My well is 300 ' deep. 1 hp goulds submersible pump. Since moving in in 2000 we have always had well problems. My "well guy" said most all wells in this area are 75' but he had to get to 300' to get mimimal flow for us. Well, the pump went out and we called another "well guy". He pulled up the pump and it was shredded inside. He said that the other guy didn't put a switch on it and it burnt itself up. Never had above 30 pressure. Had to get rid of the washing machine cause I can't run it and the dishwasher and 5 people shower all in one day. The water would shut off and after waiting a day I would "trip" the switch the new well guy put on and we'd get 20 ish pressure.
So, back to the current problem. The water went out again and we left the well off for 2 days. Now when turned back on, I only have minimal pressure and I can tell the water is going to go out any minute I flush the toilet. I went out to scratch my head at the well house and noticed that the holding tank had no water in it, but the gauge says 30.Seems strange to me cause the "4 way T" leads right into it. Seems like onetime one of the well guys twisted down the shutoff valve on the house side of the T and the pressure jumped to 70. But that is not the case today. Even when shut off, no pressure builds in the tank. Could this have been my problem all these years? Any advice? John

If you have a bladder type tank there should always be pressure in the tank. If you have a little air valve that looks like a valve on you automobile tire you have a bladder tank. With this type of tank you pressurize it to two pounds less than the cut on setting of your pump switch. That pressure pushes out the last bit of water before your pump cuts on again.

Don't understand how you could have burned a pump this quickly unless your well is running dry. There are switches that must be reset when the well runs dry to prevent the pump from burning up when the well runs dry. This must be the switch the second well man put on.

Don't understand the


Seems like onetime one of the well guys twisted down the shutoff valve on the house side of the T and the pressure jumped to 70.

If your tank is pressurized to 30 lbs your switch should come on at 32 and go off at 52 lbs.

If you can close the valve on the house side and the pressure go to 52 or greater and yet you don't have pressure at the house when the valve is open, then you have a leak in the pipe to the house. That would cause the pump to run continuously.

hkstroud, are you there?

I come and I go. Right now I'm painting a door (wife's insistence).

I'm sure that I have a bladder tank. How do I know what the cuton setting of my pump switch is?
I don't have a leak to the house. Have checked many times over the years. The water just went out again. I went out and kicked the pump back on via the little lever on the side of the wiring box. Reads 30 lbs. No water in tank.

Sorry. Some computer glitch where it wouldn't let me respond until I had seen your comment.

I doubt that your tank is your problem. We get this complaint frequently, that a bladder tank is not filling with water. They are not supposed to completely fill.

If your system will hold pressure with no water being used in the house, then you don't have a leak between the house and the pump. Your problem, as HK pointed out, would seem to be very little volume of water in your well. Your well man should be able to tell you that rather quickly. If that's the case, then you might want to consider pumping from the well into a holding tank, then pumping again from the holding tank to a pressure tank. That would allow you to maximize whatever volume you can get from your well.

It seems a little strange that others around you get water from 75' down, but you are 300' down and get very little water.

Tell everyone in the house not to use any water. Turn off main circuit breaker to well. There should be a disconnect at the well house. Remove cover of pressure switch. Observe well pressure. It should be between 30 and 50. It should remain constant.
If it remains constant for 30 minutes you do not have a leak. Have someone open a faucet or open the drain valve. Observe pressure gauge. When the pressure reaches the cut in pressure you will hear the pressure switch click and see the points move. Close drain valve or faucet. Turn on breaker. When pressure reaches the cut off pressure you will hear the switch click again and see the points move.

If it is not constant with the breaker off, you have a leak between the well and the house or you have a leak back down the well.

Close main valve to the house. Turn breaker back on until pressure reaches cut off pressure. Turn breaker off. Observe pressure. If pressure remains constant your leak is between well and house. If pressure does not remain constant you have a leak back down well.

If the pump will pump up to approximately 50 lbs, but will not hold, with breaker off, the leak back down the well could be caused by a defective check valve. The check valve could be at the bottom of the well or it could be on the surface, on the well pipe leading to the tank. If it is on the surface it can be replaced. If it is at the bottom of the well, you can put another one on the pipe at the surface.

If the pump will not come up to pressure or takes an unreasonably long time, you have a leaking well pipe or the pump is under sized. How long is reasonable depends on the size of the tank and the volume the well and pump are capable of producing.

I'm certainly not a well driller but a 1 hp pump in a 300 foot well seems awfully small. Water has weight and a column of water 300 feet high weighs a lot. The pump must over come that weight and the pressure in the tank. If the pump is under sized I would think the well man would have said so.

Not exactly sure how the safety switch (the one you keep resetting) works but believe that it just lets the pump run for a set period. If the pump exceed that time, it assumes that the well has run dry. However, if you have a leaking well pipe or the pump is so under sized that it cannot get up to pressure in the allotted time, the switch would cut off to preserve the pump.

If you open an exterior faucet or the drain valve until the tank pressure has reached cut in pressure, then measure the volume of water out the drain or faucet (with pump running) you will know how much the well and pump are capable of producing. During this time measuring the volume, the pressure on the tank should not rise.

When in use however, your volume will be something less. As the pressure in the tank increases the volume will decrease.

If you determine that you do not have a leak back down the well, and resetting the safety switch immediately after it trips causes the tank pressure to increase, would indicate to me that the pump is under sized.

Do a little snooping and let us know what you find.

PS,
Use "Answer this Question" block to respond, don't use comments section.

Ok, so I've been monitoring the pressure and such over the past few days. I performed all the tests and have concluded we have no leaks. The pressure has been really bad the past few days. About 30. The pump shut off once and after a night I cut it back on. The pressure built quickly up to 32ish and then the pump just ran and ran. I used the "lever" on the pressure switch to turn the pump off and let it sit for a minute or so, then kicked it back on. The pressure pushed up to 59 and the pump just kept running. I could hear water begin to gurgle into the tank at about 40. We used the water we needed and on to the next day. Today, I get home from work and the water pressure is back to 32ish. I use the lever to shut it off and then after kicking back on , the pressure is back up to 59.?

BK, if I was you, I'd unhook the pump from the tank and just let it pump on the ground. Watch it for a few minutes. It should be able to produce a relatively strong flow of water for at least 15 or 20 minutes. If it can't, then it would seem your well just can't produce the volume of water you need.