Well pump pressure switch questions

[GregLaROCHE]

Cleaning and filing the contacts may get you a little more life out of the switch, but it’s been my experience, that once they are worn out, it makes the most sense to replace the switch.
Things to consider are the size of your pressure tank and whether it is set up properly. A small tank is fine if you’re not using a lot of water, but with a big family and a lot water consumption, a bigger tank is definitely better. The pump will not cycle on and off as much. That will save your switch contacts, you will save on electricity and in total life of the pump.

[Bmi48219]

What a difference regions make. I have never dealt with shallow well as we can freeze in any calendar month. Light residential pump is 1 horse, much more likely to see 1 1/4 horse.

In cold climates the shallow well pump is in the basement or an insulated well box with a heat source (light bulb or heat tape).
We bought a home in 1988 with a 50 foot well and a jet pump in the basement. The jet pump has two concentric pipes in the well. Inner pipe draws water up to pump and a portion of drawn water is pumped back through outer pipe to provide lift to force more water up inner pipe, or so I was told.
The well was 20+ years old and point was plugging up w/ rust & scale.
It cost us $3,800 to put in a 5” well with internal pump. The old 5 gallon pressure tank bladder leaked and pressure switch was going bad. I found a scratched 65 gallon pressure tank at Sears for $100 that had a 10 year warranty on the bladder. Best deal I ever made. After I installed that I could draw down 45 gallons (or 1/2 of our older daughter’s shower) before the well pump came on.
BTW the 85 gallon electric water heater (stainless steel lined tank) was installed in 1967 on a separate meter. It was still working 35 years later when we sold the house. I had to replace both element seals and one thermostat in the 13 years we were there. The original owner had installed a insulation blanket on the heater. Water would stay hot for days in a power outage. Electric bill for the heater was $10 / month.
Hate to think what a new well would cost now.

[15meter]

What a difference regions make. I have never dealt with shallow well as we can freeze in any calendar month. Light residential pump is 1 horse, much more likely to see 1 1/4 horse.

Around here the pump goes in the heated basement, underground (4') line to well, only thing going down the well casing is 1"-1-1/2" pipe with a foot valve at the bottom. Works on suction. There is a limit on how far you can pull water up. With the water table being so high it doesn't take that much horsepower.

Shallow well pumps are way easier to work on.

And hand dug wells with the hand pumps never freeze, the pump section is actually down in the well 6-7 feet. Had one of those on the farm.

Only problem with them is when the leathers (seals or flaps were made of leather and they lasted almost forever) went bad. Then you had to lift the entire pump jack, down pipe, pump itself and the pipe and foot valve that reached down into the water as a single unit.

Dad on one side, me opposite, two pipe wrenches, dad reached down, put pipe wrench on the down pipe and lifted as far as he could then it was my turn. Alternated until the entire pump was high enough to lay it out on the ground and replace the leathers. Then reverse it to put it back in the well.

Did it twice over 30+ years, ain't never gonna do it again. Don't know what would give out first, my back or my ticker if I tried. Tried being the operative word because I certainly don't have the strength to even attempt some thing that silly.

Interesting to see some of these "homesteaders" or "preppers" deal with leaking leathers.

On the farm I grew up on 27' deep drilled well produced enough water for up to 85 head of feeder cattle and 900 laying chickens, depending on the year. How much the old man put in the barn depended on how much corn we had and more importantly, what he thought he could sell at a profit. Beef/egg market up, fill the barn, prices down, less in the barn and sell more grain instead of converting to beef or eggs.

[cwtebay]

Around here the pump goes in the heated basement, underground (4') line to well, only thing going down the well casing is 1"-1-1/2" pipe with a foot valve at the bottom. Works on suction. There is a limit on how far you can pull water up. With the water table being so high it doesn't take that much horsepower.

Shallow well pumps are way easier to work on.

And hand dug wells with the hand pumps never freeze, the pump section is actually down in the well 6-7 feet. Had one of those on the farm.

Only problem with them is when the leathers (seals or flaps were made of leather and they lasted almost forever) went bad. Then you had to lift the entire pump jack, down pipe, pump itself and the pipe and foot valve that reached down into the water as a single unit.

Dad on one side, me opposite, two pipe wrenches, dad reached down, put pipe wrench on the down pipe and lifted as far as he could then it was my turn. Alternated until the entire pump was high enough to lay it out on the ground and replace the leathers. Then reverse it to put it back in the well.

Did it twice over 30+ years, ain't never gonna do it again. Don't know what would give out first, my back or my ticker if I tried. Tried being the operative word because I certainly don't have the strength to even attempt some thing that silly.

Interesting to see some of these "homesteaders" or "preppers" deal with leaking leathers.

On the farm I grew up on 27' deep drilled well produced enough water for up to 85 head of feeder cattle and 900 laying chickens, depending on the year. How much the old man put in the barn depended on how much corn we had and more importantly, what he thought he could sell at a profit. Beef/egg market up, fill the barn, prices down, less in the barn and sell more grain instead of converting to beef or eggs.

Done that around 50ish times on the ranch wells. You learn your grip knots pretty quickly!!! Our shallowest "shallow" well was 48'. I can build an A frame with a block and tackle about as fast as anyone!

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[NyFirefighter357]

More than likely the 1/4" piping the switch screws into is clogged. 40/60psi is normal. Most if not all are adjustable, I set mine to 50/70 psi. If you have an air bladder/pressure tank you need to set the pressure of the tank 2psi less than the lower setting so for 40/60psi the empty tank pressure would be 38psi. You do this by draining your tank & leaving the valve open, using a tire pressure gauge you can check the pressure of the tank & increase or decrease like a tire. I have also found clogs as stated where the line meets the well "Tee" or at the check valve. These clogs would be more of a lack of water. The clogged 1/4" nipple traps the pressure in the switch not allowing the switch to come back on for a while until the pressure slowly dissipates giving you what described as a sticking switch. I recently replaced my switch with one that also drops out if the pressure drops below 20psi, It's a low later cut off and only a few dollars more than the standard switch.

[Catshooter]

I have a friend who's pressure switch was sticking. Pulled the cover and shot it with WD-40. Works like a charm now. WD-40 is a good cleaner and doesn't conduct below 600 volts.


Cat

[Mal Paso]

I have a friend who's pressure switch was sticking. Pulled the cover and shot it with WD-40. Works like a charm now. WD-40 is a good cleaner and doesn't conduct below 600 volts.
Cat

Well it's Hooked Now! It will need a another shot when that drys out, and another. WD is the Crack Cocaine of lubes.

[Texas by God]

WD40 is the best hand cleaner for Tru-Oil. I wouldn't spray it in a sparky box though......

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[Bmi48219]

WD-40 is good stuff but for displacing moisture nothing beats CRC 5-56.