Well Caught Fire

[wagne223]

Looked out the kitchen window this morning and saw my well on fire. I had one non Kidde extinguisher on the wall and grabbed it. The plastic pin broke and wouldn't release the trigger. About that time I thought to turn off the breaker and the fire went out. Wasn't enough left of the pressure switch to determine the cause but a new switch and gauge got me back in business. I ended up cutting the pin out of that old fire extinguisher and hangin it back on the wall. Hate to throw anything away that might be useful. Won't take but a second to see if it will work next time I need one and another is always close by.

View attachment 608601

View attachment 608602

Test your bladder tank. The number one cause of a pressure switch burning like that is a failed bladder tank.
That causes rapid cycling of the switch and pump which overheats and destroys the switch and pump.

 

[TractorGuy]

Test your bladder tank. The number one cause of a pressure switch burning like that is a failed bladder tank.
That causes rapid cycling of the switch and pump which overheats and destroys the switch and pump.

Thanks for the tip. I will keep an eye on it. It seems to be cycling normal but I haven't stood over it past one induced cycle by running the water at the tank. Pressure seemed to remain steady after it cycled off. I have a KWH monitor I can install at the breaker and check it.

 

[TractorGuy]

Well pumps aren't generally left exposed to the weather. They're usually in some kind of housing to keep the rain and Sun off, even if no bigger than a dog house that can be lifted off.

Down here you rarely see a pump house. Doesn't get that cold for any length of time.

 

[jaxs]

It was your pressure switch that was on fire,not the well. Switch looks like it's outdoors, they're not rated for a wet location, I don't believe. It might help to get it out of the weather.

Well pumps aren't generally left exposed to the weather. They're usually in some kind of housing to keep the rain and Sun off, even if no bigger than a dog house that can be lifted off.

You may as well drop the subject,OP know's exactly what he is doing and why he is doing it so you are not going to convince him to inclose his pump. The humidity and temperature are high nearly year around. Consequently cool water cause's condensation on pipes and tank 12 months of the year and humidity stay's 100% inside house. As it is,sun keep's equipment dry. Tractorguy can also be stubborn when folks try and tell him what kind of snowplow he should buy and how he should store it.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

In my area the pumps are in the well, and the pressure tank and switch is in your basement.

 

[txdon]

Kidde fire extinguisher recall:

Kidde Fire Extinguisher Recall

Thanks for the recall link. I have one that is on the recall description. I have submitted the form with the numbers requested and it was accepted. I'll check back if they replace it.

 

[jaxs]

It was your pressure switch that was on fire,not the well. Switch looks like it's outdoors, they're not rated for a wet location, I don't believe. It might help to get it out of the weather.

In my area the pumps are in the well, and the pressure tank and switch is in your basement.

In OP's area,they are called indoor swimming pools.:scubadiver:

 

[Molalla1]

Well pumps aren't generally left exposed to the weather. They're usually in some kind of housing to keep the rain and Sun off, even if no bigger than a dog house that can be lifted off.

Yep . . . usually one has a "well house" covering things . . .

 

[Molalla1]

Thanks for the tip. I will keep an eye on it. It seems to be cycling normal but I haven't stood over it past one induced cycle by running the water at the tank. Pressure seemed to remain steady after it cycled off. I have a KWH monitor I can install at the breaker and check it.

I had a pressure switch fail (not burn like yours) . . . on one of my wells (I have 3 wells) . . . but this one had the old style pressure tank (no bladder) you had to re-pressurize it every 6 months or so . . . I did change that soon after that happened . . .

 

[Gem99ultra]

Sorry about your well fire. BUT - the fire extinguisher that the pin was stuck in would quickly be discarded. No way, no how, would I want to trust a fire extinguisher again that had failed me once before - for whatever reason. They're simply too cheap, but too valuable when you need it the worst. Buy a new one.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have an underground concrete pump house. Everything in there is covered in sweat at certain times of the year. I don't think my pressure switch could get wetter if left out in the rain. In fact, the plastic cover would protect it from rain and keep it dry. In the pump house, it will be wet, inside and out. The switch has never failed due to moisture, only hard water scale.

