Hi, I am having trouble trying to figure out why my well pump isn't working. We live in Southeast Missouri and so far the winter has been brutal! The first severe freeze burst our water pipes, even though we left the water running in an attempt to avoid exactly that. We replaced what was broken and we had water again but it didn't seem to have the pressure it did before. Within a couple days we barely had a trickle. Around day 3 or 4 it hit me what was wrong. Now everybody needs to get ready to ROFL. The screens on the faucets were clogged from the sediment the broken pipes had stirred up, I know...duh!
All was fine until round two of the polar vortex hit. We left the water running a little stronger than before but they still froze, we think it froze but we can't find any signs of a broken pipe. It was a few days of a hard freeze and the weather finally broke but no water. I checked the pressure switch and noticed the points were a bit burnt (though I've seen worse) so we purchased a new switch. I installed it and still no water.
The new switch is a 40/60 and the package says 1-1/2 HP 115V AC 2 HP 230V AC. The old switch was a 30/50 and I have no idea about HP. We were told it wouldn't matter but now I'm wondering. I believe the pump is 1HP. Could the new switch be the problem? Could that burn up my pump? We have tested the circuit breaker and its ok. We tested the pressure switch to see if it was getting power and it is. We tested the control box where the wires come in and there seems to be power. From there I don't know what to do next. How do I check to see if power is leaving the control box without getting electrocuted? I did check the capacitor by crossing the poles to charge it and then used the multimeter in ohm mode to check for charge and got one but it spiked and then dropped down to nothing(is that normal?). We've checked at the well casing and you can't hear a hum or anything coming from the pump.
What now? We cannot afford to hire someone so we have no choice but to figure this out on our own. HELP!
I don't know if this matters but we had the well pump replaced about 6-7 years ago. The first pump lasted 13 years and we used more water then than we do now, the kids are grown and gone so its just us two.
All was fine until round two of the polar vortex hit. We left the water running a little stronger than before but they still froze, we think it froze but we can't find any signs of a broken pipe. It was a few days of a hard freeze and the weather finally broke but no water. I checked the pressure switch and noticed the points were a bit burnt (though I've seen worse) so we purchased a new switch. I installed it and still no water.
The new switch is a 40/60 and the package says 1-1/2 HP 115V AC 2 HP 230V AC. The old switch was a 30/50 and I have no idea about HP. We were told it wouldn't matter but now I'm wondering. I believe the pump is 1HP. Could the new switch be the problem? Could that burn up my pump? We have tested the circuit breaker and its ok. We tested the pressure switch to see if it was getting power and it is. We tested the control box where the wires come in and there seems to be power. From there I don't know what to do next. How do I check to see if power is leaving the control box without getting electrocuted? I did check the capacitor by crossing the poles to charge it and then used the multimeter in ohm mode to check for charge and got one but it spiked and then dropped down to nothing(is that normal?). We've checked at the well casing and you can't hear a hum or anything coming from the pump.
What now? We cannot afford to hire someone so we have no choice but to figure this out on our own. HELP!
I don't know if this matters but we had the well pump replaced about 6-7 years ago. The first pump lasted 13 years and we used more water then than we do now, the kids are grown and gone so its just us two.