My question really is about 2 situations, one actual and one hypothetical.
The first occurred a couple of months ago and was kind of a fluke situation. I have a Cycle Stop Valve on my well system, so when I'm using water continuously, the well pump is running continuously. It just so happened that I was filling my washing machine to do a load of laundry and my utility power blipped on and off 5 or 6 times in a matter of 1 minute. Each of those times, the well pump, which was running at the start of the power interruptions, turned on a off those 5 or 6 times in that 1 minute timeframe. This caused the thermal overload in the well pump to trip (it's a 2-wire pump) and it shut down the well pump for about 15 minutes until it had cooled off enough for the thermal overload to reset. So, that wasn't good for the pump.
The second (potential) situation is that I have a 16 kw whole-house backup generator. My house is not large (2400 square feet), is very energy efficient (Passivhaus standard), and is all electric. There are 3 big electric loads: A 2-ton heat pump, electric water heater, and the well pump. The story isn't worth telling, but the bottom line is I made the boneheaded decsion on the size of the generator, and I should have gotten a 22kw or 24kw generator but the situation is what it is. I want to avoid overloading the generator with the possibility of the well pump kicking on at the same time that the WH is heating water or the heat pump kicking on at the same time that the well pump is starting up or the WH is also running, etc. I have bought and am going to install a magnetic motor starter on the water heater so if the power goes out or blips off, I will have to push the start button on the starter to re-energize the water heater. Beause of the situation that occurred with my well pump when it overheated turning on and off with power blips, I'd also like to install a magnetic motor starter as protection for my well pump. This would also automatically interrupt the power to my well pump in the event that I went on generator power, and would allow me to control when the high inrush current to start my well pump occurred. My ancillary well equipement (pressure tank, pressure switch) is in an interior utility room in my house, so it would be very easy for me to add a magnetic starter between my main electrical panel and the pressure switch.
QUESTION: Is there any reason I could not install a magnetic starter on my well pump circuit? (HELLO VALVEMAN, PLEASE COMMENT).
Thanks.
The first occurred a couple of months ago and was kind of a fluke situation. I have a Cycle Stop Valve on my well system, so when I'm using water continuously, the well pump is running continuously. It just so happened that I was filling my washing machine to do a load of laundry and my utility power blipped on and off 5 or 6 times in a matter of 1 minute. Each of those times, the well pump, which was running at the start of the power interruptions, turned on a off those 5 or 6 times in that 1 minute timeframe. This caused the thermal overload in the well pump to trip (it's a 2-wire pump) and it shut down the well pump for about 15 minutes until it had cooled off enough for the thermal overload to reset. So, that wasn't good for the pump.
The second (potential) situation is that I have a 16 kw whole-house backup generator. My house is not large (2400 square feet), is very energy efficient (Passivhaus standard), and is all electric. There are 3 big electric loads: A 2-ton heat pump, electric water heater, and the well pump. The story isn't worth telling, but the bottom line is I made the boneheaded decsion on the size of the generator, and I should have gotten a 22kw or 24kw generator but the situation is what it is. I want to avoid overloading the generator with the possibility of the well pump kicking on at the same time that the WH is heating water or the heat pump kicking on at the same time that the well pump is starting up or the WH is also running, etc. I have bought and am going to install a magnetic motor starter on the water heater so if the power goes out or blips off, I will have to push the start button on the starter to re-energize the water heater. Beause of the situation that occurred with my well pump when it overheated turning on and off with power blips, I'd also like to install a magnetic motor starter as protection for my well pump. This would also automatically interrupt the power to my well pump in the event that I went on generator power, and would allow me to control when the high inrush current to start my well pump occurred. My ancillary well equipement (pressure tank, pressure switch) is in an interior utility room in my house, so it would be very easy for me to add a magnetic starter between my main electrical panel and the pressure switch.
QUESTION: Is there any reason I could not install a magnetic starter on my well pump circuit? (HELLO VALVEMAN, PLEASE COMMENT).
Thanks.
