5 year old well pump popping reset button on pump controller

[George Leavell]

About 5 years ago we had a new well pump installed. It's been doing fine however for the last year we've been running into issues with the well running low on water.

Basically the issue is that full demand on the well is about 15 gallons a minute however at 15 gallons a minute it runs out of water in about 15 minutes. So to reduce the flow of water out of the well, I installed a 2500 gallon tank and limited flow out of the well to about six or seven gallons a minute to refill the tank.

This works fine and the well never runs out of water now.

However, in the last few months the well pump has started popping the reset button on the well pump controller.

If I reset the reset button two or three times then the well pump kicks on and will cycle properly to refill the tank and it might run several hours doing that.

However, The well pump will not start on its own when the demand in the tank turns on it just pops the reset button on the well pump controller. And again I have to go out and press the reset button a few times before the well pump kicks on and starts doing its job.

Is this an indication of a failing well pump or is this an indication of a failing well pump controller?

 

[Reach4]

If you are referring to a control box for a 3-wire pump, I would suggest replacing the start capacitor, or the whole box.

If you want to investigate further, I expect that you have a very high current until the red button pops. A clamp-around ammeter around one of the wires passing thru the pressure switch would be the usual way to measure the current draw.

If this is some expensive electronic box, then my comments do not apply.

 

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[George Leavell]

Thanks for the reply I think this is just your basic capacitor start box. I will check the amp draw at startup. Any idea what it should be for a one and a half horsepower pump?

 

[Reach4]

Thanks for the reply I think this is just your basic capacitor start box. I will check the amp draw at startup. Any idea what it should be for a one and a half horsepower pump?

I don't know... I'll guess maybe 30 or 40 amps for less than half a second.

 

[Valveman]

Replacing the start cap would be a good thing to try. But I am afraid you already burned up your pump/motor. The worst thing you can do to a 15 GPM pump is use 6-8 GPM all the time. That causes the pump to cycle on and off until the motor is toast, which is what I suspect. A 15 GPM pump can run continuously for decades when restricted to as little as 1 GPM. But letting it cycle on and off is the worst thing you can do. You can either do away with the pressure tank/pressure switch for the well pump or add a Cycle Stop Valve to stop the cycling. You can also add a CSV to the booster pump, as I am sure it is cycling as well.

 

[George Leavell]

Replacing the start cap would be a good thing to try. But I am afraid you already burned up your pump/motor. The worst thing you can do to a 15 GPM pump is use 6-8 GPM all the time. That causes the pump to cycle on and off until the motor is toast, which is what I suspect. A 15 GPM pump can run continuously for decades when restricted to as little as 1 GPM. But letting it cycle on and off is the worst thing you can do. You can either do away with the pressure tank/pressure switch for the well pump or add a Cycle Stop Valve to stop the cycling. You can also add a CSV to the booster pump, as I am sure it is cycling as well.

View attachment 81241View attachment 81242

Thanks.

I already added CSVs on both pumps.