 

[Alien]

I have the same pressure switches as you but I also have a large electrical control/junction box so I built a small shed over my bore. Being in a rural area I do see a few uncovered bores but the majority have some sort of cover.
The control box houses the large start capacitor and main supply.
Undo 4 nuts and the shed lifts off the cement slab for major maintenance.

 

[bunyip]

Ants seem to find a way into everything even though it is sealed, antenna baluns are a favourite for them as you discover when you lose TV reception.[/QUOTE

Great minds think alike. When I noticed OP's location,Fire ants were my first thought. Us Yanks wouldn't know what antenna baluns are but most that live near the gulf know fire ants mess with any thing electrical. Net net result is bad connection although root cause might be ants. Now that we have them stirred up,I have questions about down under ants that invade antenna baluns. Do they build larger mounds than most ants? If you lightly touch the mound,does the mound instantly explode with hundreds of mad ants. Although it's rare avoiding a swarm stinging before you can escape,if a single ant is on your skin,does it repeatedly sting rather than sting and run as most ants do? Those behaviors describe what we know along the Gulf as "Imported Fire Ants".

These ants are tiny and nest in anything, no mounds but they will find a dry dark spot somewhere to set up camp and breed, we don't get fire ants here but they do up north.
A balun is a balance transformer is found on a lot of antennas that converts the 300 to 75 ohms, it is what the coax attaches to although most now have an F connector.
At home these ants will get into cars, machinery etc, anything that is left standing for a while.

 

[jaxs]

I'm surprised to hear they aren't vicious,from what I've heard everything on your continent will either bite,sting,poison,eat or kill you. Supposedly some will do more than one.
We have some nasty plants,insects and creatures in Texas but compared to repitations of your's,they would run ours off or make pets of them. On the other hand our politicians are much nastier than yours.
For instance, as an area's human population density increases,Rattlesnake population decreases. If I understand,Brown Snakes are quite common in densly populated areas.

 

[Alien]

I had a nice wireless outdoor weather station. It stopped working and when I opened it up it was full of those ants and eggs and was totally deestroyed. I was pretty pixxed about it. Apparently they excrete acid that shorts everything out.
As for those darned imported fire ants, they are around 30 - 40 klm from me now and getting closer despite their efforts with ground crews and helicopters dropping baits to stop them. Cant see it happening.

 

[Alien]

I might add, in the northern territory there are ants that will eat your vehicle tyres if you park it for long periods on dirt. Even truck tyres get destroyed. If you park a vehicle for any length of time you have to park it on sheets of tin or you will be up for 4 new tyres. (Or tires as you guys say)

 

[bunyip]

Yes, brown and tiger snakes are found in backyards in suburbia however I am pleased to say that we do not have bears, cats that will eat you, moose, bison etc although drop bears can be a problem in some areas as alien will attest to.
Our politicians are like wild game, very elusive and hard to find when you want one, can squeeze into very tight spots as they have no spine and blame the previous government for everything that has gone wrong during their time in office.

 

[Alien]

Yep, we have drop bears on our property. I remain in my vehicle.
Even though we live in the bush we are not troubled by brown snakes at all. They normally remain on the flats nearer water sources.
We do have pythons, carpet and green and the odd whip. They dont worry us at all.
Only other nasties are redback spiders and a few scorpions but few and far between.
Incidentally, I was bitten by a redback once and since then react to bull ant bites and stings.
Nastiest little beggars are the paper wasps. They hit you like a red hot poker.

 

[Alien]

Arrrgh. Just found out fire ants are only about 10 klms from my property now. My daughter is on a fire ant crew.
Apparently they can fly about 5 klm a day or 10 klm if there is wind. Darn things.

 

[bunyip]

A few
Ant species of Australia | Rentokil Pest Control
Had bull ants latch onto me a few times, they certainly expand the vocabulary, when I was a kid we found a nest and taunted them with Tom Thumb firecrackers they would take it and run into the nest where it would explode, that would bring a few out looking for blood.
Tom Thumbs were less than an inch long and came on a string so about a hundred or so would go off in succession, we would separate them and hunt down the ants, we didn't always win.