Well advice needed

dman24

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Late last night I discovered that we have an issue with our well. We had no water at the sink so I thought the filter was stopped up. I went to check that and it wasn’t the case. The spigot on the well doesn’t go through the filter and we have no water there either. I am looking for advice on where to start diagnosing the issue. We replaced the pump and wiring 3 or 4 years ago and the pressure tank has been replaced in the last 7-8 years. The well is around 100’ deep. I don’t know if I’ll get started on the issue today but was able to take tomorrow off to figure this out. Any and all help is appreciated.
 
Check pressure switch power. Bad storms that have come through lately, could be lightning damage. That’s what got our last well pump. 100’ isn’t that bad if you have to pull it.
 
Ditto John and Burt’s advice.

If you have power to, and power out of the pressure switch, then check the wires going to the pump to see if any of them are shorted. You did not mention if you had a submersible well pump, or a jet pump. Sometimes jet pumps may have a reset button on the motor.
 
It’s a submersible pump. I will start with these suggestions and go from there. As far as I know the switch hasn’t been changed in the last 15 years or so.
 
Check breakers and wires and switches. Oh my.


Either something is burnt out, burnt up or not getting power. Get out the meter. :D
 
You can also run the water right there with the switch cover off and see if the switch is opening and closing and be able to tell if the pump is coming on.
 
I’m confident in being able to check the switches and wiring in the well. I know how to check and see if a breaker is flipped but I am not confident enough to mess around inside the breaker box. My dad is going to stop by tonight with a buddy in case the pump needs to come out. Hopefully with the advice here and between the three of us we will figure out what is wrong.
 
With breaker turned OFF. Ohm the wiring into the well and check continuity through the pump If none, probably broke wire -given the stated age of pump -or like someone else mentioned, lightning strike got the pump. They can run for a few weeks after the strike then fail. Is there a ground wire from pump to pressure switch? if not greater chance of lightning going through it. Just my 2 cents -
 
Not necessary to go inside the breaker box. Do check if there is a fused or breaker panel closer to the pump.
My guess is the pressure switch has worn out.
 
I wish I would have seen this earlier. I could have stopped by with my tools and get you sorted out.
If needed, I can get by there in the morning before 7 if I can help.
 
I think we’ve got it narrowed down to the pressure switch. Fixing to run to town and pick one up and see what we get. @Mirac thanks for the offer.
 
I got the switch replaced this morning and still no water. Going to buy a multimeter now to check it out again. I think we’re going to pull the pump this afternoon and check the wiring and pump.
 
Check pressure switch power. Bad storms that have come through lately, could be lightning damage. That’s what got our last well pump. 100’ isn’t that bad if you have to pull it.

Is not hard but I can think of 1000 things I'd rather do. Mine went out in Feb and it was a long cold wet day.

If you have to replace the pump it's recommended that you also replace the wiring and tube, then sanitize the well. The costs add up, but it's still a lot cheaper than paying someone to do it.

Take a few deep breaths before you start pulling the pump out of the well, once you start you're committed.
 
We replaced all of the wiring when we replaced the pump about three years ago. Once we get the pump out if there is no wiring damage I’ll have it checked out. Waiting for a little bit of help before we start.
 
I got the switch replaced this morning and still no water. Going to buy a multimeter now to check it out again. I think we’re going to pull the pump this afternoon and check the wiring and pump.
If you haven't nailed it down yet, where are you located in Chatham? I've meters and skillz.
 
I got it, didn’t even have to pull the pump. I checked the pressure on the tank triple checked the wiring for the pressure switch and still had no luck. Popped the pressure switch open and it came on. I don’t know why it wouldn’t come on the first time by itself but everything is good so far. Thanks for all the offers for help.
 
I just replaced our well pump yesterday along with the wire
I'm glad you didn't have to.... pulling a 190' well is no joke
 
Glad you found the issue, pulling them is not very fun by hand. I think I learned many of choice words over the years helping pull my parents. Theirs is 400 ft and the pump sits at about 290ft and use to be white pvc pipe. It was not fun at all trying to get it up and out and not break the pipe all up, you had to make a big arch. Usually just got a handfull of couplings to fix it before we started since we knew it was gonna break a couple times and had a rope to catch the pump if it broke. Thankfully it got changed out to black pipe the last time. Well guys have a cool machine to do it now and makes it pretty easy.
 
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