I need help with well pump situation?

Question

all of a sudden i had no water in home. when i went out and checked my well, found that the pump house had a faint electrical smell. pump was kicking on very briefly. tank had 0 psi pressure. the plastic end cap thing was off and on the ground, found capacitor blown apart- outer casing a couple feet away. what would cause this? how is it the pump was kicking on very briefly with it blown apart like that? should i just find somewhere to buy the capacitor and change it myself?

Answer 1

Sound like you had an Electrical spike of some kind. Maybe has been struck by lighting. You can find these parts at almost any hardware store just take the brand name and any motor info you can find like horsepower, and such. They can order these parts for you.

Answer 2

You could have natural gas in your water. If your well house is sealed too well it will cause a problem. The gas will build up and when the pump kicks on it will cause a small spark which will be big enough to cause a small explosion. I suggest that you call a well system man and have it checked. The well house needs to have soem air circulation to allow the gas a way of escape.

Answer 3

First turn the pump off. Make sure that you still have water in the well and then you have to look at the capacity of the capacitor. It is usually rated for the horsepower of the pump that it has to start. These are quite common and are usually available locally. Hopefully you have not damaged the pump enough to burn it out when the capacitor blew. Usually when the capacitor blows the pump is still ok but it may have also been trying to run against the load and burnt itself out. May need a new pump also. Hope this helps.