Electrical Question

[crokett]

I discovered a few days ago that the condensate pump for the air handler was wired illegally. The air handler is fed by 2-2-4 aluminum. The condensate pump is 115V. The pump hot was wired to 1 leg of the 220and the neutral was wired to the ground. The pump ground was not attached to anything. I put a plug on the end of it and plugged it into an outlet I wired in a while ago to plug lights or tools into if the handler ever needed service. The outlet is on the family room circuit which is 15A. The pump has a faceplate rating of 10A. The only other thing we use on a regular basis is a TV @ 3A and the box for the satellite, whatever its rating is.

So, should I move the pump to another circuit or am I just being paranoid?

[Uncle Cracker]

I'm not an electrician, but I play one on TV...

Probably the worst that could happen if you've loaded that 15A circuit too much is that you might trip the breaker if you plug an appliance or something like that in and run it while the pump is running.

I think what I would have done is to use a 220/110 step-down transformer to feed the pump circuit off the 220 on the air handler. That way, the pump and air handler are on the same circuit, but you won't un-balance the load between the two legs of the 220v circuit. The only other thing I would have done in addition to that is tie the pump ground to the air handler chassis and the power ground.

[cabinetman]

I checked my pump and it appears to be a LV model, wired to the A/H. It never runs while the AH runs.
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[Uncle Cracker]

I checked my pump and it appears to be a LV model, wired to the A/H. It never runs while the AH runs.

Relay logic could be set up that way, or may be built into the air handler already. But otherwise, the condensate pump might run only off a float switch, and thus have no idea what your air handler is doing.

[cabinetman]

Relay logic could be set up that way, or may be built into the air handler already. But otherwise, the condensate pump might run only off a float switch, and thus have no idea what your air handler is doing.

It does have a float switch, but still acts like relay allowed. It only runs when the AH shuts off. Can it be that smart?
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[woodturner]

The pump hot was wired to 1 leg of the 220and the neutral was wired to the ground.
...
The pump ground was not attached to anything.
...
The outlet is on the family room circuit which is 15A. The pump has a faceplate rating of 10A. The only other thing we use on a regular basis is a TV @ 3A and the box for the satellite, whatever its rating is.

So, should I move the pump to another circuit or am I just being paranoid?

Yep, neutral to ground is not right (except at the ONE grounding point specified by the utility, typically the service panel but sometimes the meter socket).

10A seems like a lot for a condensate pump - mine is rated at 2A. Could the 10A be startup current? If so, you should be fine.

FWIW, my condensate pump is wired to a receptacle - this is a common way to simply meet the disconnection requirement.

As long as you are loading the 15A circuit with no more than 15A, you should be fine.

[Uncle Cracker]

It does have a float switch, but still acts like relay allowed. It only runs when the AH shuts off. Can it be that smart?

Smart is relative... What happens if your AH stays on long on a hot, humid day while the condensate pools up and the pump can't run?

[cabinetman]

Smart is relative... What happens if your AH stays on long on a hot, humid day while the condensate pools up and the pump can't run?

It's probably like if you're in a large store that has no bath room and you gotta go...real bad. There's probably an override that will just let go.
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[Uncle Cracker]

It's probably like if you're in a large store that has no bath room and you gotta go...real bad. There's probably an override that will just let go.

That would require a second float switch, one for the normal on, and the second for the "emergency".