Need help. No water.

[N80]

Replaced pressure switch. Switched on the breaker. Tank fills. Pressure comes up to 40. Pressure switch still DOES NOT turn off. Just sits there at 40 psi but switch stays on. Open the tap and it runs like gangbusters for a minute then stops. After a minute it starts to run again. Same as before.

Can't figure why the pressure switch will not open (turn off) at 40 psi.

Wonder if there is a hole in the hose pipe down in the well that only leaks at a certain pressure.

Going to pull the pump. It is 250 feet down.

 

[Valveman]

Replaced pressure switch. Switched on the breaker. Tank fills. Pressure comes up to 40. Pressure switch still DOES NOT turn off. Just sits there at 40 psi but switch stays on. Open the tap and it runs like gangbusters for a minute then stops. After a minute it starts to run again. Same as before.

Can't figure why the pressure switch will not open (turn off) at 40 psi.

Wonder if there is a hole in the hose pipe down in the well that only leaks at a certain pressure.

Going to pull the pump. It is 250 feet down.

If the pump wasn't already off, the pressure would keep climbing and not stop at 40 or 28. I think 40 is just a coincidence and it is turning off because the internal auto re-setting overload in the motor is tripping. Waiting a minute or so and the water just magically coming back on is a clue. The overload resets itself in about a minute and water comes back on. Put an amp meter around one of the hot wires and you will see the amps peg, then drop to zero as the pump shuts off. But you will have 240V on all the lines the entire time.

Not much you can do when this starts happening except to replace the pump/motor. They make those auto-resetting overloads so you don't know you have a problem until it is too late. With the old push button overloads in the control box, which they still use on 2HP and larger, at least you know the first time the overload trips.

Planned obsolescence is built into pumps and the auto reset overload helps promote cash flow at the pump manufacturers. Pumps come with about 7 years worth of on/off cycles built into them. The bladder/diaphragm in the tank last about the same. If your pump doesn't go out from the normal on/off cycling in 7 years, the tank bladder fails and hurries it along. The auto-reset overload has probably been tripping occasionally for a long time, you just didn't notice. By the time you start to notice it is too late to save the pump.

Submersible pumps are completely frictionless when up and running. They are made for continuous duty. I have one that hasn't turned off since the year 2000. The bearings are only dry on start up, so the more starts the less time a pump will last. When you get a new pump make sure this doesn't happen again by installing a Cycle Stop Valve which can more than triple the life of the pump and everything else in a pump system.

 

[ponytug]

@N80 So, your setup is a submersible pump 250' filling a pressure tank at the surface?

With the faucet open, do you ever get air out of it? Have you checked to see if the pump is shutting itself off, even though the pressure switch is on? (Current drops to zero, or the voltage changes)

If your pump isn't shutting off, and there pressure is stable, then either you have a leak in the pipe, or your pump is worn and can't build pressure beyond that point, or your well has run dry and the pump is shutting itself due to overheating. If you have eliminated above the well leaks, then yes, it is time to pull the pump. Sorry.

All the best,

Peter

 

[bcp]

The pipe to the gauge is probably plugged, too.

Don't trust it.

Bruce

 

[N80]

Update: It was the pump. Or, now that the new pump is in, everything is working.

There was nowhere in this county to buy a pump but my brother-in-law knew a recently retired plumber with a small warehouse behind his house and he just happened to have a pump. We got it in just before dark. Don't know how much it costs but I used to rabbit hunt with this old retired plumber. We visited a while a talked about our rabbit hunting days. My brother-in-law told me up front that the pump would cost more than the big box stores but I don't care. I'd rather pay too much for one from a local fellow than a cheap one from the big box store. Plus it was only 8 miles away rather than 50.

I sincerely appreciate the help from you guys. It helped us sort the problem.

Most of a vacation day down the drain but the rest of the week salvaged.

 

[Jstpssng]

Good to hear it. I've been reading from the start but adding my 2 cents wouldn't have been worth the zinc it's made from.
Now that you have that fixed, I hope you are able to enjoy the rest of your week.

 

[N80]

Thanks. Not the way I wanted to spend a vacation day. But as always down here it was interesting to see how small rural communities work. In addition to my brother in law and the retired plumber, two very competent neighbors came by to help. All the tools we needed right at hand.

A big part of why I like to hang around down here I suppose.

 

[newbury]

Thanks for the wrap up.

 

[Jstpssng]

Thanks. Not the way I wanted to spend a vacation day. But as always down here it was interesting to see how small rural communities work. In addition to my brother in law and the retired plumber, two very competent neighbors came by to help. All the tools we needed right at hand.

A big part of why I like to hang around down here I suppose.

I just spent the last two weeks trying to get my shallow well pump working... pressure came right up when I first tried it but I had a bad leak so had to start over. It wouldn't build pressure, and I'd mess with it but it still wouldn't build pressure... I was already to start digging the 250 foot water line up but tonight I decided to just let it run and lo and behold- it ran and then shut off! It turns out that the gauge was no good.

 

[MossRoad]

Update: It was the pump. Or, now that the new pump is in, everything is working.

There was nowhere in this county to buy a pump but my brother-in-law knew a recently retired plumber with a small warehouse behind his house and he just happened to have a pump. We got it in just before dark. Don't know how much it costs but I used to rabbit hunt with this old retired plumber. We visited a while a talked about our rabbit hunting days. My brother-in-law told me up front that the pump would cost more than the big box stores but I don't care. I'd rather pay too much for one from a local fellow than a cheap one from the big box store. Plus it was only 8 miles away rather than 50.

I sincerely appreciate the help from you guys. It helped us sort the problem.

Most of a vacation day down the drain but the rest of the week salvaged.

How did you pull the pump and 250' of pipe?