Desperately need help with Well Pump no pressure issue

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Bob Woodard

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We have a 25 foot shallow well that is roughly 4 feet wide. We have never run out of water and the well is full as I type this. On Friday, the well lost all pressure. It does this several times a month and I typically walk into our pressure tank room and flip the breaker and the pump starts back up. Occasionally, I will have to tap on the pressure switch to get it going. When it stopped this past Friday, nothing worked. So, here is what I've done thus far:

1) I replaced the pressure switch. I have white going into 1 and 3 and black into 2 and 4 slots.
2) I put a pressure gauge on my pressure tank and it's reading around 35 psi and my settings are 40/60.
3) My pump is a 3 wire 115 volt 1 horsepower submersible pump with control box and the pump sits inside a 5 gallon bucket. It is 3 years old.
4) I banged on the control box to no avail.
5) I went to Menards and they gave me a new control box that is for a 3/4 hp 230 volt well pump and stated that it should still work just fine to get the pump going. I cut the wires from the bottom of the old control box and wired them into the new control box. Nothing.
6) I do not know how to use a multi-meter correctly. However, I do have a pen that beeps when it detects current. I have current at all of the spots that I would assume I should have current. I was able to test the current just before the wire enters into the well and the black wire was the only wire showing current.

So, that's where I'm at. I'm assuming that my pump has gone bad and I will need to replace it. But, wanted to check with this board before climbing down the well and swapping it out. Thoughts?
 

Reach4

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A 1 HP submersible pump for water 20 or 25 ft down is probably not matched to the job very well. Is this for normal household use? How big is your pressure tank?
 

Bob Woodard

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A 1 HP submersible pump for water 20 or 25 ft down is probably not matched to the job very well. Is this for normal household use? How big is your pressure tank?
Our tank is quite large at roughly 5 feet in height. Maybe 80 gallons? This is for a household of 6 people with 2 teenagers.
 

Reach4

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OK. Check pump curves.

I am thinking something like a 1/2 HP 12 GPM to 15 GPM pump would be a good match if you want to use 115/120 volts. This page has a table of GPM vs depth to water. http://www.redlionproducts.com/clean-water/4-submersible-well-pumps/ There are various brands. Some like 3-wire. A 2-wire has the advantage of not needing a control box. But something like that size would make sense.

Reading a multimeter is not so hard. If you were to check resistance, then make sure the power is disconnected.

Are you sure your pump is a submersible 12o volts 1 HP? Those are not so common as 1 HP 230 volt.
 

Bob Woodard

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OK. Check pump curves.

I am thinking something like a 1/2 HP 12 GPM to 15 GPM pump would be a good match if you want to use 115/120 volts. This page has a table of GPM vs depth to water. http://www.redlionproducts.com/clean-water/4-submersible-well-pumps/ There are various brands. Some like 3-wire. A 2-wire has the advantage of not needing a control box. But something like that size would make sense.

Reading a multimeter is not so hard. If you were to check resistance, then make sure the power is disconnected.

Are you sure your pump is a submersible 12o volts 1 HP? Those are not so common as 1 HP 230 volt.

Yes, I am confident that it's a 115 volt pump. I thought about going with a half horsepower but I want to make sure that it can keep up.
 

Reach4

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That RL12G05-2W1V and similar pumps could put out 15 gallons continuously for you, plus you have the pressure tank to carry any sudden loads. 15 GPM is quite a bit. Three showers, a dishwasher, toilet flush and a sprinkler in the yard would not use that much.
 

Valveman

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I am pretty sure a 1/2HP is the biggest sub you can get that will run on 115 volts. So it is either a 1/2HP or it is 230 volt.

Since you only have power on one wire going down the well you must have an open circuit in the motor.
If the pump is sitting in a 5 gallon bucket, it may not be getting enough water, which will burn it up. Or it could have just cycled on/off enough to burn up the motor as happens to most pumps.

Either way I think you are going to need a new pump.
 
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