I have a in ground well with the well pipe coming out of the ground. Take the cap off the pipe there is the pressure switch.
About once a week water will stop coming in the house.
I have to go the pipe take off the cover pull up the pressure switch.
I take off the switch cover and with a stick I bump the relays back this cuts the water back on.

What might be causing this to happen. The water starts right back on stays that way for a while.
might do it again in 4 days may be 10 days.

I do have a water source heat pump system in the house. Water runs though it and pumps out in my pond.
well pressure switch runs when the air is running. It cuts off the water from the well cuts off.

Any advice is appreciated
Dave
Tennessee

On May 31, 7:21*pm, "Jack Valance" wrote:
I have a in ground well with the well pipe coming out of the ground. Take the cap off the pipe there is the pressure switch.
About once a week water will stop coming in the house.
I have to go the pipe take off the cover pull up the pressure switch.
I take off the switch cover and with a stick I bump the relays back this cuts the water back on.

What might be causing this to happen. The water starts right back on stays that way for a while.
might do it again in 4 days may be 10 days.

I do have a water source heat pump system in the house. Water runs though it and pumps out in my pond.
well pressure switch runs when the air is running. It cuts off the water from the well cuts off.

Any advice is appreciated
Dave
Tennessee

The relay points are sticking. Replace the pressure switch. It is
not a high cost item and nor is it a complicated item to replace.
Just be sure to turn off the power before working on it.

Harry K

On Mon, 31 May 2010 21:21:05 -0500, "Jack Valance"
wrote Re Any Water Well experts on he

I have a in ground well with the well pipe coming out of the ground. Take the cap off the pipe there is the pressure switch.
About once a week water will stop coming in the house.
I have to go the pipe take off the cover pull up the pressure switch.
I take off the switch cover and with a stick I bump the relays back this cuts the water back on.

What might be causing this to happen. The water starts right back on stays that way for a while.
might do it again in 4 days may be 10 days.

I do have a water source heat pump system in the house. Water runs though it and pumps out in my pond.
well pressure switch runs when the air is running. It cuts off the water from the well cuts off.

Any advice is appreciated
Dave
Tennessee

My guess is that the pressure switch relay might be sticking due to
corrosion or dirt. Can you remove the switch to inspect/clean it?
--
Work is the curse of the drinking class.

On May 31, 10:21�pm, "Jack Valance" wrote:
I have a in ground well with the well pipe coming out of the ground. Take the cap off the pipe there is the pressure switch.
About once a week water will stop coming in the house.
I have to go the pipe take off the cover pull up the pressure switch.
I take off the switch cover and with a stick I bump the relays back this cuts the water back on.

What might be causing this to happen. The water starts right back on stays that way for a while.
might do it again in 4 days may be 10 days.

I do have a water source heat pump system in the house. Water runs though it and pumps out in my pond.
well pressure switch runs when the air is running. It cuts off the water from the well cuts off.

Any advice is appreciated
Dave
Tennessee

I am not an expert. Without seeing your type of switch, I can't be
sure. But, some wells have a reset lever on them to keep the pump from
running when the water pressure drops below a certain level (this
keeps the pump from burning up). The pressure drop is due to low water
levels in the well and the pump is sucking some air (using more water
than the well produces).

If I were you, I would find out EXACTLY which switch/relay you have
and go from there to determine if the problem is the switch/relay or
well production.

Hank

I did replace the switch and it did the same thing. Before I changed I
sprayed WD40 on the relays.
The switch is a Square D switch.
Thank yall for your thoughts on this.

Jack Valance wrote:
I did replace the switch and it did the same thing. ...

Like in a very short time, you mean?

In that case, it's not the relays or switch itself.

I'd look at the pressure pipe connection where the switch is mounted.
I'd venture you've got corrosion/sediment collected in that 1/8" pipe
that is not giving good pressure reading; knocking on it disturbs enough
for it to operate again for a little while...

--

Jack Valance wrote:
I did replace the switch and it did the same thing. Before I changed I
sprayed WD40 on the relays.
The switch is a Square D switch.
Thank yall for your thoughts on this.

Well... why in the world would you spray WD40 on relays? And what
relays? Do you have an open motor start relay?

Take the relay away from the well and wash the WD 40 off it using carb
cleaner. Or just replace it.

On Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:57:27 -0400, Tony
wrote:

Jack Valance wrote:
I did replace the switch and it did the same thing. Before I changed I
sprayed WD40 on the relays.
The switch is a Square D switch.
Thank yall for your thoughts on this.

Well... why in the world would you spray WD40 on relays?

Because he was out of duct tape & his vice grips were in his pickup?

-snip-

Take the relay away from the well and wash the WD 40 off it using carb
cleaner. Or just replace it.

Or relay cleaner-

Jim

On 6/1/2010 9:41 AM, Jack Valance wrote:
I did replace the switch and it did the same thing. Before I changed I
sprayed WD40 on the relays.
The switch is a Square D switch.
Thank yall for your thoughts on this.


