No water, where to look?

[Richard]

I'm at work, 25 miles from home. Wife just called, says she was in shower and water died (power still on so it's not a power outage)

I said it's probably the breaker box and if not the breaker box, there is also a fuse box in the closet with the pressure tank.

She said "good... have fun with it, I'm leaving for work!!"


So... now I'm left wondering just what's going on.

Here's my line of thinking. Hopefully, the breaker gave. That's the easy answer. If not the breaker, maybe the fuse next to the pressure tank. I actually bought replacement fuses a while back just in case this ever happened.

What however, if those all prove to be ok... should I look at the pressure switch for chances of being stuck open?

If so, and the pressure switch seems to work fine... anything that can go wrong in the controller box that is attached to the pump? (I doubt anything in there that I could diagnose unless it's burned black!!)

Which I think then leads me to... could the pump simply have died after about 10 years?

I guess this would be the worst case, having the pump go out.

If the pump IS dead, does one typically replace the pump alone OR maybe the control box in the house with it??

Is the pump easily swapped out by a homeowner? I DO have a backhoe so I've got some hoisting power if need be. Although I don't really want to think the pump has gone south, I'm trying to prepare for that in the event I need to deal with it. What is involved with yanking a pump out of the ground?

Also... I don't have my notes here but the pump we have in the ground is supposed to give us 10gpm. In fact, it gives me closer to probably 30. That is also a guess since my notes aren't handy... point is, my well flows at about 100gpm and I only get a fraction of it. I have a watering system and have always wanted more flow.

If my existing pump is indeed bad and needs replaced... if it is also a "X" horspower pump, is there any benefit for me to get a "X + 1" HP motor to help gain more water out of the ground?

 

[MossRoad]

Hopefully the main pipe from the well to the house did not come lose underground and is creating a sinkhole that will swallow your property.

Just kidding.

I think you're getting ahead of yourself. That's what I think. Just go home and see if the breaker tripped.

 

[schmism]

i assume you have a deep well pump... (something that is 100+' down)

to swap the pump (if it is that) isnt to terribly complicated, just difficult because you have to pull up all the supply line (all 100+ feet of it) and deal with it. (like if its in 20' long PVC sections cut it, resplice it etc)

 

[Thomas]

Most of the time something easy,as others mention check power and pressure control switch...maybe stuck needs cleaning w/cleaner.

 

[Richard]

Once again, the doorprize goes to Mossroad!

Wife just called. The builders have been doing various things and seems the breaker somehow tripped. Not sure how although, it's possible it was turned off since the electrician has been out for a couple days doing some things (accidently or intentionally turned off)

She said it's back on and all is well.

all I gotta say is "whew"

 

[MossRoad]

Once again, the doorprize goes to Mossroad!

Wife just called. The builders have been doing various things and seems the breaker somehow tripped. Not sure how although, it's possible it was turned off since the electrician has been out for a couple days doing some things (accidently or intentionally turned off)

She said it's back on and all is well.

all I gotta say is "whew"

Good for you. I wonder if there are any other outlets on that circuit that could have tripped it or maybe, as you suggest, it was just turned off by accident.

 

[Richard]

I'd speculate that's a 220 circuit and would be the only thing on it?

The electrician has been rearrainging some of our breakers to (not sure how to word this) move the double breakers where they need to be and gain some slots.

For all I know, she (electrician) might have been there working and turned it off intentionally.

It's never flipped off on its own so I figured either something happened with the people there (turning it off) or, frankly, something more expensive.

 

[VABlue]

Somebody flipped it off... It'll be on its own 220 circuit and would keep tripping if something was bad wrong. However, you might want to plan for some repair work shortly. The pump at my last house had a wire rust out and break off. We had to pull out the pump, all ~300' of flexible tubing, and repair the wire. It's heavy and time consuming...

 

[Richard]

Regarding heavy & time consuming... A couple questions if I may?

1. With a loader/backhoe may I presume raising it would be greaty eased OR, does equipment like that lose the 'feel' for you and you risk damaging something else?

2. My well tidbits are:

Total Depth: 310 feet
Static Level: 104 feet
Total yield: 100 gallons/minute

Pump intake at 220 feet

6.187 inch casing from 0 feet to 76 feet, open hole from 76 feet to 310 feet

pump itself, 3/4 HP "rated yield" 10 gallons/minute wire size is 12-4 There is a checkmark next to "pitless adapter" for what ever that means

Here's my question...

If/when the time comes to replace this pump, with this kind of water available, is there any benefit to upping to a larger HP pump to get my yield up? I've got a sprinkling system I installed BECAUSE of this nice well... putting a higher volume pump on it (or perhaps dropping a second pump down?) would allow me to use the sprinkling system to a better degree.

Also... I'll admit, I think it might be nice to have access to more water if need be.

Am I restricted to this size/HP of pump or could I swap it out when the time came, for a more powerful one?

 

[Richard]

One more dumb quesiton...

Well tidbits...

Depth is 310 feet, ok, I get that

Static level 104' Is that to say if I drop a rock DOWN the hole, once the rock travels 104 feet from the TOP, I'll hit water? Or, does it mean if I go to the bottom, 310 feet down, that I have a 104' column of water above my head, such that the top of the water is really 206' down below my feet?