wilkes

It took me forever to get around to working on this, but you guys pretty much nailed it!

The gauge at the pressure switch was cutting off at about 25psi, but when it go to around 15psi, instead of cutting on it would just drop to 0 and shut down.

What may be happening is the pressure switch cut-on setting has dropped slightly. For example on my switch with a bladder type pressure tank if the switch doesn't turn the pump back on before the pressure drops to the precharge pressure in the tank the water will stop for a few seconds. My switch is adjusted to cut the pump on at 30 psi and off at 50 psi so the precharge pressure in my pressure tank can be no higher than 28 psi ( 25 psi is what i have in it ) The switch is tricky to adjust and is best left to a pro as you can cause some major damage to your plumbing or the tank could explode if the pressure gets too high.

http://www.inspectapedia.co...Adjust.htm

http://www.inspectapedia.co...Adjust.htm

The grey square box with wires coming out of it ashe plumber refers to is the pressure switch and has a limited life span. This switch will normally click on and off every few seconds with the water running but should not cycle with no water running or leaks. I had similar symptons with my well caused by a small split in the pipe down near the submerged pump.

The pipe in question is normally located at the pressure tank, on the big brass tee, there will be a grey square box mounted on the end of the small pipe, the box will have wires going to and from it.

If the problem turns out to be the pump overheating then the solution would be a replacement.

It HAS gotten progressively worse. I made the mistake of not making notes, but I know that awhile back, we were complaining that pressure in the shower would range from low to take-the-paint-off-the-walls. But, it's only been a year or so since symptoms began.

#1 sounds like the easiest to check and replace, and since you said it's the most common, I'll check that first. Where should I look for this pipe?

I'm guessing that if it's #2, the solution would be to replace the whole pump?

Theres 3 things that can cause the syptoms you describe. I'll list them in order from most common to less common.

1 . A galvanized pipe was used at the pressure switch, it's only 1/4" in diameter and will clog easily and cause

the pump to come on late- after you've already ran out of water.

2. The pump is overheating and is shutting off, they have a thermal breaker built into the pump and it will turn

the power off to the pump motor til it cools down, usually 45 seconds.

3. There could be too much air in the expansion tank, but if was the case it would have been like this since

you moved in.

if you have a well, i wonder if you might be having problems with the pressure tank

i have never heard of a problem like that

Funny enough, in the house we lived in before coming here, we really were convinced that a friendly ghost lived there! That house had been built in the 1930's or thereabouts, so it wasn't unlikely for someone to have died there.

At one point, Melissa and I were joking about a ghost living there, and one of us mentioned that we thought that we knew what his name was. We looked at one another, and at the exact same time, we both said "Dan!" So after that, we were convinced that a ghost named Dan lived there.

When we moved, we called out and invited him to come with us. He might have, but turning off the water just wouldn't be his style.

I think you have a ghost in your house.

I'm having a problem with my water, and I'm hoping someone can make a suggestion to fix it.

Every once in awhile, the water in my house just cuts off completely. It will be off for anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes, then cut back on like normal. We've noticed that when it cuts off, we can hear the water heater filling up, then once the water heater is full then the water comes back on.

There are several variables that I've considered:

1. I had to replace the water heater last year, and the one I replaced it with has "Smart" controls on it. I've considered that a setting is wrong (although there are only 4 setting options, so I'm not sure how that could be), or that there's a vacuum leak in the heater itself.

2. I also replaced the copper connectors above the water heater with plastic, and had to work a bit to get them to stop leaking. There's a possibility that there's a vacuum leak here, too.

3. Some years ago, I had a contractor replace a shower head for me, and at the time he had to replace one of the pipes, too. This shower head is directly above the water heater. To be honest, he didn't do the greatest job, and the pipes are extremely tight; so, over time, the shower head has turned and gotten pulled down. If a vacuum leak could be a problem, then there's a good chance of a vacuum leak here, too.

4. I have well water, and the pump came with the house when I bought it in 2004. So, it could be that the pump itself is going/gone bad.