110/115 or 220/230 pump ??

[egiblock]

new owner of a house. i've been questioning the electric out by the pool. the line / gfci at the box next to the pool is reading 220/230v, but the equipemnt around it (extra pool light, and another light / extension cord are all 110/115 rated. i'm questioning the pool pump if it's running at the lower or higher voltage. i've read that the particular pump can be configured to run at either, but before i go plugging things in, i just want to make sure i don't kill it or myself in the process.

is there anyway to verify the voltage by the pictures? or do i have to take the cover off of the motor to see how it is wired?


thanks

 

[Jimrahbe]

E,

Your pump is a 120 volt only dual speed pump. It should have a switch somewhere to change from Low speed to High Speed.. It is not a 120 or 240 volt pump...

Show us a pic of where you think there is 220 volts...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Richard320]

I see a standard 120V 15A plug on the end of the cord in picture 2. It better not be wired for 240!

 

[Donldson]

Welcome to TFP!

Agree with Jim and Richard, the plug is a standard US 120 volt plug. If the outlets around match that then they are also 120 volt. 240 volt outlets come in different varieties based on amperage, but either way you couldn't fit that plug in to one.

Unrelated note: if you haven't already I wouldn't bother refilling the mineral pac on that Frog. It puts silver ions in the water and you don't really want that building up.

 

[egiblock]

note.... i didn't do this.... i just bought the place in december,.....

this is the breaker box by the pool. 2 circuit wired and i'm getting 230v to the GFCI outlet... they were grounding out the neutral and causing a huge problem. i'm surprised that no one died

 

[Jimrahbe]

E,

I suspect the problem is how you are making the measurement.. It does not appear to me that you have 220 volts anywhere..

Take your meter and measure between the two black wires in the box.. Do not measure between each black wire and ground or neutral...

I suggest you get a qualified electrician out to clean up that mess..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[egiblock]

E,

I suspect the problem is how you are making the measurement.. It does not appear to me that you have 220 volts anywhere..

Take your meter and measure between the two black wires in the box.. Do not measure between each black wire and ground or neutral...

I suggest you get a qualified electrician out to clean up that mess..

Thanks,

Jim R.

i'll see what it is from black to black tonight. when it wasn't tripping the breaker in the house, i was testing 230v on the back of the GFCI outlet (white and black).

btw: an electrician has already been called to sort this Crud out. here's a diagram of every wire in there...

 

[ajw22]

Post a pic of the CB it was tripping.

 

[Donldson]

Ok, I see what they did. You have L1 coming in on the black wire and L2 coming in on the white wire. The potential between those two will be 240 volts. However, L2 is open circuit, the box has the ability to run 240 but has not been wired to do so. Your GFCI has the neutral wire bonded to ground. So you would get 120 volts there. This is not the most appropriate way to do it, but you would only be seeing 120 volts at the outlet. They also used a 30 amp breaker while the GFCI is only rated for 20 amps, which makes for another hazard. My guess is there used to be 240 volt equipment out there and when they wanted to install an outlet they did so in the simplest manner possible.

 

[Jimrahbe]

E,

Ok, makes a lot more sense now.. Still impossible, based upon your diagram, for there to be 220 on the GFCI outlet..

Great pic by the way... I wish I had those skills..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

Typical electrician hack when needing to get 120V from a 220v panel and no neutral run. Instead of doing it to code and pulling a new neutral wire he tied the neutral to ground which code only allows at the service (main) panel.

If there were 230v at the GFCI and feeding the motor I think the motor would be smoking.

 

[egiblock]

computer networks and diagrams are my daily thing. my electrical expertise work goes as far as changing out outlets..

i'm thinking the gfci outlet it bad for one, so i'm gonna replace that and see what happens.
i'm still gonna get an electrician out here to rewire to 120 and be done since all of the equipment i have is rated for that

 

[Donldson]

It is wired for 120. It's not done to code, but it is 120 volts at the outlet.

 

[egiblock]

E,

I suspect the problem is how you are making the measurement.. It does not appear to me that you have 220 volts anywhere..

Take your meter and measure between the two black wires in the box.. Do not measure between each black wire and ground or neutral...

I suggest you get a qualified electrician out to clean up that mess..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

You have 220 between the black wires but two black wires do not feed the GFCI. One black and a neutral feed the GFCI. You will have 120V between the black and white neutral wires connected to the GFCI.

 

[Jimrahbe]

E,

I think what you are seeing is a false reading and it would go away if the pump were plugged in.. If you look at your diagram you can see you are reading across an open slot where a fuse goes.. If this were really 220 volts, it would blow the fuse in a mircosecond every time you plugged it in.. You would be installing a short between L1 and L2

To get 220/240 you need to have two 120 volt inputs, one from L1 and the other from L2.. You just do not have that..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[egiblock]

E,

I think what you are seeing is a false reading and it would go away if the pump were plugged in.. If you look at your diagram you can see you are reading across an open slot where a fuse goes.. If this were really 220 volts, it would blow the fuse in a mircosecond every time you plugged it in.. You would be installing a short between L1 and L2

To get 220/240 you need to have two 120 volt inputs, one from L1 and the other from L2.. You just do not have that..

Thanks,

Jim R.

I’m gonna have an electrician come and fix all this, convert to 120 and be done. In the meantime an extension cord is working perfectly From another GFCI outlet on the back of the house

 

[Jimrahbe]

E,

Your last pic makes perfect sense, as you are measuring between L1 and L2, so you should get 240 volts...

Thanks,

Jim R.