Failing well pump?
Today I was taking a shower and lost water pressure.
So I got out- put clothes on, but then the water was back.
I went downstairs and told my wife, and she said it happened to her last week but started working again so she didn't think anything of it.
I know nothing about wells. But I'm guessing my pump is failing?
Is this something I can tackle on my own?
Josh Think you can pull up 80-100ft of water filled pvc with a big ass pump on the end of it? When our pump went we used Danny’s heating and plumbing.
Englishe30 Always love others saying, it came back so I didn’t think to say..... the key here is fluctuations.
Three points I think; pump, water supply, and tank. Pumps just go bad, suddenly or slowly, don’t usually fluctuate. Water supply can do this, but should be pretty regular. My Mom’s got this probably from fracking that changed the flow so she would exceed the flow, low pressure, and then the flow regenerates and all was good. Need new well.
Third is tank. If you have a small, usually blue, pressure tank, it probably has a rubber bladder inside and they fail. Replaced twice in 30 years here. Google up how to check pressure; you just need a tire gauge. If you get water from the tire gauge, new tank. If you get below 60psi, could be. Below 40psi, probably new tank. DIY - if you can exchange tanks. May need cut and soldering pipe but it’s light, self contained, pretty ez plumbing job. Beyond my pay scale ;-). Good chance they have a tank in stock if you hire a plumber. Ask them before they come out.
But google tank test and google “fluctuating water pressure on well system” to see more.
Strangerdanger I believe your general geographic area as well as the age of your home would be useful information for my input.
Stymie 90% of the time the 1/4" brass nipple leeding from your well tank tee to pressure switch fills with crud essentially blocking the sensor to operate at your set 30-50psi or 40-60psi depending on what pump/tAnk combo you have. But when this happens your switch will be slow to operate causing the low pressure situation you describe. It will eventually get worse and may even completely plug up causing no water at all. Very simple fix though.
Forcefed4door 
Botheredbyuu2 
Abc123Best to not second guess and call a good plumber. I use Danny's Plumbing and Heating (908) 852-0541. Good Honest Plumber.
Mr 4paws check the pressure switch ( contacts could be crudded up , clean w/emery paper)
I would reach out to Century pump out of Hopatcong if that doesn't do it.
Good Luck..
steven Hmmm, bad switch.... And I always come up with bad bladder bag, must replace.... Don't think I was double dealt but feel some cognitive dissonance sneaking in.
If you need a well pump, I just used Sentry Pump In Hopatcong; great to work with and reasonably priced
Summer Having done all 3 things mentioned here so far, 1.pulling up the pump from the well with the 150Ft or so of pvc attached. 2. Replacing my water tank in the basement last March, and 3. Replacing and cleaning my well pump switch over the last 15 years- my best guess is that what Forcefed4door recommended- the small pipe that connected to the well pump switch is clogged.
15 years ago, mine got clogged with the sediment and sure enough, the well pump switch actually burned out from it. Luckily, not the well pump, since that stainless steel pump at the time was a $500 item, now it is probably more- and that cost is me doing all the work.
Not being as well savy then, I thought my pump was shot. I pulled the 150ft or so of PVC pipe with the wires attached from the well- it wasnt particular hard, just a PITA.
I then disconnected the pump and tested it off of a 12 volt car battery, where I discovered after all that work, the pump was spinning fine. Duh, wasted effort.
Sealed the wiring back up, put the PVC pipe back in the well and then went to the next step. The well pump switch. When I took it off, sure enough, the little 2 inch pipe was fully clogged and no water pressure at all could reach the switch, which caused it to burn itself out.
Replacing the switch is easy. I took a pic of the wires connection places as a reference in case I got in trouble. I turned off the breaker at the fuse box and also I have a separate wall switch for the well pump that I had off also, just to cover all that.
If you get a new switch, that is the time to shine a flashlight down that 2" pipe and clean all the sediment out. May as well replace or clean your water pressure gauge, which is probably right next to the well pump switch you just removed.
