Inverter/Battery Question (Round 2 well pumping) [RE-wrenches]

[Windy Dankoff]

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Wrenches,

I'm chiming in to reinforce some of what I'm hearing in response to  
Allan's problem.

1. I expect that the (temporary) single-string golf cart batteries is  
the weak link preventing startup now. Under so much current, voltage  
dips way down low.

2. I talked with Allan who confirmed that the pump IS a 3-wire pump.  
And yes, a 3-wire draws less start surge but that means about maybe  
8X surge instead of (with a 2-wire pump) maybe 15X surge! So don't  
look upon a 3-wire as anything special. In fact, they are only made  
for 1/2 and maybe 1/3 HP, for low-end market.
---- Explanation:  3-wire pump has a control box at the surface, to  
cut in/out a separate starting winding in the motor. A 2-wire pump  
does not have a special start winding. The clue is that there is no  
control box (a box with the pump mfg'r's name or Franklin name on  
it). A 2-wire pump is very undesirable.

3. I don't feel that storage tank & pressure pump system would be  
optimum for this situation. (I agree with Ray.) The reasons to  
consider a storage tank are:
   -- a slow or intermittent water source like a slow well
   -- a slow or intermittent source pump like a low-power DC pump,  
solar-direct pump, windmill, generator
Now that we have deep-well DC pumps to 1 HP, and low-surge AC pumps  
too, a STANDARD recommendation of storage tank/pressure pump is a  
legacy of the past.

4. From our conversation, Allan and I feel that the best approach is  
to ask the driller to exchange the pump for a low-surge one. Two  
points of light here:
   -- The driller already carries Grundfos, and their SQ or SQE will  
have the low surge startup. So there is no conflict that usually  
occurs when asking a driller to install something exotic that he does  
not normally sell.
   -- The driller made an appropriate choice, even the first time, of  
a pump that is optimum in the range of about 150 feet. (It's a 400  
foot well, but the static level is closer to 100.) Even though the  
pump will (and should) be set near the bottom of the well, its  
effective lift will usually be in that 150-foot range roughly  
speaking so it will be much more efficient than a pump optimized for  
say 350 feet.

5. A single-pump well/pressure system will run much shorter duty  
cycles for the well pump than a storage tank system would. This will  
minimize the drawdown of the well and thus the energy requirement.

6. Nevertheless, I would not want to see a great many starts per day,  
so I would recommend a relatively large pressure tank (or two) -- of  
at least 80-gallon size for a family house.

Back from the dead (not really),
Windy

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