Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Wiring

Guys, the light fixture in my short 39 is in good shape - even the wire coating is not brittle or cracked anywhere that I can see. I would prefer not to rewire the unit if it's not necessary. If I don't rewire, my question is: What are your preferred methods for taking the old 2-wire light system and getting it to a grounded outlet? Thanks!

Well, I'm by no means an electrician so take what I say with a grain of salt. If it has the original fabric covered wire, get rid of it no matter how good it looks. Sometimes though, these pumps were rewired in their 2nd lives on farms with modern wiring. I've had 1 or 2 come this way to me that were obviously rewired with good plenum coated wire in the not too distant past. I just took a piece of two conductor romex, spliced it on with some connectors and wired it to a replacement plug you can buy at home depot. Most light fixtures like desk lamps, etc aren't grounded.

One other thing to keep in mind: I plug my pumps in and turn the lights on maybe 10 times a year for an hour each time. If you're planning on using the lighting a lot or keeping it outside, you should probably just go ahead and rewire for piece of mind.

Remove the old wiring, it's not worth the chance.... You have no idea what the insulation is like inside the conduit system.

If you still don't want to rewire. Ground it at the junction box where your bringing the new three wire cord to.

Rewire it and replace the old sockets. You can get new porcelain sockets at the hardware store. They are easy to rewire and will be much safer. Hardest part most times is finding a place to run the cord out the bottom of the pump & getting the black gunk out of the conduit!!

Delete, just re-wire the whole thing.

[This message has been edited by philmccauley (edited 07-11-2008).]

Atlanta doesn't need to burn again....
Hmmmm...or does it

We will try this all over again... If you chose to leave the old wiring in. Install a metal box in your conduit raceway. Take the ground wire in a new 3 wire cord and tie into the back of the box, by means of a ground tail or a stake on and a 10/32 screw. Tie your hots together and your neutrals together. To find out which wire in your existing conduit is which... The neutral wire will go to the screw shell in your sockets. You'll need a meter for that one. Your pump should be wired correctly and will be grounded if you have a three wire system at the the plug you choose.



[This message has been edited by blackteetexacogold (edited 07-11-2008).]

[This message has been edited by blackteetexacogold (edited 07-11-2008).]

Okay

Now I want everyone to know that Phil, just wrote me an email... I wish he had not gone and deleted his post... What Phil wrote, he admitted to me that it may have been a little mis leading... The FACT is,,, Phil was saying to wire the pump the exact way as I was descibing it.

So Phil, I raise my cup to a fellow electrician. YOU DA MAN

Doug

I geuss I'm the exception,I almost always leave it alone if it's in good shape.The wires were pulled through the conduit and poured full of the insulating "black crude"stuff.So theres little chance for the wiring to go bad inside the conduits.I did replace the wiring on both my gravitys that I have inside my house.I have close to 30 pumps out in the garage that most light up when I have people over or a party,but then they get unplugged.I suppose the smart thing is to just rewire,but I haven't been called of that often.LOL These things were built very well and for just pluging them in once in awhile I feel it's ok.Besides the first thing I do when I drag another one home is to put a cord on it,and turn the lights out and say man that looks cool.Then I finish my beer.LOL
Joe

I agree with Petroholic. I only re-wire when existing don't work.
db

+2 with Petro.

I agree with everyone, use good judgement and don't take any chances. As an electrician with a masters ticket for 29 years I refuse to recomend anything I don't look at personally.
Many 40's and 50's pump conduits are filled with a sealant that would make it virtually impossible for a fire if [I say IF] the integrity of the system is not altered or repaired. IE: My Fry 117 had cotton coated wiring run through the body cavity and looks good until I touched it and it crumbled. I ran M/C cable to the light and I am confident it will serve many future owners. THIS pump will never see a petrolium product so this method is safe for the light only.
My point here is there is a reason why the manuals say " have a QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN......" The few bucks spent here, when there is a question, is good money spent.
Doug

All pre-50's wiring was insulated with natural rubber, and protected by a woven covering of either cotton, fiberglass or asbestos. I have found that as long as the air does not get to the wiring it would last forever. The damage from oxidation usually takes place at the junction box. If the original wiring is still flexible I would not change it. It is not like you are going to actually pump fuel are you? All pumps are grounded when the electrical conduit was screwed in the junction box. This is why no third wire was used. Simply attach your ground wire to the pump and you're grounded. As for changing the sockets, that's not what I did. I removed the original crumbly wire from the terminals and crimped and soldered to new wire. The original sockets are far superior to anything you can buy now from China.

Thanks everybody. I used the old (VERY flexible) wiring and grounded it to the pump frame. It's working like a champ. The old on/off switch works like new, too. Interesting that it's a push button but it's inside the pump. There's a hole on the side panel of the pump where I guess you could stick some sort of a rod through to turn the light on or off. I didn't realize that until I put it all together. Anyway, I'm up and running...