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What solar inverters will start a 240v 1hp deep well submersible pump?

J

JohnFranklin56

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Joined
Dec 8, 2023
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Location
South Carolina
I am looking for a single 240v split phase solar inverter in the 6000w range that is expandable like the eg4 6000xp. The question is “will it start a 2 wire 240v 1hp motor“. Or a different unit that will work. Needs to have a very low idle current draw.

I have a 2 wire - 240vac - 1hp deep well submersible pump.
all measurements were taken from the breaker panel.
voltage 239 volts
Inrush current is 22.85 amps
max running current is 10.53 amps
normal running amps is 8.79 amps

Will, it would be nice if you could test different inverters on starting a 1 hp well pump. There are a lot of people who have wells and starting a induction load can tap out a lot of inverters. It would make a great video. Thanks for all your help!
 
My SRNE ASF 10kw handles my 1hp deep well pump no problem, I clamped it at ~40a per leg.
Unfortunately the ASF split phase parallel version is not available yet. The SRNE HYP can be paralleled with the current version.
My TP6048 also handled the well pump.
 
I took my 1.5hp (I think its a 3 wire (has a controller)) off grid last year. 24V 6kw sungold low frequency inverter. Two 400w panels charge the battery during the day. sometimes the inverter beeps for overload but that is expected when its kicking about 10kw for a second to start the pump. low frequency has some serious draws for idle, I keep mine on power saver mode and the 5kw battery is good for about 3 days fully overcast.
 
LydMekk said:
You should get your own well ^^ :D
One important step towards being independent of crappy Gov infrastructure...

Only thing I pay for atm. is my trash fee.
Click to expand...
I would like to.
I can't justify the cost, up on my hill.
And municipal water is cheap.
 
Schneider XW+6848 always starts my 1hp pump. 38A inrush, 9.5A running. Fed with a primary array of 4500W. I mostly wait till the panels are putting out 2000+W before turning on the pump, but I have started the pump at 9pm just to see it work.
 
Back when I had just one MPP 6048 with 200 Ah battery, it could start and run my 120 volt Well pump (168 foot deep well).
MPP 6048's are not 'low idle', just lower than the LVX6048.
The inrush is one issue, (size and quality of the pump, efficiency, and what static pressure it is working against)
The inverter output is another, (capacity, overload it can handle and for how long)
And enough battery behind that inverter is a third. (your 22.85A 240v is 5484W, if you have a 48 volt battery, this needs to be capable of 5484/48 =114A without tripping).
It would be nice to be able to see testing inverters against motor loads, - Will does this all the time with his car lift. If we knew the in-rush current of the lift would be handy.
 
JohnFranklin56 said:
I am looking for a single 240v split phase solar inverter in the 6000w range that is expandable like the eg4 6000xp. The question is “will it start a 2 wire 240v 1hp motor“. Or a different unit that will work. Needs to have a very low idle current draw.

I have a 2 wire - 240vac - 1hp deep well submersible pump.
all measurements were taken from the breaker panel.
voltage 239 volts
Inrush current is 22.85 amps
max running current is 10.53 amps
normal running amps is 8.79 amps

Will, it would be nice if you could test different inverters on starting a 1 hp well pump. There are a lot of people who have wells and starting a induction load can tap out a lot of inverters. It would make a great video. Thanks for all your help!
Click to expand...
I have a Gould 1.5 hp 3 wre Franklin motor starts with a trace sw 4024 with a 5k step up transformer.
 
JohnFranklin56 said:
I have a 2 wire - 240vac - 1hp deep well submersible pump.
all measurements were taken from the breaker panel.
voltage 239 volts
Inrush current is 22.85 amps
max running current is 10.53 amps
normal running amps is 8.79 amps
Click to expand...
That inrush sounds low to me for a 2-wire pump. I'd expect closer to 4x's the running current. I've got a 1hp 3-wire pump that I'll measure the inrush amps on when I can get a meter from work. My personal long discontinued Fluke 336 appears to have died as it gave me some nonsensical readings just now. (No I'm not crying, I just got something in my eyes)
 
OzSolar said:
That inrush sounds low to me for a 2-wire pump. I'd expect closer to 4x's the running current. I've got a 1hp 3-wire pump that I'll measure the inrush amps on when I can get a meter from work. My personal long discontinued Fluke 336 appears to have died as it gave me some nonsensical readings just now. (No I'm not crying, I just got something in my eyes)
Click to expand...
Probably a soft start or a Grundfos
 
Firstrapid said:
200 amps thru a jk bms.... Sorry I took so long. No indication of a reply
Click to expand...
and with 200A available, no issue when the inverter calls for 114A.
I went through this same issue for starting some pretty large stationary equipment, 2-5Hp induction motors. As long as the inverters could pull 200A each then starting motors was a non-issue.
 
Folks responding with their pump situation might want to say how deep their pump is. The load is much greater starting with a few 100 feet of water column than without...
 
Steve777 said:
Folks responding with their pump situation might want to say how deep their pump is. The load is much greater starting with a few 100 feet of water column than without...
Click to expand...
Really we should say what the In-Rush current is, but like myself most people will not have a DMM that can record that information. Recently bought a meter that can, and ran all over the shop just to see what a chop saw, a metal cutting skillsaw, compressor and a welder would peak at. Some were very high in-rush loads.
I don't recall if I did measure the well pump! (ok I will go get a number and edit it to this post).
I know Will likes to use his car lift as his ultimate in-rush test, even going so far as to put the heavier car on the lift, but we don't know what his car lift in-rush current is.

edit: ran some water, when the pump clicked on the In-rush was 15.6A on my 120v pump.
And 5.8A running steady a few seconds after starting.
 
Last edited:
Steve777 said:
Folks responding with their pump situation might want to say how deep their pump is. The load is much greater starting with a few 100 feet of water column than without...
Click to expand...

42OhmsPA said:
My SRNE ASF 10kw handles my 1hp deep well pump no problem, I clamped it at ~40a per leg.
Unfortunately the ASF split phase parallel version is not available yet. The SRNE HYP can be paralleled with the current version.
My TP6048 also handled the well pump.
Click to expand...
Well is 300' deep, 35' to bedrock per the online water well records I found for my house but I'm not sure where the pump is hanging.
 

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OffGridForGood said:
and with 200A available, no issue when the inverter calls for 114A.
I went through this same issue for starting some pretty large stationary equipment, 2-5Hp induction motors. As long as the inverters could pull 200A each then starting motors was a non-issue.
Click to expand...
I sure you know that the condition of the start capacitor can have a big effect on the starting current. I've replaced mine a few times over the years....
 
JohnFranklin56 said:
I am looking for a single 240v split phase solar inverter in the 6000w range that is expandable like the eg4 6000xp. The question is “will it start a 2 wire 240v 1hp motor“. Or a different unit that will work. Needs to have a very low idle current draw.

I have a 2 wire - 240vac - 1hp deep well submersible pump.
all measurements were taken from the breaker panel.
voltage 239 volts
Inrush current is 22.85 amps
max running current is 10.53 amps
normal running amps is 8.79 amps

Will, it would be nice if you could test different inverters on starting a 1 hp well pump. There are a lot of people who have wells and starting a induction load can tap out a lot of inverters. It would make a great video. Thanks for all your help!
Click to expand...
I have an AIMS 12 volt 4000 watt LF inverter and 3 200ah lead acid batteries. It starts my 3/4 hp well pump without issue. But it has a 20 amp breaker so a 6000 watt with a 30 amp breaker would be better with a 1 hp. My pump is a 2 wire at 160 foot depth. It's not a solar inverter though.
 
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