Electrical problem with well pump

While I was waiting for the utility company to reconnect the power (a surprisingly slow and expensive process) I removed the tee which held the points unit and a pressure gauge and brought them home. Everything was completely silted up, probably because the well had been used for only a few hours a year for the five years before I closed up the place.

Can anyone give me an idea about whether taking everything apart and cleaning thoroughly, which I've done, might correct the problem. Any other heads up on this situation would also be much appreciated. The property is thirty miles of back roads from the nearest town, so I'd like to be as prepared as I can when I go there to work on it.

I realize that the simplest solution would be to have the plumber neighbor fix it, but that's kind of a last resort for reasons that have nothing to do with cost.

Thanks, Stan

Go for the pressure switch and tank pressure first since are the easiest to fix. A new switch is reletively cheap to replace too. If you do have to go after the pipe or well point, add a "T" with a cap between the pump and check valve so that you (the new owner) can open and use for priming during maintenance, if needed.

Mark

Take back what you don't need once you get it going...or save them for spares.

I bought a new pump motor controller unit (has a capacitor, etc. in it) because I thought that's where the points were located. I still have it in case that turns out to be bad too. But that's a purely electrical unit. The pressure control unit you're talking about is the Square D box where the points are, right? That's what I took home and cleaned. What you say and TimS say makes sense---take more than I might need to the job, rather than less.

Thanks, Stan

Without air in the pressure tank, the pump turns on, the pressure immediately skyrockets, and the pump turns off. Then the pressure immediately drops with usage, and the pump cycles again.

Besides creating poor, almost unusable surging water pressure, this two to three second cylcing state of affairs can create further damage in two areas: 1) The pressure switch keeps opening and closing, and the arcing wears out the points 2) The pump overheats due to the constant start up loads. A submersible pump should run for 1 to 2 minutes per start, depending on the horsepower rating.

Usually pressure switches that go bad fail in a "stuck open" or "stuck closed" mode. In the stuck open case, the pump never comes on (no water) In the "stuck closed" case, the pump never shuts off -- and the resulting too high pressure blows out something in the system.

Beyond that, the pressure switch springs can be adjusted for "cut-in" and "cut-out" pressure. Provided the air charge in the pressure tank is appropriately adjusted, and providing the tank is big enough, and providing the pump is sized correctly, you can adjust the pressure range to whatever you like.