Easy Maintenance and Money Saving Tips For Water Well Pumps

For those who happen to be outside the city limits and have your own well, here are just a few tips to save you time, stress, and money.

These next two pictures are pressure switches or as some call them "points". One of the most common problems with a pressure switch not working properly is ants getting in between the points when the pump motor switches on and melts the ants to the points. Over time, this can cause the points to get very sticky or gummy, resulting in a bad connection of the points or possibly preventing the points from making a connection.

 

 One really easy tip for solving this problem is to get a finger nail file or a small piece of sandpaper (like the image below) and rub the points until clean. (Note: Turn power OFF before doing this. Pressure switches, while running properly, have 240-250 volts running between the two sides.) This trick can be done multiple times before having to spend extra money to replace your pressure switch.

 

 If you have a galvanized or bladderless tank, you will have a snifter valve and the cap to the valve (below). I personally do not know why a cap even comes with the valve. It only creates a thought that you're suppose to put the cap on the valve. FALSE! With any cap on a snifter valve, there is no way the valve can create suction. The snifter valve is usually placed on the check valve that is in between the pipe coming out of your well and your tank. This tiny piece is not only the smallest item on your well, but it is often the most overlooked and can cost you the most money. This piece costs so little that we at Brown Pump Repair do not even charge to install, but if it is not working properly, can cost you up to $1200-$1400! Why? The purpose of a snifter valve is, when a pump switches off, there is a piece of equipment on your drop pipe in your well called a bleed back. As soon as the pump turns off, the water in the pipe will begin to drip out of the pipe until the water is at the level of the bleed back. Now while all this is going on, the snifter valve will open and create a suction that allows air into the pipe in the well. When the pump switches on, the pipe on top of the bleed back will be full of air with water below. The air on top will be forced in the tank creating the water pressure it needs to push the water into the water lines to get to your home. If this piece does not work properly and does not allow for a suction, this will cause the bleed back not to work which will not allow any air into the tank and will result in the tank to be waterlogged. When the tank becomes waterlogged, the pressure switch will "short-cycle" causing the pump motor to switch off and on constantly and eventually burning the motor up.

 

These are just a few tips for keeping your pump running in good shape and for years to come. Check back for future posts for more ways for you to save money with little to no effort.

-Lathan Harwell