Well pump light

[thatguy]

My well pump is in the ground and the pressure tank is in the crawl space of our house.. Would it be possible to install a small light/indicator coming off the breaker box or pressure tank to tell when the pump switches on/off?

With a light I could tell if the pump is running more than it should (ie due to a water leak, pressure tank being water logged, etc)..

thoughts.. suggestions.. ideas

Brian

 

[heehaw]

oh yes...done it many times...really easy if the pump is a 120volt pump, if its a 220, you can either get a 220volt bulb?? not sure where you would find that, or just come off one side of the pressure switch to get your voltage...in my opinion, its always good to know when power is applied to the pump....just in case theres a problem.
heeaw

 

[NC4AB]

Your pressure switch should be located at the tank so it should be fairly straight forward to tap on to the pressure switch and add a light bulb base. Go to your local Grainger or other electrical supply house and pick up a 230 volt bulb and you're in business.

If they don't have one you can get one from McMaster-Carr for ~ $4.00 plus shipping.

 

[dodge man]

We have one in our house, and yes, it is really nice to know when it is running. As far as how to do it, I'm not sure, it was in the house when we got it. Our light is in the kitchen, and it is mounted up high on the wall, and it has a cover kind of like a switch plate, with a red lens over the light bulb.

 

[thatguy]

Thanks for the info - I am going to look more into getting what I need and see where/how I can run it from the crawl space up into the house......

I did a google search and didnt find much and thought I would ask here.. And as always TBN delivers!

thanks

brian

 

[TedLaRue]

If you run 115VAC lines, consider using them to power an "always on" (no photocell) LED night light so you won't have to change the bulb.

If you're knowledgeable enough, you could connect the output side of the pump switch to a cheap AC cell phone charger (wall transformer) close to the switch, and then run low voltage wire (cheap doorbell wire) into your house and use it to power an LED.

Most newer cell phone AC "chargers" will take any voltage from 110 through 240 VAC as their input and still have the same 5VDC output voltage. The input and output voltages should be written on the transformer.

The cheap $2 LED flashlights sold as impulse items near cash registers use three AAA batteries wired in series for about 4.8VDC, so the output voltage of a cell phone "charger" can be wired to the battery terminals of such a flashlight. You might need to break off some of the LED's so it isn't annoyingly bright. The LED's are wired in parallel, so breaking some of them off should not cause any problem. After breaking off the plastic, if the metal stubs are still sticking up, clip them off or at least make sure they don't touch each other.

Also, when connecting the wires to the flashlight, polarity matters. If it doesn't work one way, try reversing them. No damage is done by connecting them backward.

 

[jinman]

I find that with a light it either irritates me or I learn to ignore it. I have a pressure gage on my tank. I can simply watch that pressure gage for a few minutes and tell if the pressure is slowly bleeding off. I do that probably once a month. In my case, I used to have a commode valve leak and discovered it by watching the gage. I think you could easily put a pressure gage T'd into the line at a convenient location in the house and not have to fool with running an electrical wire to a light.

Recently, we had a power outage that lasted for 6 hours. By using the rule, "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down," we were able to conserve our pressure in our 80 gallon tank and had plenty of water for the whole 6 hours for drinking, hand washing, etc. That was the ultimate test of our tank checkvalve and house plumbing.

 

[techman]

You can use a 120 v bulb on a 240 v pump. Just wire to one switched hot leg and the other side of the bulb to ground. Try to find a neon indicator light, since it is very low power and will last many, many years.

paul

 

[LarryD]

I have a pressure gage on my tank. I can simply watch that pressure gage for a few minutes and tell if the pressure is slowly bleeding off. I do that probably once a month.

Jim, his tank is in the crawl space under his house. I do the same as you and just check the pumphouse guage every so often, but that's easy.

Why not just get a 120V LED and wire it to one leg of the switch and ground. You gould do this with phone wire or some CAT5 cable.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Amber-Indicator-Light/dp/B000K2IKUK

 

[TedLaRue]

Why not just get a 120V LED and wire it to one leg of the switch and ground. You gould do this with phone wire or some CAT5 cable.

I wouldn't recommend putting 120V on bell wire nor on CAT5 cable. Although the wire could carry the current for an LED, the insulation isn't rated for 120VAC.

Moreover, if someone is doing maintenance at the house, they would assume such wire only carried low voltage or a signal, not 120VAC. That could be dangerous.

 

[mchildress]

Like said above just come off just one side in the contactor box for 120.

