how do i connect my pump using the red, black and yellow wire?
February 19th, 2010 | 
Author: I have a pump with no panel cover so it has no wiring diagram, i believer its a gould but it is one of he smallest i have ever seen, i think it used to run the fish pond in front of my moms house. There is no numbers whatsoever on it. All it has 3 wires on it, red, black and yellow and nothing else, no relay or capacitor so i do not know if this is missing electrical components or if it originally came like that. Does anyone have any idea how i could hook this up to atleast test it. All i know is that it work on 110v according to my mom.
i found out that is a popular garden/house hold application pump known as the vortex type. hope this helps with the wiring, really need help to get this hooked up and running.
The pump may be designed to work on 120V or 240V. This is very common. So one of the wires would be a "common" (used in both wiring configurations) most likely the black wire. Then another wire for connecting it to 240V, most likely the red wire, and finally a wire for connecting it to 120V, most likely the white or yellow wire. I don’t know what pump motor you have so I am basing this on my experience only. You should be able to try this without damaging the motor since you can hook-up 120V to a 240V motor it just won’t work. But don’t try it the other way around. BE CAREFUL and good luck.
"Haven't you been missing this through the summer...you little beauty!"?
Posted in Gould Pumps
If it plugged into the outdoor outlet on the side of the house it would run on #14 gauge pump cable which has one red, one black, and one yellow jacketed copper conductor twisted (cabled) together. The conductor jackets are waterproof. When you ask for the cable type you ask for pump cable – it has a configuration different from other electrical cables. The other product you can use for this is a portable cord (cabtire) called SJOW rated up to 300V, or SOW rated up to 600V. Ask for a 3 conductor 14 gauge SJOW. If someone offers you
SJTW, the T stands for thermoplastic and it does not stand up as well to abuse as the O, which is oil resistant. The O stays more flexible in cold weather and does not crack over time like the T. The wire colors in the SJOW will be blk, white, red if you are in the US. Attach the white wire to the yellow on the pump. If in Canada the wires will probably be blk, white, green. Attach the green wire to the yellow.
You do not need an extra ground wire in this cable.
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The pump may be designed to work on 120V or 240V. This is very common. So one of the wires would be a "common" (used in both wiring configurations) most likely the black wire. Then another wire for connecting it to 240V, most likely the red wire, and finally a wire for connecting it to 120V, most likely the white or yellow wire. I don’t know what pump motor you have so I am basing this on my experience only. You should be able to try this without damaging the motor since you can hook-up 120V to a 240V motor it just won’t work. But don’t try it the other way around. BE CAREFUL and good luck.
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If this is a stainless metal case on the pump, look closely at the pump as most will have the information stenciled on the pump but may be very hard to read. What is the physical size of the pump. Normally when I see this type of wiring it is for 220 V. The black and red are the 220 V. and the yellow is the ground for the casing. If it is 110V the Red and Black could still be the voltage leads and the yellow the ground but you should take it to a pump shop to have them to test it to make sure. If hooked up wrong you can get some real nasty sparks..
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