Gould Pump pressure switch

I have been having some problems with my low pressure switch failure to come on. The Gould pump and tank are about two years old. two months ago, the pump went dead so I called a plumber and he found the the pressure switch was burned out. So he replaced it and then checked the air pressure in my tank after empting the water and found was it was over 40 psi. He said it should be around (I think the mid to upper 20's) So he purged the air from the tank down to that level. He said that may have caused the switch burn out problem. The Low/High cut in/out look to be set about L28/H45 psi

Now 2 months later, the pump failed to come on again. So I check the switch and it look good. I tapped the box and the pump started and started to operate normally again. Now a day or so later it is still working ok. What could cause this.

wayne11 said:

Now 2 months later, the pump failed to come on again. So I check the switch and it look good. I tapped the box and the pump started and started to operate normally again. Now a day or so later it is still working ok. What could cause this.

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The plumber caused that...

I would hazzard a guess that the air pressure in your bladder is still set too high, you empty the tank and measure the pressure, then set it to 26psi, 2 lbs less than what your switch is set to come on at.

Rancher

Gould pressure switch

Hi, I have a 3 year old Gould 3/4 hp that at about 2 years the pressure switch quit working . I replaced it with a square D and all seems well. The factory installed switch, which I recall was not made by Gould and was not a Square D, ended up with a fatigue fracture and breaking of the spring that apparently sits between the diaphragm and the pivot plate. I also had a problem with the pump switch "chattering" before shut off, maybe contributing to failure, which I fixed by lengthening the pressure tube to the switch from the pump body. Now, no chatter and pump is well behaved! If your contacts are sticking it could be some electrical arcing going on, which I also saw in the old switch. The 3/4 hp pump I have is wired for 120 Volts, so it is pulling a lot of current when it runs. I don't know if it is true or good practice, but I have heard that turning off the power to the pump and opening the switch cover and using a piece of cardboard or wife's emeryboard will clean up the arcing problem?? Maybe a pro knows about this and could comment?

The switch nipple for a submersible pump or a jet pump's switch tubing and its fittings could be blocked causing a lag in the switch seeing the change in pressure as it happens. Cleaning the nipple or tubing and its fittings will prevent that.

Cleaning the switch contacts is a good idea although they shouldn't be arcing.

Chances are, the bladder was bad and that's the reason for the high pressure in the air chamber. He let more air out and more water will replace that space soon.

If you file much on those points, you will remove the little bit of silver which coats the metal and is supposed to keep the points from burning in the first place.

bob...