[Mike Milburn]

I have a deep well pump supplying me with water, system works good and I have no complaints. My daughter who lives next door has a somewhat similar setup only thing is she has a water conditioner. Anyone who has one or knows anything about them at all knows they have to backflush once in awhile. In her case it's twice a week.
About a month ago she came to me wondering what would cause her light bill to jump up by $100. We had no idea.
Last week she asked me to look at her water conditioner, the water was getting murking and was starting to leave stains in the tub and toilet. Well long story short, the timer (mechanical) had crapped out and apparently it was stuck in the backwash position. Yep, she'd been pumping water for over a month and didn't realize it (thankfully it's a good well and pump .....apparently).
My question, does anyone make an indicator light system that I can hook up to the well controls? If there's none available, I'm thinking a small transformer from a cell phone or something similar connected to thje control box. I realize it's 220V but if I can get a 1 1/2 or 3V 110V that'll give me 3v or 6v and I can drop the rest with a suitable resistor to power a led that I'll put some where noticable.....Mike

 

[fwinters]

Yes, there are posts on here that will tell you how to set this up using a light bulb and a piece of wire. Do a search and you should be able to find the original posts. I followed their directions and installed a light socket in both of my well houses that comes on when the pump is running, so I can see it from the house. If I had a run-away pump, I would know it almost immediately. Do the search before you ask me how I set mine up.

 

[mla2ofus]

You can attach a 110v light to one of the hots going to the pump and the other light wire to the neutral. This will be 110v. Just be sure to hook up on the "pump" side of the pressure switch.
Mike

 

[Curly69]

I had a problem similar to this once with a pump for my septic. The problem is the well switch like mine is about 200' from the house. I used a magnetic switch and a red led that you run the line wire thru so whenever there is a draw the led light comes on.

 

[Mike Milburn]

You can attach a 110v light to one of the hots going to the pump and the other light wire to the neutral.

I don't want to have to run 14/2 wire to power the indicator, that's why I plan on using led's. I just plan on running small gauge wire, more than likely telephone cable to a led next to the electrical panel. The panel's in a room where my computer is and being a small house I have to walk by it to move around.
I found a 220V-3VDC unit to run an led on E-Bay so that's what I plan on using. I was kind of hoping for some kind of wireless system but no luck.....Mike

 

[Curly69]

How far in your pump from the house/electric box? Just wondering.

 

[Obscured_by_Clouds]

You might consider adding a countdown timer that would trip an audible signal like a piezo buzzer. Set the timer just slightly longer than a normal run time for the pump cycle. If it runs longer, the audible signal sounds.

 

[Mike Milburn]

How far in your pump from the house/electric box? Just wondering.

The actual pump is approximately 180'± (including well depth) from where I want to put the indicator, the control box for the pump, which is what I'll be tapping into, is 15' from where I want to put the indicator......Mike

 

[Curly69]

Oh wow that's nice and close. Good luck with you project there.

 

[Kbeitz]

First try to find out the run time of your pump.
Next buy a auto reset timer.
Set the timer to close if the run time is well over the pump time.
this way if you pump would keep running the timer would turn on an indicator light.

 

[massey1635]

I would suggest changing the pressure switch to one with a low pressure cut out. That way if you, or anyone, shouldpump their well so low that the water level is below the pump, the pump will shut off. It will prevent the pump from running dry and burning out.