well pump question

[wdcd]

I have purchased a piece of property with a well and the setup shown in the pic. Yesterday at 2 different times I had no water to my trailer. The breaker was not tripped and eventually it stated working again. I am new to wells so any help would be great as to what I can look into.

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[Valveman]

That is a 20 gallon tank that only holds 5 gallons of water. So the pump has to cycle on and off for every 5 gallons used. The pump has been cycling like that for long enough that the motor is now damaged and tripping the overload. These overloads are in the motor, and will automatically re-set themselves in a few minutes. That is why it comes on randomly.

You could also have a bad starting capacitor and/or relay in the control box. All of these things are caused by the pump cycling on and off too much. You either need a pressure tank about 4-5 times that size, or a Cycle Stop Valve to stop the cycling. With the Cycle Stop Valve that 20 gallon tank is plenty large enough, as even a 4.5 gallon size tank would work.

 

[speedbump]

That ground under your equipment looks like a dandy place for ants to live. Ants love to get into pressure switches (little grey box above the pressure gauge). This is a standard problem in the hot weather. Ants get on the points that come together to start the pump. These little guys are strong enough to keep the points from making contact, so the motor won't start. Eventually the 120 volts trying to get through the ant burns him up and the motor starts. Generally one cycle like this and things are back to normal until the next ant gets in between the points. Get some bug spray and make that switch not such great place for the ants to live.

 

[wdcd]

Thanks for the info guys. I did see black ants on and around the equipment so maybe that is it. We do not use a lot of water at extended periods. We are use to boondock camping so we only run the water while we are using it, military showers and such. Hopefully its just ants.