[orangedog5]

Last year my plumber put a pressure switch on my well because we had some close calls with the water running dry. He did it to save the pump from burning out. I have a 536 foot deep well. It supposedly produces 350 gallons a day, which is considered low. Recently I had a family move into half of my house (it's a duplex) and we share the well. Until then there were just two, sometimes three people. This past weekend there were like 7!

Long story short the well pump shut off due to the drop in water pressure ( I assume.) It comes on after an hour, for a few moments, and then shuts off again. (It's an automatic switch and is supposed to come back in an hour if there is enough pressure.) I went out and dropped a pebble in the well this morning when it first went out, and it took about 12 seconds to splash. Then this afternoon it was 10, and now it's 8 seconds. So it is refilling. But why won't my pressure switch allow me to access the water that IS there, which should be fairly plentiful now. Why is it still shutting off?

Thanks for any helpful replies.

[jlisenbe]

I am assuming you mean the plumber replaced the old pressure switch. What kind of switch did he put in... square d? Does the switch have a reset lever on the side?

Be aware that the switch has no way of "knowing" whether your well is dry. What the switch can do is detect when the tank pressure falls below 10# under the cut in pressure. In other words, if your pump is supposed to cutin at 30# and the pressure falls to under 20#, then the switch will cutoff since it figures the pump is running dry. That is what the reset lever is for.

[orangedog5]

No, there was not a pressure switch before. And when he put this one on he chose an electronic model that does not have a manual lever. I don't know the make. It was quite a bit pricier than the manual switch. He said it was so I wouldn't have to crawl under the house to reset the switch. But it has been 36 hours and the well has water in it, (still not full) but the punp has not cut in. As I said it is supposed to try after an hour and cut in if there is enough pressure. Any clue what's going on??

Also, it has bee 12 hours since I last checked the level of the weel, by plinking a pebble, and it has not significantly increased from 8 seconds.

[jlisenbe]

Not real familiar with that setup. First step... call the plumber. Either that, or call the manufacturer of the switch.