Hey all,
We have been having strange problems with our well the last few weeks, ending in a total stoppage tonight. I think my pump is dead.
While I was on the road last week the wife called to say that that the water went out when using the hose in the yard. She freaked out and shut off the hose. The water in the house was out. I told her to just shut everything off and wait an hour. When she tried it again, water flowed and everything was fine. This just happened again earlier today, but this time the water didnt come back on.
First, I am pretty sure my pressure tank is waterlogged because when the pump WAS working the guage would quickly go from around 70 to 40 and the pump would kick on. It was probably cycling on & off every 5-7 seconds which I now know is very bad for your pump.
After reading these forums it seems like I have overworked the pump and possibly burned it out. Before I call the local well guy, I have some questions.
First, there is a strange box on the wall that looks like this:
It clicks and buzzes a lot. I thought perhaps a relay had gone bad, so I popped the cover to find this inside:
There was some oil below the capacitor, so I think it's leaky. Is this a starter capacitor? If it is bad could this be part of the problem?
What is the purpose of this box? I have a conventional pressure switch down on the water line that runs to this box. After cleaning all the contacts and replacing the cover, now I hear the relay in this box cycling (no buzzing) but still no water.
Is there any way electrically to test the pump from up top? Can I bypass this box and put power directly to the pump to test?
I have a sneaky feeling I am about to get a new pump & tank.
We have been having strange problems with our well the last few weeks, ending in a total stoppage tonight. I think my pump is dead.
While I was on the road last week the wife called to say that that the water went out when using the hose in the yard. She freaked out and shut off the hose. The water in the house was out. I told her to just shut everything off and wait an hour. When she tried it again, water flowed and everything was fine. This just happened again earlier today, but this time the water didnt come back on.
First, I am pretty sure my pressure tank is waterlogged because when the pump WAS working the guage would quickly go from around 70 to 40 and the pump would kick on. It was probably cycling on & off every 5-7 seconds which I now know is very bad for your pump.
After reading these forums it seems like I have overworked the pump and possibly burned it out. Before I call the local well guy, I have some questions.
First, there is a strange box on the wall that looks like this:
It clicks and buzzes a lot. I thought perhaps a relay had gone bad, so I popped the cover to find this inside:
There was some oil below the capacitor, so I think it's leaky. Is this a starter capacitor? If it is bad could this be part of the problem?
What is the purpose of this box? I have a conventional pressure switch down on the water line that runs to this box. After cleaning all the contacts and replacing the cover, now I hear the relay in this box cycling (no buzzing) but still no water.
Is there any way electrically to test the pump from up top? Can I bypass this box and put power directly to the pump to test?
I have a sneaky feeling I am about to get a new pump & tank.
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