I now have mine on a regular 8- 9 month cycle where I turn off the main, drain the holding tank(which isnt all that much water when the pressure in the tank is lower right before it kicks on to fill it), and take that switch off, clean the little pipe, and clean the switch. The bottom of the well pump switch, where it connects to the little threaded 2 inch pipe, there is a rubber bladder in there. You will see 6 phillips head screws on the bottom of the well pump switch. Take those off. The bladder will have alot of sediment. If you dont clean off that sediment from that small rubber bladder also, then your not doing the job fully and you wont get good water pressure readings.
Now, to the tank. The easiest test is to knock on the tank. If the water sounds like it is higher than about 1/2 of the tank level, then you have a potentially ruptured bladder. Also, the air pressure in the tank, this is important, the tank needs to be empty when doing that test. If you have a tank rated for 30 psi as the low level, then the tank PSI should be BELOW 30, like 28 psi would be right. If you have a 40psi system, then it should be 38psi, when the water is out of it.
Another good test is to watch how often the well pump switch kicks on while doing something water intensive, like filling the washer. It should come on only at the low pressure level, either say 30 or 40 psi, depending on your system, and slowly fill the tank to either 50 or 60 psi, again, depending on your system. If the pressure rise is very quick, and then quickly drops while filling your washer, or running some water, then most likely your water tank bladder is ruptured. Basically if the well pump switch is coming on alot more than it should, it is called cycling to much or too quickly, that is a bladder rupture sign.
The tank replacement project is not that bad, but you will need the ability to either solder copper pipes back together, or use what are called Shark Bites, which eliminate the need to be good at copper pipe soldering. I have used Shark Bites in a few things in my house, they work just fine and make most plumbing jobs for me, and non professional, very doable.
Lastly, if you do replace your well pump switch, which I believe it most likely is, make sure you get the right one. There are 2 types, either 30/50psi or 40/60 psi. See what you have, it should say it on the cover of it inside the cover actually.
If you buy the 40/60 switch and you have a system that is used to 30/50 psi, you could be asking for big problems.
Thats all I can offer, hope it is the easiest solution- and if so, make a habit of regular maintenance on that switch, it will prevent this from happening again.
The Rhyme Animal I like reading these posts because I learn so much
A stupid question; the 2” pipe connected to the well pump switch is in the basement ? Not underground I’m assuming?
Correct Summer, the small 2" pipe is located in the basement, right underneath the wellpump switch. It threads onto the bottom of the well pump switch. (note, also a good idea to use some white teflon tape when screwing the well pump switch to the small 2" pipe)
The well pump switch is pretty easy to find, it is the thing making the clicking noise when your well pump tank needs water. If the pressure in the tank falls below either 30 or 40psi, depending on your system, that switch will click on, which then triggers the well pump, deep down in the well, to turn on and bring water up to the holding tank in the basement.
Never a dumb question!
Shark bites. Good idea. Been using them for a few years, no issues. Haven’t really tried the disconnect yet but so far, so good.
OK so I am down here fing around with it. Although a good excuse to have a couple beers I would rather be out searching somewhere.
I shut the power down and drained the blue tank. There are notes on it telling me to check the pressure to 38 psi. I grabbed a gauge and it was sitting at 32 PSI.
I then pulled the cover off the pressure switch and the contacts are definitely a little black and pitted, carbon arc and marks on the plastic casing nearby them.
Reminds me of decades ago messing around with breaker point ignition systems and distributor caps.
So I cleaned them up best I could for now. I pressurized the blue tank to 38 psi as the note said. Then I turned everything back on and looked at the gauge next to the pressure switch. It initially climbed to about 62 PSI, and as I am sitting here writing this it is slowly dropping right now to about 58 psi.
Seems to be a very simplistic system, so I think I will hop on Amazon and buy another pressure switch to swap out when it arrives and I will poke through that t feed pipe when I do that. It almost looks like the contact points are removable by themselves.
If that pressure feed pipe gets clogged all the time then wouldn’t it make sense to be sop to put some sort of a canister filter on the main line coming to the house before it even gets to any of that?
