pump.

Hello Ed,

In normal 110 volt wiring, the black wire is hot and the white wire is neutral. The bare copper wire is a safety ground only and should not carry current normally. The fact that it was arcing indicates some serious fault.

I'm not sure if any of the switching on the pump requires 110 volts, but if so then someone may have jerry-rigged that to use the safety ground as a neutral. Not good at all.

In that case, the white would carry one half of the 220 (110 volts to neutral - or ground) and the black is supplying the other half.

I believe - and I'm not an electrician, I'm simply giving you fair warning as to what may be happening - that, should the pump be 220 volt, you should have two black wires, one white wire, and the bare copper wire running to that pump.

If it was jerry-rigged, a short in the circuit on the pump itself might result in it trying to run all the time. If it needs the 110 volts, then the twisted copper would, over time, start arcing and the pump might not start. 'Fixing' the obvious problem (the arcing wire) would result in the pump running all the time (assuming the problem is in the switching circuit on the pump and also assuming that circuit does require 110 volts) - but, apparently, the pressure switching circuit still works.

You'll need to verify the need for 220 (I suspect you are correct). You will want to replace the wiring with the proper 3 conductor wiring (two black and one white - the bare copper wire is not considered a conductor as it is for safety purposes only).

You'll also need to check the wiring for a possible short to ground on the switch on the pump itself. Make sure the power is off.

You've been lucky; if the thing is somehow shorted and the safety ground has indeed been improperly used as a conductor, that pump (the whole thing) may have been sitting at 110 volts just waiting for someone to grab it while wearing damp shoes.

Frankly, I'd hire an electrician. This sounds like a bit of a mess to me.

Good luck!

Best regards,

Jim

Where I live, this wiring is not legal! The white is ALWAYS the neutral wire and the bare copper is supposed to be the ground! The arraingment you're talking about is using the ground conductor as the neutral! If you had no pressure on the storage tank the pressure switch should make the motor run no matter what! Are you talking about a disconnect type of switch,a standard single pole,a double pole,or what? :-)=

You have a 240 volt circuit.

If white goes to one pole of a 2-pole circuit breaker, it needs to be remarked to a different color. Black or red for instance. But not green. Whatever color you mark it for 3 inches at the breaker, mark it the same at the other end.

You have a 2-pole switch, not a 4-way switch.

Well (excuse the pun), you're SUPPOSED to have a 2-pole switch. If you have a 4-way switch, it will be on in either position! All the armchair electricians missed this!

There is no nuetral in a 220-240V wiring only 2hot lines and a ground the switch is a three way power feeds the swich, in on position feeds the pump, in other position feeds the one side of the contactor.

Darren is pretty much right, IF it is a 4 way switch it WILL NOT have off or on, On the face of the switch if it doesn't have off or on, on the face of the switch that is you problem and you are at good odds of burning your pump up because it's running at 120v all the time, a 4 ways switched used in your circumstance will always let 120v thru because of the way it is made, Single throw 240volt switches will have off and On, On the face of it

sounds like you go it wired up wrong. you should have a 220v switch it has places tohook two wires comming into the switch and two places for two wires going out of the switch. the two wires comming out of the switch go to the pump motor wires. your netural wire does not go through the switch. first of al you got the wrong kind of wiring you should have a red and a black wire running through the switch and a white wire going from the netural strip in your breaker box to the pump pressure switch

Well Pump Wiring

sounds like you have a bad switch if the pump runs wether it is on or off

Sounds like the switch is bad. You could try replacing it. Be careful, good luck.