Any well pump experts here? I hate plumbing.

69hurstolds

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Jan 2, 2006
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Well, this morning was a nice "scare" as to the submerged well water pump for the house quit working. Since I live in the world where fire ants are a real thing, I thought there may have been a chance the little critters got inside the switch because they love the mild heat the switch puts off as I have found their dead little carcasses crushed between the contacts a few years ago, keeping them open where the pump would not get power when it's supposed to.

The switch is a Square D 40/60 with low pressure cutout and the reset lever. 1/4" inlet. Entire arrangement with the surge tank is enclosed with a miniature building which kind of mimics the house. I built it in a manner that I could disassemble it in sections should the need ever arise to replace the pump. About 4 feet high, and about 5 ft x 7 ft with an access door to the switches/valves. Hmmm. Pressure gage shows a little less than 20 psi. I first tested the power to the switch. Using a test light, I got voltage to both terminals from the house. No problems here it seems. Powered off, ran a fingernail file through the contacts, then powered it up again. Now to click on the switch manually, and nothing. When the pump kicks on, you normally can hear a slight hum of the pump kicking on and watch the pressure gage react. Nothing. I checked the voltage from the switch to the pumps, and I was getting voltage to the motor from the switch. WTF??? But the pump still isn't working. Sigh. I'll go back and check actual voltages again with my fluke. It was just faster to check with the test light as a go/no-go check.

So I start to disassemble the "house" and got it where the sides were gone and just needed to lift off the roof and unbolt the walls. In the meantime, the wife went to the store to pick up some jugs of drinking water and a few gallons of distilled for flushing toilets and washing up. Figured I'd take it apart before calling the well guys. Last thing I needed was for them to arrive and the pump not be accessible. It was all screws, so it wasn't hard. The 2x4 walls are bolted together in the corners and onto the lower base so all that could come off with a ratchet. When she got back, the wife suggested I just try fiddling with the switch again for S&Gs. I did, and the pump kicked ON!!! WTF? Cycled normally 40-60 psi. Switch is about 10 years old. So I bought a new one off Amazon and it'll be here Tuesday. I'm going to replace it anyway just because it's cheap insurance.

While I have to go through the trouble to bleed down the system to change the switch, I'm going to check the surge tank air pressure and adjust as necessary. I don't have a clue as to what brand/kind of submerged pump it is or capacity or any of that. It was installed about 15 years ago. I don't want to replace it until I absolutely have to. I don't even know the exact size of the surge tank. I think it's around a 40 gallon tank, but not sure.

Anyone with well pump experience/know how have any suggestions as to what might be the issue or anything else I need to check on?
 

airboatgreg

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Oct 2, 2016
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Buy an extra capacitor maybe 2. Make sure you get the right one. maybe have a well guy sell you 2. Have microfarad rating printed on them. My 1.5HP control box has a reset on bottom of box. I also have an extra complete box. I have replaced the points once since I drilled the well in 94. Cap is usual fail about 90% of the time as is a home air conditioning system (Just thought I would throw that in:). Have a good voltmeter and watch your *ss as it is 220 volts
 

Tomeal

G-Body Guru
Apr 17, 2016
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I don't have a submerged pump, I have a jet pump. But electric motors in general, check for continuity between each leg and ground. It will tell you if a winding is bad.

Don't think it is your problem since you got it to run, but it is useful for peace of mind.

Your contactor has one circuit to open/close it, another to feed power to the motor. It could be the solenoid in the contactor.

If you can get it running, check the amp draw on the motor too.
 

Streetbu

Know it all, that doesn't
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May 22, 2011
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Few things, could be a bad spot on the well pump motor, could be bad wiring to the motor from the switch, very common as when the motors kicks on it tries to twist the pipe and of course the wiring with it... Side note, if you replace the pump, make sure to replace the wiring too. Could be your bladder tank failed and caused the pump to constant cycle and killed the pump, could just be a bad switch which you are already replacing.
 
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69hurstolds

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Thanks for the replies. I did consider a bad spot in the motor although I’m not sure if it’s construction. I don’t think the surge tank is an issue but you never know. It holds pretty steady with a good long period between cycles now. I watched it. Like watching paint dry. It came on at 39 on the gage and off at 60. It’s been doing great all day.
 
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fleming442

Captain Tenneal
Dec 26, 2013
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Could be anything at this point. Our common point of failure is sediment clogging the pressure port on the switch. I ran a whole hi house filter, but its after the pump, pressure switch, and bladder tank.
 

69hurstolds

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Jan 2, 2006
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Could be anything at this point. Our common point of failure is sediment clogging the pressure port on the switch. I ran a whole hi house filter, but its after the pump, pressure switch, and bladder tank.
We've got a similar setup. Have two filters in tandem under the house (we got a crawlspace), a gross/pre filter for dirt and big stuff, and the second one is way tighter on the microns. Forget the size, but it cleans things up very well. There was a lot of dirt and debris the first year or so on the new well, until it got settled in. Was changing filters about once every week or so in the beginning. Now it's fairly clean and can easily get more than a month out of the filters. I just change them once per month regardless.

Still running like it's supposed to all day now. I've quit monitoring it for the night, I think it'll be ok. I did check the "points" or contacts and they did have some pitting. If there is any dirt and crap up in that thing, you can't clean it out anyway, so putting a new one in should remove it from the potential culprit list.
 
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69hurstolds

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Still haven't figured out why the pump didn't run that morning. But it's been fine ever since. New pressure switch came in the mail today, so I installed it, and recharged the pressure tank air side to the proper amount of 38 psi. Lowe's or Home Depot did not have what I wanted in stock. They could order it for me, but WTF. Amazon sent it to me in 48 hours.

The pressure tank had 11 psi in it but no water on the air side, so I'm thinking the Schrader valve might be leaking. I recharged it last December, so it's gotta have a slow leak. Also found major crud build up in the line to the switch, so that couldn't be helpful. I rodded that out.

So far so good. While doing some research on well systems, I ran across a cycle stop valve which basically does nothing for like, using a faucet to wash hands, or any other quick used, but when washing the car, taking a shower, watering the lawn/plants, etc., instead of cycling the pump between 40 and 60 continuously, the CSV basically maintains a steady pressure on the system during heavy/continuous water draw with the pump running. It also allows the pump to run a couple minutes after the water draw event. It essentially reduces the cycling of the pump which is usually the cause for early pump demise. Might look into doing that as well. Bonus is you can use a very small pressure tank. Which will be great if I end up having to replace the tank.

If you want more info on a CSV and you have a constant flow pump, give it a once over. https://cyclestopvalves.com/

Anyhoo, I just wanted to put a closure on this stage of the game. I know it's some people's peeve when someone doesn't come back and update a "I have a problem" thread.
 
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motorheadmike

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Nov 18, 2009
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Being a city kid my well scares me.
 

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