 

[Lightnsound]

I would go one side of the 240 to neutral, but here's another option. Two 120v bulbs in series would work on 240v. Of course when one lamp blows out they both stop working.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

You can use a 120 v bulb on a 240 v pump. Just wire to one switched hot leg and the other side of the bulb to ground. Try to find a neon indicator light, since it is very low power and will last many, many years.

paul

Or just wire across both hot legs through a pair of light bulbs in series.

 

[LarryD]

I wouldn't recommend putting 120V on bell wire nor on CAT5 cable. Although the wire could carry the current for an LED, the insulation isn't rated for 120VAC.

Moreover, if someone is doing maintenance at the house, they would assume such wire only carried low voltage or a signal, not 120VAC. That could be dangerous.

CAT5 probably would be a mistake but you can buy phone line rated for 300V. I can't say if it's still the case but used to be ringing voltage was 90V. I've been on the end of an incoming call.:shocked:

It would be best to label the light including the voltage.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

CAT5 probably would be a mistake but you can buy phone line rated for 300V. I can't say if it's still the case but used to be ringing voltage was 90V. I've been on the end of an incoming call.:shocked:

It would be best to label the light including the voltage.

Why not plain old wet location 12/2? Cheap, and nobody is going to mistake it for low voltage.

 

[TedLaRue]

Why not plain old wet location 12/2? Cheap, and nobody is going to mistake it for low voltage.

Yes, 12/2 UF or NC would be ideal. I believe LarryD was suggesting the light gauge wire because it is cheaper and easier to run.

However, I still believe that it is a bad idea and violates code to use light gauge wires with 120VAC on them. The breaker protecting the pump is also protecting all of the wiring to the pump and beyond. If the wire is not heavy enough to carry the amperage listed for that breaker, the wire could overheat without tripping the breaker. That could cause a fire, and that is why it violates code.

LarryD is correct in knowing that the light gauge wire would easily carry the tiny current for an LED. The problem is that if something went wrong and the wires got semi-shorted together somehow, then they could be carrying enough current to cause them to overheat without tripping the breaker.

On the other hand, I personally think that bell wire would probably just burn in two before it would cause a fire. Nevertheless, I wouldn't do it.

The only safe way to use light gauge bell wire would be to install a transformer (like a cell phone charger) next to the pump switch, and then run light gauge wires under low voltage to a low-voltage LED or lamp.

 

[jinman]

Jim, his tank is in the crawl space under his house. I do the same as you and just check the pumphouse guage every so often, but that's easy.

Larry, you don't have to check the tank gage. You can put a pressure gage in the cold water line under your kitchen sink; no wires - no worry. Remember, pressure is the same thoughout the system. If you want to watch your pressure and see if it is dropping, just open the door under the kitchen sink and look at the gage. If you have a leaking tank checkvalve or a leaky toilet, that gage will tell you as quickly as a light and require no wiring of any kind.

 

[LarryD]

Obviously you haven't looked under the sink in my kitchen Jim!

A convenient pressure guage would certainly show a leak worth chasing in an hour or so's time. Could even check it before bed and then again in the morning. On second thought, my wife gets up several times a night, that won't work here.

And for something a little more attention getting, how about a Horn/Strobe used for fire panels. 85db in the middle of the night should alert you to a leak!

 

[chipsndust]

Different application, but would work for the OP.

At my camp during the winter, I put a "Christmas candle" in the window plugged into a temperature sensor. The light turns on if the temperature drops below 50 degrees F. Neighbors look for the light in the window and call me if they see it, to let me know the furnace is not running.

Cheap, readily available, bright enough to see but not so bright it's annoying. You could cut the plug off the wire and hardwire into one leg of the 240V pump circuit, other wire to ground.

 

[jinman]

Obviously you haven't looked under the sink in my kitchen Jim!

Well, there are lots of places for a gage besides under the sink behind your "collection" of stuff. The inlet line to the water heater is another example of a great location. A simple "T" inline with a gage could just as easily be replaced with a low cost pressure switch just like the one on the pump. You can install it anywhere there is a pipe and use it's contacts for a low voltage circuit to drive a signaling LED or something similar if you have to have that irritating light.:laughing: You don't have to go using the one that powers your pump. The pressure cycles throughout your plumbing and an auxiliary Square D pressure switch will run your light just as well as it runs the pump and you won't have to run a bunch of wiring nor get involved with 110/220 vac. You can make this complex or simple is my point. Simple is always my choice.