Power went out of my house and we just had it restored, though now the water is no longer running. We called the people who installed our pump and they told us they would need to dig up the well which is going to cost $1500. However i remember a time before where this happened and all we needed to was reset the switch. Do you think these ppl are trying to get me for my money? Does anyone know if there is a less expensive way?
Yes, they are trying to get your money. Check the breaker and see if it needs to be reset. If your pump is not submersible, you will need to prime it. Remove the gauge or one of the plugs and, with a funnel, fill it with water before you run it. This should be repeated until your pump is primed and filling up the tank. Make sure you have a faucet or two opened when you do this. No matter what, your well does not have to be dug up. It doesn't work like that. The power going out doesn't have anything to do with the water in the well or the piping going down to it. If all else fails, call a different well company to get some advice. Edit- If the pump is running ok, it should be primeable. It takes time to do this. If the pumps impeller was damaged by running dry, the pump may need a rebuild or replaced.
you do not usually have to dig up a well there could be several causes Some pressure switches are low pressure cutoff type if you lost pressure the switch needs to be reset the little silver handle on the side of the pressure switch needs to be lifted until pressure builds up Lightening might have hit the casing and burned a wire or even fried the pump although with breakers and safety switches that is unlikely. If your pump has a control box either in the pump house or the basement remove the screw and take the cover off if you smell or see something burnt go to lowes and buy a new box $45 max. If the wire is burned it is most likely right at the well cap itself turn the breaker off and remove the cap carefully pull the slack wire up and check a plumber should fix for no more than $100. If the pump is gone it will require the pump to be pulled if it is a submersible this may cost you up to$1000 . If you have an above ground jet pump that lost the prime just remove the fill cap and fill with water to restart the prime Sorry for the long answer just wanted to touch all bases
the first thing to do is make sure your switch contacts are closed...if they are not and the switch has a handle on the side of it, lift up the handle until the contacts close....once the pump starts working and builds up 20 or 30 pounds pressure it will start working the way it is suppose to ...you would only need to dig up the well and pull the pump as a last resort...and since the pump was working before the power went out..Most likely all you need to do is figure out how to start it...if it is a jet pump (above ground pump) then all you might need to do is prime it to get it started again.....so your pump is a jet pump ?? how much water did they use to try to prime it with??it takes one gallon for every ten feet of pipe in the well.....if your pump is in the well it does not have to be primed...
What i don't understand is how they could know that they needed to dig up the well BEFORE they got there to troubleshoot it. They need to know circuits aren't tripped which easily could have happened if the well was running when the power went out, or if the power came back on......and the well pump just ran and ran without prime ( Without water running through it) So I would check the breakers or fuses first.......and call a second opinion, it doesn't seem right for them to quote you over the phone like that. Could be as simple as the well lost its prime.
Sounds real fishy to me. Most well pumps are submersible units, and can be pulled without any digging. They're also pretty tough and don't break down easily. It is to be expected that the pump may have tripped a breaker if there was a single phase or low voltage condition as the power went out. Check that the circuit breaker feeding the pump is closed, (open, then reclose it), then go over the pump controls and press anything marked 'reset`.