I guess just like the sacrificial anode on a water heater, companies and plumbers want a way for continued income.
Good detective work Josh! I would run over to you home repair place of choice and get a 40/60 well pump switch- clean out any residue in the pipe that the well pump switch sits on- rewire and call it a day.
You will be done by 5p if you start now- leaving some time for the learning curve. The switch is about $25.
If after that you notice pressure drop that is noticeable- like 10psi in an hour when running no water at all- then consider the tank as an issue.
You just gave yourself the education- go for it and your problem and beer time could be sooner than you think.
Ps- yes- would make sense to filter out the silt and dirt- I dont- simply for cost of that system.
The check valve at the well tank tee can also go bad causing pressure to bleed from tank right back into the well. If the check valve at the well pump itself went bad you would have air in the tank, so most likely not that.
So I changed the pressure switch and made sure the T pipe to it was clean.
Thought that fixed it- but then the water went out again a few times since.
It always came back on after 5-10 seconds, so even though I know something was wrong- I haven't had a chance to do anything about it.
Now it completely stopped and hasn't came back. Looks like I need to call a plumber/well guy ASAP.
Any recommendations? Ugh.
Interesting. I just went to my circuit breaker box to shut the breaker off to the well so I could try to pull it out of the ground myself, and the breaker is off. So it must have been drawing excessive amperage, either failing or clogged.
Either way if I am going to pull the pump out of the ground I am going to replace it because they don’t appear to be that expensive. I just don’t know if I can do it by myself.
You did make sure your well tank isn't full as well? And you'll have to call a well guy if you've never pulled one out yourself. You'll need a tee pipe to screw onto the pitless adapter outside and 2-3 people to pull that sucker out 100-400ft... If you have solid piping you have to cut them as you go and buy a solid roll of flex pipe depending how many ft deep it goes. If you accidently lose that pipe down the well... Your gonna be very upset. Ide call a well company being you don't know what your gonna find (1st time).
Thanks.
Well guy is on his way.
I’ll let you know the outcome.
And outlay as I have a feeling this is going to hurt. Ugh.
$1700 on the dot was the price presented to replace the pump w/ 1 year warranty.
I need to get into the the well pump business. :(
But- I just took a hot shower, and the wife started a load of laundry.
They got us by the balls- and they know that.
He claimed the pump at Lowes would be far inferior, but I say- at what overall cost?
BTW- yea, he had a make shift hack job cobbled together machine with a 120v motor driving a chain to spin a couple tractor supply wheels to pull the pipe- but it took literally 10-15 mins to pull, then cut the electrical tape, unscrew the pump, drop a new one on and re-set.
He claimed - insurance and regulations-....umm yea. Thanks.
Google says.....avg price 1600. Low 800, high 2,000
Probably not the place to pinch pennies. On a Sunday. At night....
If you ever pulled a 1,000 ft. Pump without a rig...,,
Hope it works well.
I guess I was lucky with pulling mine out some 12 years back. I remember it was about 150 ft of pvc pipe that I pulled up by hand- honestly I had no idea how deep it was going to be, but I was 12 years younger, it was a warm early October day and I just went for it.
I guess in the situation you were in at the moment, you made the best choice. And, as rickety as whatever contraption the fellow used to bring up that pipe, I am sure it made it seem like nothing, vs the hours you would have spent.
How deep was the run down into the well of pipe?
The machine he used was a legit pump pulling tool. 3 tires that grip the pipe while spining it out of the well. The average pump alone is about 600$ he prolly used a Gould pump which is in fact the best. And a typical home owner cannot purchase from a supply house unless you have a pump license. So you are stuck with lower grade stuff from Lowe's or home Depot. And as SD said he came on a Sunday. That in my world is a double time type of day and for $1700 without having to mess with it yourself was a good deal. Glad your back up and running for hopefully 15 years till the next.
Yes there is definitely both a cost and a worth for someone that has tools knowledge and experience. I am not knocking the guy for making a living.
He was very polite, professional, and thorough. I would recommend him to anyone in a heartbeat.
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