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Hey folks

just wondering if any of you could give a possibility in what is happening. basically i have some family in the middle east they moved their for quite some time now. The power in this country isnt really stable for example it keeps turning off maybe twice a month thne when it comes back on it seems to coem so powerful that it frys all equipment in peoples houses like fridges, microwave , air condition etc etc. surge maybe?

They have a well with a pump however every so often the pump blows out or burns out after the power turns back on im jsut wondering is there anything i could purchase and send to them for a qualified electrician over there to install that can prevent this form happening..i dont know maybe like a main surge breaker or something if they exist...

Ps the country doesnt have surge breakers only simple mcbs which is why i want to try send them somthing.

thanks in advance
 
Sorry without more information on the set up I can't really advise what would be the best course of action.

What type of pump is it?
What size is it?
What system is controlling it currently?

These are just a few off the top of my head.
 
Voltage stabiliser on the incomer? depends how much they want, or can afford.
 
Just an off the wall thought but if you installed an Active RCD in the circuit then when the power goes off the pump would be disconnected, and would not come on when the power was restored, once the power was stable then you could switch the RCD back on, this may not be convenient depending on the use and it is possible the RCD may suffer like the pump. But may be a cheaper solution.
 
Hi guys thanks for all the replies , to be honest im not to sure about all the details because im not there and they arnt really the most electrically minded, but i do know that it is controlled by the water level ahh forgot the proper name of it..and the expense is really not a problem at the moment because its more expensive replacing the pump once a month lol....i heard of voltage stabilisers but could you reccomend one to me, because i hardly find them in normal stores...do they jsut fit on the main tails in then out to main breaker?
 
its use it on a farm for the crops it basically provides all of the water to the pipes that feed the crops...but that rcd way is a good way unfortunatly even RCDs are not common practise there as you may all know...but that could be a last option if nothing else also its tt system
 
We are at best guessing here. It may not be an electrical problem at all.

Most bore hole/well pumps I have worked on need to keep a static head of water, has this system got non return valves in place so that when the pump stops a head of water remains in the pipe? Does it even need a head of water?

Is the water clean?

Is the pump suitable for what it's pumping? Is it pumping further/higher than the manufacturing spec allows for?
 
As pointed out there's very little info to go on. Usually I'd advocate treating the root cause but in this case maybe have a stab at treating the symptoms because it's a far lower cost option than installing under/over voltage relays, phase fail and phase angle monitoring etc etc.

When I say treat the symptoms maybe just try an off-the-shelf delay-on timer that's set to 30 minutes or an hour. This would give plenty of time for the voltage to settle after power is restored and for any network-switching induced transients to be long gone. Even if you need a delay timer and an associated contactor the cost is still minuscule compared to trying to monitor and protect against all the usual power quality issues. It's similar to Richards suggestion above except it will be automatic rather than manual and possibly cheaper.
 
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isnt that a coincidence though like micro waves, fridges pretty much anything electrical gets fryed including this pump when the power is turned back on? i know im providing little info its just im in the uk at the moment and the sparks there well lets just say there a little uneducated ;)...surely there msut be some kind of device you can put the tails in to prevent any hight voltage like 280 going in etc...
 
More often than not it's actually prolonged low voltage that does the damage after power is restored because the consumer-side load is unusually high with thermostatic heating devices and general start-up loads which means the massive diversity applied to the distribution network comes back to bite them.
 
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Their are plenty of devices you can get a Over voltage/undervoltage detectors and have these commanding a main contactor, fit this with a front end anti surge unit and you start getting protection, as has been metion already, have the pump run with a volts free release set up so power loss would drop out the motor control and require a manual restart ..... I could go on and the list gets bigger and more costly but with the info supplied its hard to be specific....
 
You don't know if it's the voltage causing the problem!

i just have that gut feeling that it is because the pump works absolutly fine and lovely when the power is on then after 4 couple of weeks when the power cuts then comes back on it is completely fryed and unrepairable (especially in the middle east)...also all the water is very clean and the pump is cleaned almost every week by one of farm workers there
 
.....also say the problem was because of overvoltage would something like this work for the pump or any other equipment

AC Power Surge Protector 230Volt| MeteorElectrical.com
There's a difference between over-voltage and a surge. A surge protector can't protect against prolonged overvoltage. Protecting against overvoltage is easy, you just need an over-voltage relay that shuts off the supply when it occurs. Preventing overvoltage is an entirely different and more expensive problem, the easiest and probably cheapest way for a domestic appliance would be a ferroresonant UPS.
 
There's a difference between over-voltage and a surge. A surge protector can't protect against prolonged overvoltage. Protecting against overvoltage is easy, you just need an over-voltage relay that shuts off the supply when it occurs. Preventing overvoltage is an entirely different and more expensive problem, the easiest and probably cheapest way for a domestic appliance would be a ferroresonant UPS.[/QUOTE)

so what was that breaker that i provided in the link then...i know i sound incompetent its just i havnt really dealt with surges and things like that because in the uk its generally stable in that area...and the so called electricians in the middle east havent spent a day in college on there lives...thanks for the advice
 
also could you maybe if you have time give us a link to a relay..and how is it wired up is it wired to the two tails ot just a seperate circuit etc..thanks
 
The item you linked to is a surge protector. It's a device that starts conducting between L+E (or L+N depending on configuration) when there's a voltage spike with a value higher than the clamping voltage of the device. Obviously because it conducts between L+E it can only tolerate spikes of very short duration, it can't deal with prolonged overvoltage in fact this would cause it to fail completely.

This is a voltage relay. It can be wired with a contactor to disconnect the power if the voltage wanders out of predetermined limits.
 
The item you linked to is a surge protector. It's a device that starts conducting between L+E (or L+N depending on configuration) when there's a voltage spike with a value higher than the clamping voltage of the device. Obviously because it conducts between L+E it can only tolerate spikes of very short duration, it can't deal with prolonged overvoltage in fact this would cause it to fail completely.

This is a voltage relay. It can be wired with a contactor to disconnect the power if the voltage wanders out of predetermined limits.


sorry mate the link doesnt open
 

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