Well Pump Troubleshooting and DIY Repair

Effigy out how to fix your well yourself

Introduction

If you own a abode with a well, yous know that trouble tin can hit at the worst possible time, and off-hours repairs can price a small fortune. The most common symptoms of well problem are no h2o at all, pulsing water pressure and a well pump that runs constantly. If y'all experience whatsoever of these, there'due south a practiced hazard you can solve the problem yourself.

Video: Fixing a Dead Well

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Projection step-by-stride (8)

Step 1

Exist Sure the Power is On

  • Start by checking that the well switch located virtually your pressure tank hasn't been switched off.
  • So check the well's double-pole circuit breaker to see that it hasn't tripped.
  • If it has, reset it.
    • A breaker that keeps tripping probable ways a problem with the well pump, and you'll need to call a pro for that.

Anatomy of a Well

Step 2

Then Bank check the Pressure Switch

  • You'll find the pressure switch mounted on a 1/four-in. tube near the pressure tank.
    • It's what senses when water pressure has dropped to the bespeak where the pressure level tank requires more water. The switch then powers up the well pump.
    • If the switch is bad, it won't start the well pump and you won't have h2o, so testing the switch is your first pace.
  • Remove the cover and blindside a screwdriver handle sharply confronting the tube beneath the switch to jar the electrical contacts.
  • If you lot see a spark and the pump starts, the pressure switch is the trouble.

Check the pressure switch

Footstep 3

If the Switch is Bad, Replace It

  • If yous detect the pressure switch is bad, exam the pressure tank to brand sure information technology isn't waterlogged (see Trouble: Pulsing H2o).
  • To replace the switch, start by removing the wires to the old switch and unscrewing the switch.
    • Pro tip: Exist sure to label the wires!
  • Coat the tubing threads with pipe dope or Teflon tape and screw on the new switch so it sits in the aforementioned orientation.
  • Then reconnect the wires.
    • A new switch is about $25. If in that location's still no spark, you'll have to replace the controller.

Replace the switch

Stride 4

Temporary Quick Fix

If banging on the tube nether the pressure switch kicks on the well pump, it means the contact surfaces of the electrical contacts are pitted or burned, causing a poor connectedness. Yous can temporarily restore the surfaces to keep it going until you lot can buy a replacement switch.

  • First, turn off the power and double-check with a voltage tester.
  • Pull the contacts open up and file off the burned and pitted areas using an ordinary boom file or emery board.
  • Replace the pressure switch every bit soon as possible because this fix won't last long.

CONFIRM THE Power IS OFF! Earlier you supersede the pressure switch or file the contacts, turn off the power at the primary console and check the wires with a non-contact voltage tester.

Temporary fix

Step 5

Replace the Pump Controller

  • Remove the screw at the lesser of the pump control cover and lift it off the box to disconnect information technology.
  • Accept it to the store and buy an exact replacement.
  • Snap the new embrace onto the former box (no need to rewire if yous buy the aforementioned brand).
  • Then kickoff the pump.
    • The pump controller houses a capacitor to assist start the pump. Most pump controls are mounted in the house near the pressure tank, but others are mounted inside the well pump itself and the set requires a pro. If y'all don't have the box shown below, this ready isn't for you.
      • At that place's no mode to exam the controller, so you either have to risk blowing $75 past replacing a proficient i, or throw in the towel and phone call a pro. Replacing the pump controller as shown here is easy, and it'due south your last, best shot at avoiding a service call. If you've replaced the pressure switch and the pump still won't start, we recall it's worth the chance to supplant the well pump controller.

Pump controller

Step 6

Bank check the Pressure Tank's Air Valve

  • Unscrew the plastic cover from the air valve on the top of the tank.
  • Use a modest screwdriver to depress the air valve to run into if h2o comes out.
    • When water "pulses" at the spigot, information technology usually means you lot accept a waterlogged tank. Replacement is your only choice. A new tank costs about $200 and upwardly.
      • 2 methods for diagnosing a bad tank include checking for water at the air valve and shaking the tank.

Test the valve

Step vii

Rock the Tank

  • Push confronting the pinnacle of the tank to rock it slightly.
  • If you can't stone information technology or it feels pinnacle-heavy, information technology'southward bad.
  • Drain it and replace it.

Rock the tank

Step 8

Hire a Professional person

If your pump runs nonstop, in that location might non be a DIY solution. When a well pump turns on, you'll hear the clicking of the pressure switch opening and closing. If you hear frequent clicking when no h2o is flowing, you have problems outside the house and you lot'll need to hire a pro.

It could exist a broken water line from the well to the business firm — usually y'all'll take a moisture area between the well head and the business firm — a bad check valve just in a higher place the submersible pump at the bottom of the well, a bad connector leaving the well casing or even a cleaved water line inside the well casing. Each of these problems requires a pro.

Originally Published: November 25, 2019