Charles,
Clients have put in variable speed, constant pressure deep well submersible pumps - and have had a LOT of problems. Especially with lightening. We have a lot of that here in Oklahoma. Despite putting in lots of common point ground rods, they still get fried by stray currents.
My situation is a ~ 200 deep cased well with water flow of 35-45 GPM constant at about 40-60 feet down (with pump on).
The existing pumps are all 2 wire, 240 V types that draw about 10 amps (steady state) when on. I have two bladder tanks in parallel to minimize short cycling and to insure that if one tank fails (bladder rupture) then the other will prevent very short cycling (that kills water pumps).
The problem I have is that the start up current can be 20+ amps, but for a very brief time. the steady state level of 2.4 kW (10 amps x 240 V) is not hard to supply, but a high starting current, if limited by the generator, will be exceptionally bad for the pump.
Steve
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consulting on geothermal heating/cooling & rational energy use since 1990
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