Last problem I had with my well like this, the pump was going bad.
It was cutting out because of high amperage demand and manifested itself
to me as having to reset the pressure switch.

GAWWD I just hate dropping $700 on putting a pump in..
Tell me it aint SO...

Jack Valance wrote:
GAWWD I just hate dropping $700 on putting a pump in..
Tell me it aint SO...

Well, the symptoms are purely coincidental -- the pump would have a
thermal overload and all the messing w/ the pressure contacts would be
doing would be to waste enough time for it to cool and reset. There's
no connection at all between the pump failure described and the pressure
switch.

Did you check the pressure line to the switch as I suggested earlier?

--

Jim Elbrecht wrote:
On Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:57:27 -0400, Tony
wrote:

Jack Valance wrote:
I did replace the switch and it did the same thing. Before I changed I
sprayed WD40 on the relays.
The switch is a Square D switch.
Thank yall for your thoughts on this.
Well... why in the world would you spray WD40 on relays?

Because he was out of duct tape & his vice grips were in his pickup?

-snip-
Take the relay away from the well and wash the WD 40 off it using carb
cleaner. Or just replace it.

Or relay cleaner-

If the relay was dirty just from normal use, relay cleaner, maybe. But
when someone sprays something like WD40 on it, that is not normal use or
operating conditions. So I pull out the big guns. Actually I would
then file or burnish the contacts after cleaning them. I don't think
I've even actually seen relay cleaner, if it's like contact cleaner
spray, it's a joke that normally gives more problems then it fixes.

Jack Valance wrote:
GAWWD I just hate dropping $700 on putting a pump in..
Tell me it aint SO...



So where did you spray the WD40? What relays? If the pump was good, a
bad contact due to WD40 on it could very well fry the pump.

I pulled the switch all the way up looking for a kink in the yellow line
going from the top of the well pipe to the switch saw nothing noteable.
WD i sprayed on the springs relays that go back and forth just to put some
oil on them. I did not just spray the whole switch.
This weekend I'm going to pull up the pipe just to make sure no hole in the
pipe as somebody said..

Jack Valance wrote:
I pulled the switch all the way up looking for a kink in the yellow line
going from the top of the well pipe to the switch saw nothing noteable.
WD i sprayed on the springs relays that go back and forth just to put some
oil on them. I did not just spray the whole switch.
This weekend I'm going to pull up the pipe just to make sure no hole in the
pipe as somebody said..

You've got flex tubing for the connection to the pressure switch?????
And it's long and just loosely laid in the access area??? Sounds like a
problem waiting to happen for sure. I'd say good chance there is a kink
or it collapses or is full of crud. I'd also use solid tube and make it
short and straight if at all possible. Do you not have a pressure tank?

I'm not used to any system w/o one nor any place that doesn't have a
well house for all the components to be installed in neatly so these
(imo makeshift) arrangements w/ all at a well head or in a crowded
little culvert or somesuch are a wonder. Anyway, I'd surely inspect it
and it won't be a leak as that would fail and stay failed--it'll be a
mostly plugged or collapsed line. My experience has been that the 1/8"
pipe used gets sediment and/or corrosion and when that finally gets to a
closed-off situation any final little grain of sand or rust fleck can
plug it or not depending on where it is.

Again, are you saying a replacement pressure switch began showing the
same symptoms in a very short time? If so, I'll repeat it isn't the
switch itself. (OK, unless the pump is short-cycling or some other
operational problem that is eating contacts or something but there's
been no mention of such).

--

dpb wrote:
Jack Valance wrote:
....

This weekend I'm going to pull up the pipe just to make sure no hole
in the pipe as somebody said..
....

... it won't be a leak as that would fail and stay failed...

The symptom for a leak would be the pump would never shut off because
would never reach pressure...

--

On Jun 2, 9:39�am, dpb wrote:
dpb wrote:
Jack Valance wrote:

...

This weekend I'm going to pull up the pipe just to make sure no hole
in the pipe as somebody said..

...

... it won't be a leak as that would fail and stay failed...

The symptom for a leak would be the pump would never shut off because
would never reach pressure...

--

Like I said in an earlier post.......They make pressure cut-off
switches that has a re-set lever, which he may have. Basically, if the
pump can't maintain a certain minmum pressure, the electric going to
the pump will be dis-connected. Therfore, the pump will not run and
burn-up. It protects the pump in addition to the cut-off that is built
inside the pump itself.

Since he said he uses the well for a heat pump that flows into a pond,
my first guess would be to make sure there is enough water to supply
both heat pump and house. Since warmer weather has approached most
areas, the heat pump may be using too much of the water.

Since I can't see which cut-off switch he has. I am only guessing.

