Well pump protection against large leak

[BeezFun]

My neighbor claims he has a feature on his well pump switch so that if the pressure drops too much (say if there's a break in the main supply line), the switch will turn off the pump and it will stay off until he manually resets it with a little lever on the side. I never heard of that but it sounds like a great idea. I've looked online for switches with this kind of feature but don't see anything. Anyone know more about this or seen such a switch?

 

[Jimbrown]

You just ain't a good googler.

https://www.google.com/#q=low+pressure+cutoff+switch+well

 

[square1]

...and you think your wife gets mad now when you flush the toilet while she's in the shower, just wait until you install that thing

 

[downsizingnow48]

I have that kind of switch on our well and have tested it. It shuts off at low pressure about 10lbs. Easy to reset. Hopefully will keep well motor from burning out from continuous operation if there is a major leak.

 

[jaotguy]

...and you think your wife gets mad now when you flush the toilet while she's in the shower, just wait until you install that thing

I see you've had one too .... neighbor had to go to a larger pressure tank ( 2 ganged together ) and removed it for the standard switch to stop it from dropping out ....

( his wife was $%^& since she had no water till he came home ....)
she ran the DW , washer , and tried to water the garden at the same time , and complained that they never had the problem on city water and wanted him to go back to city water ... he explained they only had wells in the country ..... he told her to use one thing at a time ....

 

[BeezFun]

You just ain't a good googler.

https://www.google.com/#q=low+pressure+cutoff+switch+well

Thanks, the secret is to know that it's called a low pressure or water cutoff. I kept looking for something related to safety and motor protection. Turns out there's some really expensive systems that monitor pump current and voltage for use with slow recharging wells.

 

[BeezFun]

...and you think your wife gets mad now when you flush the toilet while she's in the shower, just wait until you install that thing

Thanks for the warning, I'll be prepared to deny all knowledge of any changes to the system.

 

[dave1949]

Thanks for the warning, I'll be prepared to deny all knowledge of any changes to the system.

Plausible Deniability. Those are the two words you need to remember and prepare for. :laughing:

 

[Xfaxman]

I know when my pump is running, I just look out the window, if the light is on, it is pumping water.

If the light is on when it shouldn't be, I check the toilets and go out and shut off the hydrant at the horse water tank that my wife forgot.



I installed an AC Current Switch on one of the wires going to the pump.


Sure is good knowing there are no leaks in the system. :thumbsup:

 

[Qapla]

This type of switch might not work on some of the wells I deal with in my work - irrigation.

Some of the valves can be a bit slow to turn off and when the clock turns one valve off it immediately turns the next one on. During the time the first valve is turning off and the new one has turned on the pressure can drop to almost nothing. It will return to normal operating pressure as soon as there is only one valve open.

I would need a switch that reads constant flow for a set time, like 5 minutes or more, to have one that would work ..... most of the time I don't have such a need though.