Water pump question

[Kwasaki]

Quick one, can only think truck ran over temporary cable causes a short in the cable, plugged in the water pump a buzz and stop and it wouldn't work, found the cable was the problem, run another checked ok cable, pump still won't work. 

Do pumps have an internal trip switch or has the short destroyed the pump. 

[Crossy]

Assuming the pump rotates freely then the first port of call would be the capacitor.

 

[Kwasaki]

13 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Assuming the pump rotates freely then the first port of call would be the capacitor.

 

Is that the round thingy.

[Stevemercer]

No. That houses the pressure switch. These can often get jammed. It's worthwhile removing the cover and flicking the mechanism a few times to see if engages/disengages. Make sure you switch off power to the pump first!! Give the wiring and mechanism a good eye ball to see if there is any scorching.

 

If the mechanism doesn't click and/or the wiring is scorched, get someone to replace the pressure switch.

 

Check the water level by unscrewing the black cap. Top up if necessary. Reconnect the power and see if it works..

 

 

[carlyai]

The Capacitor looks like the pic. And is near the motor windings. It could have a black burnt hole in it if failed.

My pictures aren't loading, so it could have 68 or similar written on it and maybe +++ or ____. Round cylindrical thinggy.

Google motor capacitor.

 

[Kwasaki]

15 hours ago, Stevemercer said:

No. That houses the pressure switch. These can often get jammed. It's worthwhile removing the cover and flicking the mechanism a few times to see if engages/disengages. Make sure you switch off power to the pump first!! Give the wiring and mechanism a good eye ball to see if there is any scorching.

If the mechanism doesn't click and/or the wiring is scorched, get someone to replace the pressure switch.

Check the water level by unscrewing the black cap. Top up if necessary. Reconnect the power and see if it works..

 

6 hours ago, carlyai said:

The Capacitor looks like the pic. And is near the motor windings. It could have a black burnt hole in it if failed.

My pictures aren't loading, so it could have 68 or similar written on it and maybe +++ or ____. Round cylindrical thinggy.

Took the grey cover off what I know as a capacitor now ???? I turned a little screw with plus & minus writing by it and there was a click, plugged pump in and it started then stop turning the tap on & off, so it seems OK.

It's just I can't find a direct answer on Google asking what little screw with plus & minus writing does, seeing as the pump was working I didn't want to touch the screw anymore.

 

[carlyai]

8 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

 

Took the grey cover off what I know as a capacitor now ???? I turned a little screw with plus & minus writing by it and there was a click, plugged pump in and it started then stop turning the tap on & off, so it seems OK.

It's just I can't find a direct answer on Google asking what little screw with plus & minus writing does, seeing as the pump was working I didn't want to touch the screw anymore.

 

That was the pressure switch. The one Stevemerser posted about. You can see on the side of the cover what pressure it is. Something like 2.2 on 2.8 off. So if you screwed that a bit and it worked fine. Be careful as the screw is live 220v so always use an insulated screwdriver.

 This is a pic. of the capacitor now I can add files. ????

[Kwasaki]

14 minutes ago, carlyai said:

That was the pressure switch. The one Stevemerser posted about. You can see on the side of the cover what pressure it is. Something like 2.2 on 2.8 off. So if you screwed that a bit and it worked fine. Be careful as the screw is live 220v so always use an insulated screwdriver.

 This is a pic. of the capacitor now I can add files. ????

Thanks but how do you get to know if the screw is in the correct position.

[Crossy]

Is the pump actually buzzing when it's supposed to be operating?

Does it turn freely?

 

The capacitor will probably be in or next to the box on the motor where the cable connections are.

[carlyai]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

Thanks but how do you get to know if the screw is in the correct position.

I wouldn't worry if the pump works like it used to and you only screwed the screw a little bit, not many revolutions.

To check the pressure is correct, what I have set up is a tap and water pressure gauge screwed into the tap. So when I want to check the pressure I turn to tap on. My pump has 2 outlets, so this is the 2nd outlet, the other outlet goes to the house.

If you can't check the pressure and the pump is not working properly you can replace the switch. Not expensive.

But as Crossy says, if the pump is buzzing (not pumping) then check the capacitor. 

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

Is the pump actually buzzing when it's supposed to be operating?

Does it turn freely?

 

The capacitor will probably be in or next to the box on the motor where the cable connections are.

As you can see in pix the pump is only a cheap 1000 baht jobby from Global but has been fine more than 5 years on the farm never been a problem. 

Got a good electric supply to it and it's just like it has always been with just a hum as pumps the water,  as I said I just wanted to know does the screw need to be checked for position within the plus and minus or what is the purpose of it. 

[Crossy]

So it's now pumping?

 

The pressure switch controls the water pressure that the pump starts and stops at, turning to the + will increase the "stop" pressure possibly to the point that the pump never actually stops. Turning the other way will do the opposite. You really need a pressure gauge to set it correctly.

 

If it's turning on and off as expected don't mess with the switch, if you do fiddle don't move it more than 1/4 turn at a time.

[Kwasaki]

3 minutes ago, Crossy said:

So it's now pumping?

 

The pressure switch controls the water pressure that the pump starts and stops at, turning to the + will increase the "stop" pressure possibly to the point that the pump never actually stops. Turning the other way will do the opposite. You really need a pressure gauge to set it correctly.

 

If it's turning on and off as expected don't mess with the switch, if you do fiddle don't move it more than 1/4 turn at a time.

Yeah seems all good now,   thanks for that info so I know things.

 

As I said in OP I thought I'd blown it up inside when plugging into a faulty plug socket which had become shorted out. 

[Crossy]

Yeah, I see now an earlier post where you tweeked it and things started working, could just have been stuck.

 

"Impact based maintenance" (a good solid blow with the blunt end of a large screwdriver) is often the solution

[Kwasaki]

Just now, Crossy said:

Yeah, I see now an earlier post where you tweeked it and things started working, could just have been stuck.

 

"Impact based maintenance" (a good solid blow with the blunt end of a large screwdriver) is often the solution

????  ????  I use a Irish screwdriver. ????

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

????  ????  I use a Irish screwdriver. ????

The real term for that is a Birmingham screwdriver, usually around 2.5lb head
 

Urban dictionary definition

[Kwasaki]

13 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

The real term for that is a Birmingham screwdriver, usually around 2.5lb head
 

Urban dictionary definition

Nice one. ????

[VocalNeal]

Pressure switch regulates the Off pressure of the pump. If you notice the water pressure varies when using one tap but is OK when using two then you can tweak the pressure up a bit so that the pump doesn't turn off and then on again when only running one tap. 

You cannot increase the pressure the pump generates.

[Muhendis]

20 hours ago, Crossy said:

could just have been stuck.

'course it could be that all the faucets are closed.

[Crossy]

2 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

'course it could be that all the faucets are closed.

 

Details, details!

[Kwasaki]

19 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Details, details!

I rather not know if it ain't broke don't try and fix it. ????