I was helping the brother in law fix his pump. It cycled on for a few seconds and got up to about 20 lbs pressure, and then backed off when the pump cut off. He had tried a new pressure switch with no success at fixing the problem. When I got there, it would run for a few seconds and cut off. The odd thing is that the pressure switch never deactivated to kill the power, probably due to the fact that it was not at the max pressure. So I was confused why it was not running when it had power. We ended up pulling the pump, which is 96 feet down in a well marked as 171 feet, and it's 32 feet below the water surface, based on our depth test. It had a 3/4 HP pump, one inch pipe going down.
As the pump surfaced, it was obvious the connector to the top of the pump was cracked, as water was spewing out, and the pump snapped off, just as I pulled it away from the casing. He decided to get a new pump since it had been in service for about 16 years. He got a 1/2 HP pump, as that was all in stock, and it was rated for 100 feet and we were at 96. We got new fittings, splice kit, and a double throw power switch to the pump, since I had determined that it was constantly in the "on" position regardless of on or off position.
We put it back in place, and it was doing basically the same thing with the new pump. It once got up to 50 lbs of pressure and the pressure switch kicked off one time. It never kicked off power again, but the pump would come on for about 4 secs, and after about a minute or so, it would cycle again for 4 secs and cut off, and the pressure was only about 20 lbs. The power never dropped to the pump. At the well head, it was sending 240 volts to the pump, but it will only run for 4 secs and stop. Turning the spigot on at the well head would only run water as long as the pump ran (4 secs), then stopped, so it's not a pressure backup problem.
We figured it must be a chaffed wire arching or shorting (which we talked about checking, but didn't do it). We pulled it again with some help from stronger, younger men, and replaced the wire, just because. Put it all back and same issue.
I'm now thinking this is a current issue even though it reads 119-120 volts on each leg. I'm going back to check current while it's running to try and further diagnose. I'm thinking some sort of thermal or current self-protection in the pump is shutting it off.
other info: This has a 165 gallon tank on it with recommended pressure of 38 lbs, it was at about 20 lbs, I raised it to 38, and after an hour or so, it dropped back down to about 30 lbs, and the next morning he checked it, and it was at about 80 lbs and the water gauge was maxed out. This is an odd one.
Any suggestions???
As the pump surfaced, it was obvious the connector to the top of the pump was cracked, as water was spewing out, and the pump snapped off, just as I pulled it away from the casing. He decided to get a new pump since it had been in service for about 16 years. He got a 1/2 HP pump, as that was all in stock, and it was rated for 100 feet and we were at 96. We got new fittings, splice kit, and a double throw power switch to the pump, since I had determined that it was constantly in the "on" position regardless of on or off position.
We put it back in place, and it was doing basically the same thing with the new pump. It once got up to 50 lbs of pressure and the pressure switch kicked off one time. It never kicked off power again, but the pump would come on for about 4 secs, and after about a minute or so, it would cycle again for 4 secs and cut off, and the pressure was only about 20 lbs. The power never dropped to the pump. At the well head, it was sending 240 volts to the pump, but it will only run for 4 secs and stop. Turning the spigot on at the well head would only run water as long as the pump ran (4 secs), then stopped, so it's not a pressure backup problem.
We figured it must be a chaffed wire arching or shorting (which we talked about checking, but didn't do it). We pulled it again with some help from stronger, younger men, and replaced the wire, just because. Put it all back and same issue.
I'm now thinking this is a current issue even though it reads 119-120 volts on each leg. I'm going back to check current while it's running to try and further diagnose. I'm thinking some sort of thermal or current self-protection in the pump is shutting it off.
other info: This has a 165 gallon tank on it with recommended pressure of 38 lbs, it was at about 20 lbs, I raised it to 38, and after an hour or so, it dropped back down to about 30 lbs, and the next morning he checked it, and it was at about 80 lbs and the water gauge was maxed out. This is an odd one.
Any suggestions???