Introduction
I have a number of rain water tanks which I use to water my vegetable garden during the summer. I have a cheap water pump that has been working faithfully for the last 4 years but this year, when I turned it on for the first time, I got no pressure regulation, the pump was running flat out and water was pouring out of the electrical control box. Not cool!
The electrical control box is the size of, say, three decks of cards stacked up. It contains the electrical terminations for the power cable and the pressure switch. The pressure switch is used to set the operating pressure of the water pump.
To provide the capability of measuring the water pressure and switching the power to the motor there is a mechanical connection between the water and the electrical components. This mechanical connection is provided by a rubber diaphragm which allows the mechanical components to move but does not allow the water to escape. Well normally that is true. In this case the issue was that the diaphragm had perished and ruptured. Hence water flowing vigorously through the electrical switch gear.
I priced a replacement pump and a replacement pressure switch. The switch was the price I paid for the pump in the first place and a replacement pump was twice what I had originally paid. So I decided to have a crack at fixing the thing. This instructable is what I found and how I repaired it.
I have a number of rain water tanks which I use to water my vegetable garden during the summer. I have a cheap water pump that has been working faithfully for the last 4 years but this year, when I turned it on for the first time, I got no pressure regulation, the pump was running flat out and water was pouring out of the electrical control box. Not cool!
The electrical control box is the size of, say, three decks of cards stacked up. It contains the electrical terminations for the power cable and the pressure switch. The pressure switch is used to set the operating pressure of the water pump.
To provide the capability of measuring the water pressure and switching the power to the motor there is a mechanical connection between the water and the electrical components. This mechanical connection is provided by a rubber diaphragm which allows the mechanical components to move but does not allow the water to escape. Well normally that is true. In this case the issue was that the diaphragm had perished and ruptured. Hence water flowing vigorously through the electrical switch gear.
I priced a replacement pump and a replacement pressure switch. The switch was the price I paid for the pump in the first place and a replacement pump was twice what I had originally paid. So I decided to have a crack at fixing the thing. This instructable is what I found and how I repaired it.
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Signing UpStep 1: Removal of the pressure switch
Having determined the there was a problem with the plumbing at the pressure switch it had to be removed. The main power cable comes into the pressure switch and then back out to the motor. The pressure switch is screwed into the outlet manifold and the only way to remove it is to disconnect the cable between the motor and the switch.
The photo below was taken, initially, to document where the wires were terminated.
Having recorded the electrical connections, those between the pump and the pressure switch were removed so that the pressure switch could be unscrewed from the manifold.
Maintenance activities were then relocated from the garden to the workshop.
The photo below was taken, initially, to document where the wires were terminated.
Having recorded the electrical connections, those between the pump and the pressure switch were removed so that the pressure switch could be unscrewed from the manifold.
Maintenance activities were then relocated from the garden to the workshop.
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they will work, come in diff sizes i have used these for diff repairs
god bless