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Celerus · Oct 29, 2006, 03:14 PM

I'm hoping you can help. We have well water and typically when our water shuts off for any reason, we simply go into the first floor bathroom, open the water heater closet and trip the switch. There's a temporary buzzing sound and the water returns.

We had absolutely no problems with our water today until late afternoon when, out of nowhere, the buzzing began by itself and the water pressure died. No one was using the water at the time and the buzzing continued until we tripped the switch. No water. We turned the switch back over and the buzzing continued. Still no water.

We have had issues with sulfuric-type odors over the past year and had our water tank replaced last fall.

I'm a housewife and my husband is a laborer but neither of us knows the first thing about plumbing. We are, however, down to our last nickel right now and would prefer trying to fix this ourselves if possible as opposed to getting taken again by our previous plumbing company.

Any help and super simple suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :D

speedball1 · Oct 29, 2006, 04:22 PM

The first thing you must do is track down exactly where the buzzing's coming from. You're either going to find it in the pump control box or the pump motor itself. Locate the buzz and get back to me. Good luck, Tom

Celerus · Oct 30, 2006, 11:46 AM

Thanks for responding. The noise--which I now assume was some form of warning--actually came from a small grey *electrical?* box on the right wall just behind the pump power switch. My husband shut off the switch last night to stop the random buzzing and thus, the water shut off. About an hour ago, he had the apparently correct idea to return the switch, and buzzing, to its previous position and the water returned... barely, but it is flowing at about half strength for now. But to be honest, I can deal with the annoying sounds and lowered pressure as long as I can flush my toilets and wash dishes.

We inherited this house via a deceased relative and have only lived here one year so we're just now ironing some of the bugs out... but there seem to be quite a few.

speedball1 · Oct 30, 2006, 04:56 PM

What type od pump do you have . Shallow well centrifugal? Deep well submersible? Please describe the "gray box". Regards, Tom

iamgrowler · Oct 30, 2006, 05:19 PM

It sounds to me like the well pump pressure switch has failed.

Just my two pence.