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

[Matt Tritt]

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But Windy, far from being just a legacy of the past, out here in 
fire-prone California, water storage tanks aren't just a good idea; 
they're the law!~ a variable pressure pump is cool for simplifying a 
system, but without a storage tank you have no reservoir for fires or 
for that occasional power outage. The CDF and the USFS rely on having 
access to large numbers of private storage tanks to supply their water 
reserves all over the state, and you literally cannot get a building 
permit without the prerequisite tank(s).

Matt T

Windy Dankoff wrote:
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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