I glanced over at the side of the pump house today and noticed that it was dripping water at the bottom of the siding. The faucet pipe wasn’t leaking so I went into the pump house.
I found water steadily dripping from the inside of the well pump pressure switch. This isn’t ideal as I’ve been taught that electricity and water do not mix well. I turned off the electricity and removed the switch cover. Yup, water was coming out of the diaphragm area.
A quick trip to the Philomath True Value (The well supply store was closed after noon on Saturdays…) and I was the proud owner of a Square D FSG2J21M4CP 30/50 PSI Standard Pressure Switch with Low Pressure Cutoff. Or as we laymen like to call it, “that switch thingy for my well”. The price was $8 over the cost of one from Amazon but this is a fine example of a time when you’re happy that brick and mortar retail establishments still exist. I should add here that no switch = no water (not strictly true as I could have manually bypassed it, but that would not be optimal.) Replacement was relatively quick and easy although I had to stay home instead of going out to yet another kid’s birthday party with the boys and Felice. Darn. I’ll be checking it every now and then for the rest of the day to make sure nothing leaks.
I tore open the old switch and found a lot of silt, which isn’t unusual for a well.
I removed the diaphragm cover and diaphragm.
Found the leak, the diaphragm had ripped at the point of contact with the cover plate. I suppose one could make a diaphragm in an emergency, it looks like either nylon or a high durometer polyurethane. I’ll keep the old parts just in case.
Did I mention the silt?
As I was engaged in the project, Felice mentioned that the lower field’s outside faucet was leaking. Since I had the water off I pulled the valve out to check it. The washer was ripped in half.
Looks like part of the valve cup sheared off (how do these things happen?).
Lucky for me I have a box of random rubber washers, grommets and such. Found a suitable replacement for the washer and the faucet doesn’t leak. I’ll probably replace it or remachine the cup if it leaks again.
Not a bad 3 hours of fun.
1 comment:
It is wonderful that you have the ability to fix problems which would leave others tearing out their hair! Its great that you are so self sufficient that not only can you fix them, but manufacture needed parts... and, your sediment is gross!
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