The pump is a few years old and the pressure switch is a year old. The pressure switch will "stutter" several times during the day and trip the breaker. Could the pressure switch be bad already? Maybe it needs an adjustment (one screw for high pressure, one for low pressure) Could the pump be going bad?
2007-09-15 04:41:00 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
the most likely problem is the tank is water logged....if it is a air bag tank the bag is either busted or the air is low...should be three pounds less air than kick on setting of the pump...pumps kicks on at 20 should be 17 psi air in tank with no water in the tank with faucet open and pump turned off...if it is just an old galvanized tank with an air volume control this could be bad...with those tank all you need to do is drain all the water out of the tank...all switches come with a 20 psi differential unless you changed it so that will not be the problem.....if your switch stutters that always indicates a waterlogged tank...
2007-09-15 09:57:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
In addition to what kca... has mentioned, you may need to clean the contacts on the switch. Radio Shack sells a can of electric contact cleaner (spray can, tv tuner parts cleaner, etc)
Turn the power off when using the spray itself, so there is no danger of it igniting while you are spraying, heheh. Once it dries it is safe to resume operation.
It does sound as if the problem is in the switch itself, but I have to ask.... what kind of pump? Is the pump in the well, or is this a jet pump at the top of the well? When the pump was installed, was new electrical wiring run at the same time? And a new circuit on the breaker box?
An electrician with a multimeter can check a lot of this information for you, if need be. If checking the pressure switch operation, and cleaning it do not correct the problem, then I would suggest checking the amps on the draw, to see if you are actually getting enough power when it is needed. (Ive had a compressor fail to start on more than one occasion, because there just wasnt quite enough amps for it)
There might also be a broken connector in the wiring to the pump.
From the description of how it is working you have provided, I doubt it is the physical operation of the pump itself, but if everything else checks out ok, thats next.
Good Luck
2007-09-15 13:57:20 · answer #2 · answered by thewrangler_sw 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It sounds like the pressure differential is to low on the switch.
If you have a pressure Gage on the system run the water and see what pressure the pump starts at and shuts off at. If there is not sufficient difference the starting of the pump will surge the pressure and cause the switch to think the pressure is sufficient so it will shut off. the switch is receiving a false positive reading and will shut the pump down. This will happen and cause the pump to start up multiple times in a row very quickly and this will cause the breaker to trip.
2007-09-15 12:27:30 · answer #3 · answered by kca678 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
sounds like it could be an exposed wire in the well ask a local plumber to check it out
2007-09-16 11:02:23 · answer #4 · answered by Eddie W 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Check your foot valve in the well itself.
2007-09-19 22:47:39 · answer #5 · answered by extitude 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