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Topic Closed240V stepped down to a 120 leg
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JStrube View Drop Down
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Posts: 90 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: 240V stepped down to a 120 leg
    Posted: 18 Nov 2014 at 6:58pm
You could put a sub panel out at the well & have one run to it, but it would have to be 4 wire.  Still need that neutral.
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Posts: 309 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Nov 2014 at 7:12pm
Originally posted by JStrube

You could put a sub panel out at the well & have one run to it, but it would have to be 4 wire.  Still need that neutral.

But where do I connect the neutral at the pump switch?  I only have two posts (both hot) + a ground post to connect to.  Reason for my question: I've seen houses wired with 2 hots and a ground coming into the main service panel.  The subpanel idea looks like the same thing but on a smaller scale.  No?
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Posts: 9062 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Nov 2014 at 7:22pm
Something that is a problem no matter what you do, the pressure switch is inside, so the wires running to the well aren't connected unless the well is running.

There are so many things you would have to do to make this safe and to code it will be far easier to just run a new 10 gauge underground-rated line out to the pod.  Won't be cheap though.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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CharlieM View Drop Down
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Posts: 1797 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Nov 2014 at 7:55pm
Originally posted by Luv2Q




One other option that I don't believe was mentioned (or if it was I didn't quite catch it):  From the pump switch, run 2-wire + ground 220 to a subpanel.  From the subpanel, with a 120V 30 amp breaker, run a black (hot), white (neutral) and bare ground to a 30 amp outlet. All using appropriate wire size, of course, as suggested above.

Edit: After reviewing earlier posts, I believe CharlieM suggested this very thing. Thanks, Charlie.


Caution here. What I suggested was to install a separate 30A breaker in you main panel, not the well pump box. You cannot develop the neutral at the present pump. You must go all the way back to the main service entry at the house. Of the three wires coming from the power pole, two are hot and one is the neutral. This neutral is connected to a ground stake and ground buss at the main power panel and only there. The neutral and ground must be kept separate from there out to any using devices including sub panels. For 120V circuits you must carry neutral, hot, and ground separately. So you must run the 3 wires from the camper or sub panel all the way back to the main house panel, not the well house.

On a separate subject, upping the breakers that feed the well from the main panel may not be possible. The breakers are sized to protect the wire to the well pump, not the pump. Fifty Amp breakers would require #6AWG if using copper UF direct burial wire; 60 Amps requires #4. I would stay with a new 30A breaker and run at least #8 wire; #6 if you're really going 100 feet.
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Luv2Q View Drop Down
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Posts: 309 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Nov 2014 at 8:46pm
Well, Rats .. Back to the drawing board.  But on the pressure switch, the wires going to it are hot regardless of whether the switch is tripped or not.  At the hot poles on the switch - which are then connected to my fictional subpanel - it seems like that would be nothing more than a splice.  But, it's clear that I'm in over my head.  Durn it, wish I understood more.  Thanks again for the advice, everybody.
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Posts: 9062 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Nov 2014 at 9:43pm
If the pressure switch is close by then yes, the wires running from your panel to it would be hot all the time, but as mentioned w/o a neutral you aren't in the ballpark yet.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Posts: 9 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2014 at 11:23am
<span style="line-height: 1.4;">I've seen houses wired with 2 hots and a ground coming into the main service panel.  The subpanel idea looks like the same thing but on a smaller scale.  No?</span>
[/QUOTE]
What you are seeing, if this is the main panel being fed from the utility, and there is a meter (within 10') in-between, is not a ground, it is the Neutral.  The Ground is derived from pounding in an 8' rod into the earth. 
I agree with others, go get #10-2 UF (that is direct bury wire) and run a new single pole circuit to the Pod.
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Posts: 90 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2014 at 11:28am
Originally posted by Luv2Q

Originally posted by JStrube

You could put a sub panel out at the well & have one run to it, but it would have to be 4 wire.  Still need that neutral.

But where do I connect the neutral at the pump switch?  I only have two posts (both hot) + a ground post to connect to.  Reason for my question: I've seen houses wired with 2 hots and a ground coming into the main service panel.  The subpanel idea looks like the same thing but on a smaller scale.  No?

It would end at the sub panel.  What I heard you ask is that could you install a sub panel at your well, then put breakers there to serve both the well & POD.  The answer is yes, if you size everything correctly.  You would have a breaker in your main, sized to protect the wire to the sub panel, then in the sub panel, a breaker for the pod & a breaker for the well.  The POD breaker would be 30A single pole, the well double pole of whatever size you need.  Mine at home is 30A. The neutral would not run to the pump, only the pod.  It has been a while since I did my wiring, would have to go back & consult the books to verify exact requirements.

I work on the utility side of the electric industry, so that is my area of concentration.  As a consequence, I learn quite a bit of the customer side of the meter, enough to seek out the right answers, but not enough to be second nature.

Electricity is fun, as long as you keep it in the wires.
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Posts: 1797 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2014 at 11:59am
Correct answer. The neutral has to go to the Pod, but not to the pump itself. The OP doesn't say if the pump/controller is in a well house but carrying the neutral to the pump area would allow for a future light, heat tape, or outlet for tools.  
Charlie
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