Hello LastLeg,
The situation could be a bunch of things. Here at the forum we do our best to picture it in front of us. You said he gets 4 on his multimeter in continuity mode/OHMS. I would think you would get a reading like that if you were reading 3000 feet of conductor with an ohm meter. 1500 feet one way and back. They cant be leaking to earth if it in pulled in PVC like you were saying. It could to other conductors(short). I would disconnect the well pump and disconnect it at the panel (both sides). Get a megger and meg the conductors to ground and each other to see if you even have a problem (then worry about location of a fault). I dont know your brother-inlaw, but you never know if he undersized his wire from the initial install to compensate voltage drop, especially when we are dealing with 3000 feet. The well pump could have burned up from an undervoltage to the motor after a long period of time. Was there correct voltage verified with a digital meter at the pump before the pump was put online. Just check the amp rating on the pump and do the math to verify correct wire size. I hope some of my suggestions help. Good Luck Man
