Okay, as some of you know, we bought a house recently with a water well...Well I finally got it to kick on after figuring out the electrician had had a little problem with the panel (it was goofy) and we got the 240 or 250 (whatever electricity is now) to the well...

However, after running for 5 seconds it's flipping the breaker...My electrician says it's something to do with the pump...Any ideas on what to check? I'm tired of spending $90 for someone to come out and tell me it's not their problem...So any ideas to trouble shoot would be great...

Thanks in advance.

Is it a submersible pump?

Betcha the pump's clogged up w/ calcium OR you have a bad breaker.

How deep is the well?

I'm not sure...It is down the shaft of the well, but I'm not certain how deep...

What does the pump supply,,have you seen it actually pump water,,did you prime it before starting back up,,,we need all the info you can provide,,but sounds like a bad pump,,,cost around 275 depending on the hp,,,,lots of questions

I haven't seen it pump water, but I know the neighbor that lives next to the house...They said it was working and the person who rented the house before the foreclosure was using it to water the yard until they were evicted last year...

It supplies all but 1 outside faucet with water on 1 acre...

How do I prime the pump?

Sounds like it may be an over load on the breaker. Is the breaker sized right? Is it a GFI breaker? Was it landed in the panel correctly.

What has been changed from when the previous person used it?

look in and all around the pump, there should be a smaller breaker box or a box where the electrical plugs into it...

there will be ants in there

Call Austin pump in Haltom city ,,i buy all my pumps and repair items from them,,you will need the pump size and power supply ,,,ask them all the questions you want they will help everyone,,

just a note,,,most times a pump that trips a breaker that fast has shorted out,,,but i would check all your electrical connection first ,,,i assumed the electrician has already,,

Just one last thought,,,if the well is used for the automatic sprinkler it should have a starter box,,which could be bad they have a tendency to go out over time,,when you turn on the sprinkler controller you will hear it click,,and stay on if it don't there's your problem,,,

The house sat for about a year between the foreclosure and us buying the house...Other than that, the only thing to change was the wiring went from overhead to underground...

The electrician is a very good electrician and I trust his work, so I don't think it's that...

The calcium deposit is making sense because of the amount of calcium and lime in Whitney and the surrounding ground water...

Could be a bad relay in the control box.

We went thru this same thing on our place near College Station.

We replaced the pressure control switch/solenoid, breaker in the electrical panel, and the entire gray 'Franklin Electric' control box for less than $150, problem went away.

Franklin Electric makes about 90% of the water-well control boxes out there. Any water-well service company should be familar with them and have them in stock.

Pressure control switch/solenoids can be found at most HD's or Lowe's, 20-50 psi model.

Sometimes the big capacitors in the control boxes go bad. Had that happen this summer, but the root cause was it was an old pump. The first three sections of galvanized pipe to the well were so corroded that when the guys pulling the pump tried to disconect them, the wrench went through the pipe.

Pumps can go bad quicly if they are constantly cycling on and off. A bad pressure tank or pressure control switch can do that.

Water systems are like air. As long as it they are working and you are getting some, it's no problem, but it gets pretty hectic if you aren't getting any.