Efficient well pump recommendations?

HawgBonz

HawgBonz

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We're looking to upgrade our current well pump to something more efficient with soft start.
Any of y'all here know about such things or have experience?
The well is 265' but the pump was raised to 140' to get above some of the red water iron if that makes any difference.
Thanks.. :cool:
 
Soft starting might help reduce strain on the piping etc but unless you are having more than 6 starts per hour I doubt it would benefit the motor much. It's been a while but that used to be the NEMA standard for motor control and AC motors

Well pumps don't run a whole lot so efficiency is s minor concern.

The big energy savings will be in the reduced discharge pressure from raising the pump
 
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What we were mostly thinking it would help with is running it on the newer generator.
We tried it a while back and whenever that pump would kick on it'd really bog the generator and cause an overload.
We're planning to try it again and see if mebbe I didn't have enough bigger load items shut off at the time.
She's really worried about keepin the water flowing for the horses as much as anything else.
Nevermind the constant running creek across the property.. 🥴 🤣
 
HawgBonz said:
What we were mostly thinking it would help with is running it on the newer generator.
We tried it a while back and whenever that pump would kick on it'd really bog the generator and cause an overload.
We're planning to try it again and see if mebbe I didn't have enough bigger load items shut off at the time.
She's really worried about keepin the water flowing for the horses as much as anything else.
Nevermind the constant running creek across the property.. 🥴 🤣
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I could see where a soft start would help you then. Alternatively you could reduce the motor HP assuming you didn't when you raise the pump up. Interesting problem.
 
Yeah. I'm lookin forward to tryin it again. It's a 9k Duramax. I'd think that'd run it. Even off of low idle..
It'll hafta wait till I get over this latest hernia surgery, tho'.
All the work was done prior to our buying this property a coupla years ago.
But we did get lucky and found the well tech that did the install. That's where we got the information about the depths.
Thanks much for your input. :cool:
 
Submersible pump I presume? Is yours the three wire pump with the controller mounted above the well, or a two wire pump w/0 a controller?

What else is drawing power when the well pump is trying to start? I’ve had no problems running a deep well pump off of a 5,500 watt Onan generator in the past. But we were careful about load management.

@Bezep1, you mentioned that there will be an energy savings from the reduced discharge pressure from raising the pump. Other than the friction loss in the pipe, it is my understanding that the discharge pressure is affected by the distance from the water level to the surface, not the depth of the pump. If the water Level in your well is 50’, even if the pump is installed at 200’ it is only having to raise the water from 50’ - the surface.

Please correct me if I’m wrong (wouldn’t be the first time!)
 
Scsmith42 said:
Submersible pump I presume? Is yours the three wire pump with the controller mounted above the well, or a two wire pump w/0 a controller?

What else is drawing power when the well pump is trying to start? I’ve had no problems running a deep well pump off of a 5,500 watt Onan generator in the past. But we were careful about load management.

@Bezep1, you mentioned that there will be an energy savings from the reduced discharge pressure from raising the pump. Other than the friction loss in the pipe, it is my understanding that the discharge pressure is affected by the distance from the water level to the surface, not the depth of the pump. If the water Level in your well is 50’, even if the pump is installed at 200’ it is only having to raise the water from 50’ - the surface.

Please correct me if I’m wrong (wouldn’t be the first time!)
Click to expand...
It is certainly counter intuitive and confusing in some ways, but one way to look at it is that it takes more energy to raise a column of water 100 feet than it does to raise it 50 feet. If you look at a well pump catalog you will see that the higher the "head" (or discharge pressure on an open system like this) for the same flow, the higher the horsepower. I hope this helps. And I agree a 9kW generator shouldn't big on a well pump unless there's a very uneven load on the two hot legs.
 
Scsmith42 said:
Submersible pump I presume? Is yours the three wire pump with the controller mounted above the well, or a two wire pump w/0 a controller?

What else is drawing power when the well pump is trying to start? I’ve had no problems running a deep well pump off of a 5,500 watt Onan generator in the past. But we were careful about load management.
Click to expand...
Yes, I think it's a submersible cause that's what he said he raised IIRC. I'll try to look in the well house tomorrow AM and see what info I can gather.
I'm pretty sure I had the main AC off and was only running a mini split with a few other things at the time.
IIRC we'd cut off the water heater. That and the well pump are the two biggest draws I think.
What may be the problem is the generator not coming off "Low Idle" fast enough to catch the water pump.
That's where I got the idea of trying one with a soft start so a capacitor could help with that initial surge.
But I haven't even stayed at a Holiday Inn, I know titi about generators and even less about well pumps so that's just a WAG.. 😁
 
Bezep1 said:
It is certainly counter intuitive and confusing in some ways, but one way to look at it is that it takes more energy to raise a column of water 100 feet than it does to raise it 50 feet. If you look at a well pump catalog you will see that the higher the "head" (or discharge pressure on an open system like this) for the same flow, the higher the horsepower. I hope this helps. And I agree a 9kW generator shouldn't big on a well pump unless there's a very uneven load on the two hot legs.
Click to expand...
But isn’t the head determined by the water level - not the pump level?
 
Scsmith42 said:
But isn’t the head determined by the water level - not the pump level?
Click to expand...

This the way i understand it as well when figuring the “head” You do not count what is considered the “static head” which is from the water level down to pump level
 
Not sure if this information is helpful.
Rasslin the top off the well house kinda pulled on the surgical site so I hadta get what I could. 🥴 :cool:

20230802_173636.jpg
 
With only 20’ of head, your pump should not be heavily loaded. IF that submersible pump hasn’t been replaced since 1979, it’s probably starting to go out and that’s why your current inrush is so high.

Any idea how old the pump is? Is there an electrical control box at the well head or just the wiring going down-hole from the pressure switch?
 
I'll see if I can't get that info.
Dunno why I didn't take a pic of the well head while I had the lid off yesterday. :rolleyes:
 
Typically a submersible pump will be either a two wire pump (which actually uses 3 wires) or a 3 wire pump (which uses four wires). The three wire pumps have a control box comprised of a relay and a capacitor located between the pressure switch and the well head. Two wire pumps are all self contained and the submersible is wired directly to the pressure switch.
 
@Scsmith42
Finally remembered to get that pic during daylight hours.
Far as I can tell it looks like just a junction box on top of the well.
Also snapped a pic of the inside pressure switch..

20230813_155429.jpg20230813_160949.jpg
 
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Looks like a 2 wire pump, so no capacitors above ground. If it were me, I’d measure the current in-rush during start-up to find out what’s going on with the pump.

At that depth, it could be a 120V or 240V submersible pump. If it’s currently 120V, replacing it with a 240V pump may reduce the current in-rush demands on the generator. The wattage will remain the same but it will be split across two lines instead of one.

You have the option to replace it with a shallow well style jet pump. You’ll end up with a slightly higher HP, but w/o the resistance of 150’ of down-hole wire.
 
I wanna say it's on a 240v setup. We've had a few things to do with the panel since gettin here and it comes from 2ea-20A circuit breakers.
That said, I only see one really short piece of Romex goin over to the pressure switch and I can't tell what kindof wire it is.
We'll check into that shallow well jet pump.. Thanks! :cool:
 
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