HELP i have very little water

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in the house i have a deep well pump ( is 220 electic power and is at least 14 years old or older )  that is down in  the well case. the well is 100 feet deep water is at 75 feet it looks to me that the pressure switch points are closed but doesn't seem to be running  and i don't have much pressure on the gauge like 5.  so is it the pump or the pressure switch which to replace any ideas

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Dave - The pressure switch contacts are closed all the do is to completes the circuit to the pump and starts the pump, open contacts stops the pump. Your 220 has 2 wires, and a ground wire. Your intake pipe may have some trash or ?? that is clogged up. If you pump is running and you have only 5 PSI, this situation will burn up your pump. Where is your Pressure Gauge Located? Has your pressure just all of a sudden stopped or slowly decreased in pressure over the last few weeks, months?   

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possible pressure switch not working properly or a leak in the line?

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well i shut the pump off last night went to bed got up this morning and turned it back on and it filled the tank back  the low psi was because the pump was not turning on

the pressuure switch is on top of the line that runs in to the water/air tank  we had three showers taken yesterday and the wife was washing dishs  at the end of the day      



I will keep a eye on it         thank folk for helping   you are  good friends

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There could be a whole series of solutions here. It has been my experience on pressure switches over the years that they either work or not and if they have defective pressure sensor it's time to replace it. If it is located on top then it should be easy to replace. Be sure to check the contacts to see if they are clean, they should be sealed from the factory but over the years the diaphragm could be deterrating. Same goes from the pipe, as growalot suggest, could be a leak in the vertical pipe itself.

One of the keys is how long does the pump run inbetween strops and starts? If it starts and stops in a short time frame, then yes check the PS. But in most cases if the pressure sensor is shot, then the switch will not work, this does not sound like this is your problem.

This does sound like a leak somewhere. I am assuming this is a self priming pump. But check around the connections from the pump to the vertical pipe, the coupling could be leaking. But if you have a large leak, you will have low pressure and your pump will continue to run and run....

We all are hear to help.....

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Just saw this Dave... glad it somewhat cleared up. Bo pretty much has it covered. They are somewhat simple systems in concept but many things can cause different symptoms.

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If the pump is running and you still have low pressure at a faucet, you may have a blockage somewhere.  I had a similar problem and it turned out the check valve was plugged up.  I had to replace our  pressure tank, and during the project, I found the problem with the check valve.  I cleaned it out, put every thing back together, and every thing was fine afterwards.  I did put extra pressure gauges to allow me to monitor the iron filter, and water softener.  Also, I now can isolate either component for maintenance without shutting off the water supply to the rest of the house.

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Dave - Once you figure out the problem and if you have to tear it down and rebuild it, think about installing more instrumentation and flitration. Back in 93 we had one big bad storm and it got down to 8 below zero. My inlet water pipe froze in the garage!! I was out of water (and electricity) for a few days, but once I rebuilt it, I put pressure and temperature gauges upstream and downstream, heat trace the pipes (set at 40F to turn on), water softener, filtration systems in. I even put instrumentation (temp and level) on my water heater when I replace it back in 96.

ML - If the check valve goes bad, it generally leads to pump cavitation, especially on a older pumps. Like you said, I too think he has a clog somewhere in the line, but you want to clear this up ASAP cause it will lead to burning out your pump do to high amps especially on a 220VAC...he might want to put a fuse in-line ahead of the breaker to protect the pump. Fuses blow before breakers break. If you don't want to put a fuse in, maybe replace the pump breaker for a faster trip setting so it won't trip the main breaker......just some suggestions.