/Well Control Box transformer?

animatt
animatt Solar Expert Posts: 295 ✭✭✭
I have a submersible pump truper "bos-1lm". It states it is a 110v well pump control box. it has an external box which has a power switch(red) and a breaker(clear push button) and a capacitor inside.

The push button breaker was tripping after a few seconds of usage. So I switched out the breaker with a normal din rail breaker to test if that was the issue. And it was a malfunctioning breaker.

I put a clamp meter to read amps. Going to the breaker was like 5.5amps. For kicks I put it around on connection coming from the capacitor. It read half the amps(around 2.75). So I checked voltage. At the breaker was ~110v and at capacitor was ~220v .The control was connected via an extension to a 110v outlet. I was in a rush that day and got everything back together and now I am a few hundred miles from the pump setup. I did not trace everything out. But it was 220v going to pump. What kind of magic is going on inside the box. No visible transformer or anything. The on/off switch was a little big but this seems a bit strange.

I am in mexico where there are alot of 110v only electrical services. SO thinking maybe this pump runs on 220v but use 110 to transmit power. Still would seem like a waste to have this conversion all the way at well. But device does come pre wire with a male plug. So maybe ease of installment.

I know this info is a bit vague and I do not even have photos of inside the control box.

Currently I have the pump roughly 300 ft from power source(24v inverter). With 10 gauge cable. while it does work I was wondering if I could bypass part of the setup and install pump on 220v. The 10gauge is provisional. When I run permant wire run would be nice to run for 220v without having to buy another pump. And would allow cheaper cable install.

I would imagine I will just have to wait and trace out what is happening in the box. Anyone here seen anything similar to what i am describing?

Thanks
Matthew Wright

Comments

  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: /Well Control Box transformer?

    Hahaha The "magic" is not taking place in the box, it's happening in the transformer-like windings in the motor, and what you're seeing is perfectly normal. There are various types of control box designs to connect and disconnect the start windings in the motor. Some are electronic, using no movable parts, others have mechanical relays. One type of starting relay monitors the current to the main run winding. That current is high enough to pull in the relay contacts when the motor is not up to speed. Once it does reach normal running speed, the current drops off and is no longer strong enough to hold in the relay contacts, thus cutting off the start winding. Another type of relay monitors the voltage across the start winding, which until the motor is up to speed, stays relatively low. As the motor reaches operating speed, that voltage rises to the more or less 220 you're seeing, which is enough to pull in the relay clapper and open the start contacts.
    220 volt pumps of this type operate the same way, just with different currents and voltages.
    All is well with the world. :D
    OH! And DO NOT try supplying this pump with 220 volts, only serious damage can result.
  • animatt
    animatt Solar Expert Posts: 295 ✭✭✭
    Re: /Well Control Box transformer?

    Yeah I have no real pump knowledge and was hoping you would chime in. Figured I would post though as the answer to possible help someone else in the future vs a PM.

    thanks
  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: /Well Control Box transformer?

    Always best to post such questions in the open. As you suggest, others may be considering the same or similar situations. :D
    And we learn from each other. I had no idea Mexico had a lot of 110 volt only supplies.
  • animatt
    animatt Solar Expert Posts: 295 ✭✭✭
    Re: /Well Control Box transformer?
    Always best to post such questions in the open. As you suggest, others may be considering the same or similar situations. :D
    And we learn from each other. I had no idea Mexico had a lot of 110 volt only supplies.

    I think Most places you can get 220v but I have seen many what would be equivalent to subdivisions where all meters are only 110v.

    I would imagine 220v installs are more common but still not like it is north of here(Canada and Usa). I am not sure if this happens in other less economically developed split phase countries.

    I have seen many 110v breaker panels in hardware stores as well. I think for a long time most people would have had just basic lighting then maybe tv or a refrigerator. So demands for 220v was never there. There is still a fairly large supply on 110v appliances. many minisplits up to about 1 ton can be easily found in 110v.
  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: /Well Control Box transformer?
    animatt wrote: »
    I think for a long time most people would have had just basic lighting then maybe tv or a refrigerator. So demands for 220v was never there.

    Sounds much like my part of Canada when I was a child, but there were no TVs, only radios.
    Almost all homes had only a 110 volt meter rated for 30 amps. That meter was hung on an inside wall out of the weather, and from there, the power went to two 30 amp fuses, one fed the upstairs of the house, the other fed downstairs. There's be a light with a pull chain in each room upstairs and that would be it. No receptacles.
    Downstairs where would usually be a wall switch for the single light in each room and perhaps a receptacle in each room. In my grandparents house they finally got an electric water pump as well, eliminating the hand pump at the kitchen sink. Only a couple of houses in the community had a fridge and for sure not everyone had electricity. What a difference a few decades makes!