Hank

On Jun 2, 6:36*am, dpb wrote:
Jack Valance wrote:
I pulled the switch all the way up looking for a kink in the yellow line
going from the top of the well pipe to the switch saw nothing noteable.
WD i sprayed on the springs relays that go back and forth just to put some
oil on them. I did not just spray the whole switch.
This weekend I'm going to pull up the pipe just to make sure no hole in the
pipe as somebody said..

You've got flex tubing for the connection to the pressure switch?????
And it's long and just loosely laid in the access area??? *Sounds like a
problem waiting to happen for sure. *I'd say good chance there is a kink
or it collapses or is full of crud. *I'd also use solid tube and make it
short and straight if at all possible. *Do you not have a pressure tank?

I'm not used to any system w/o one nor any place that doesn't have a
well house for all the components to be installed in neatly so these
(imo makeshift) arrangements w/ all at a well head or in a crowded
little culvert or somesuch are a wonder.

snip

All I can picture with his set up is a 'constant pressure' switch. If
he has a pressure tank, that is the most screwed ukp installation I
ever heard of.

On the subject of the well-house. No person in his right mind would
put the pressure tank and fixin's in a well house. Those made sense
back in the days of 'pumps above ground'. Put them in the house where
there are no freeze up issues and one can actually access the workings
easily. I hate crawling into one to work on a submersible pump
system.

Harry K

Hustlin' Hank wrote:
....

Like I said in an earlier post.......They make pressure cut-off
switches that has a re-set lever, which he may have. ...

If that were the case, would he have written "I take off the switch
cover and with a stick I bump the relays back this cuts the water back
on."? I wouldn't think so... Then again, it is usenet... VBG

It's certainly possible he's got a capacity problem but doesn't seem the
symptoms he's described are what I'd expect those to be.

--

Harry K wrote:
....

On the subject of the well-house. No person in his right mind would
put the pressure tank and fixin's in a well house. ...

I don't know what your concept of a "well-house" is, but you're
description ain't mine...the one here is 10x14 block w/ heat, lights,
power outlets, etc., etc., etc., ... In this particular case, it was
built w/ roof access to pull the pump, etc., as well altho the wellhead
itself is now 100 yds removed as the original well failed.

Damn'ed if I want to work on a well or the pressure tank or anything
else _inside_ the house... What a mess that would leave to clean up not
to mention access.

--

On Jun 2, 11:23�am, dpb wrote:
Hustlin' Hank wrote:

...

Like I said in an earlier post.......They make pressure cut-off
switches that has a re-set lever, which he may have. ...

If that were the case, would he have written �"I take off the switch
cover and with a stick I bump the relays back this cuts the water back
on."? �I wouldn't think so... �Then again, it is usenet... VBG

It's certainly possible he's got a capacity problem but doesn't seem the
symptoms he's described are what I'd expect those to be.

--

On some of the re-set types with the lever on the side, the lever is
doing what he may do (put it back into position. Google it and you'll
see what I mean.

Hank

Hustlin' Hank wrote:
....

On some of the re-set types with the lever on the side, the lever is
doing what he may do (put it back into position. Google it and you'll
see what I mean.

I know what you mean but I'll bet dollars to donuts that ain't it...

--

dpb wrote:
Hustlin' Hank wrote:
...

On some of the re-set types with the lever on the side, the lever is
doing what he may do (put it back into position. Google it and you'll
see what I mean.

I know what you mean but I'll bet dollars to donuts that ain't it...

BTW, don't disagree that OP ought to make sure he knows what he's got;
reason I don't think this is the problem (altho again, it _could_ be it
is, again, usenet here and we ain't got pitchurs ) is twofold --
first, the reset lever is fairly obvious and it won't reset and stay on
until pressure builds above the setpoint again. It just doesn't seem
from his description that's happening that way but again, sure,
anything's possible...

--

On Jun 2, 8:29*am, dpb wrote:
Harry K wrote:

...

On the subject of the well-house. *No person in his right mind would
put the pressure tank and fixin's in a well house. *...

I don't know what your concept of a "well-house" is, but you're
description ain't mine...the one here is 10x14 block w/ heat, lights,
power outlets, etc., etc., etc., ... *In this particular case, it was
built w/ roof access to pull the pump, etc., as well altho the wellhead
itself is now 100 yds removed as the original well failed.

Damn'ed if I want to work on a well or the pressure tank or anything
else _inside_ the house... *What a mess that would leave to clean up not
to mention access. *

--



I never saw a well-house that big. All the ones I worked on had just
room enough for the tank and pump with just enough room to turn around
in.

What "access" are you talking about? Walk into the area where the
installation is and yuo are looking at a pressure tank and water
heater with everything ritght there in the open.

Mess inside the house? From what? Unless you don't install it
correctly, any "mess" is routed to the drains. Yes, the TPR valve on
the water heater is supposed to be routed to a secure drain, not onto
the floor.

Harry K