burning smell in pump room

[knieft]

Terracore,

If your pressure switch is also 12 years old and only now freaking, I am jealous. Mine has usually replaced every four years, after brushing it out to get another year.

I have replaced our grundfos with a new grundfos tech pump that is completely on demand, much quieter, and more efficient. The trick is to open up the new pump and silicone the seams to avoid the leaks mentioned in the reviews:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Grundfos-SCA.../300723212

So no pressure tank. On two properties. This was maybe four months ago. (And, yes, I tried the “automatic transmission” Grundfos back in the day, lasted only a couple years.)

No luck selling the replaced pump and tank on Craigslist, so they are sitting around aging. A bargain to you if you want, but I completely recommend the SCALA2. Longevity? Can’t speak to that yet, but it’s a step up in standard of living not to hear that loud pump noise filling up the pressure tank.

A little bit less Green Acres, so to speak.

Cheers,
Kirt

[leilanidude]

The pressure switch is melting...
----------
Every 6 months - put it on your calendar - turn off the power and spray a very healthy dose of something like CRC-56 or a similar electrical contact cleaner all over the contacts. Literally soak them and let it dry well before you turn power back on. Also, keep a spare pressure switch, spare pressure gauge and a spare one of those tiny little plastic tubes along with new miniature clamps for it. The little hose and clamps are very difficult to come across on the island and when you need one...you really need one!

[1voyager1]

We have a catchment system with a 20k tank, and a 3/4hp 3450rpm pump.
The pump's pressure switch fails periodically, every couple of years or longer.
It had a 20 to 40 psi switch.
The 20 to 40 and the 40 to 60 switches looked to be the same except for the settings.
So, I reset the max at 65 psi.
I really like the higher pressure.
Has worked great for years now.
It is a light duty system, only two of us without 50k kids running around.
Because of the higher pressure, the pump does have to work harder, could cause problems.
I have switch replacements sitting on the shelf.
I used to replace it at every failure.
Then, I got lazy.
Now, I simply restart it, haven't even filed the contacts, and still have the same 2 replacements sitting there.
Still get at least a couple of years or more usage between failures.
The worst effect is loosing water pressure when showering after midnight every few years.
Living on a clearing in the jungle at night gives plenty of privacy, don't worry about getting dressed, or worry about rain to restart it.

Edit:
Our switch is mounted on the motor.
The motor has little to no vibration to affect the switch's operation.
Your posts seem to indicate that you're getting vibration that might affect your switch.
If so, give it a long hard look.
It might be an indication of possible failure coming.

The switch melting might indicate a mismatch between the switch and the motor, the switch may not be heavy enough for the motor.

[terracore]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have replaced the pressure switch before, though it was a different problem, but had no idea it was an every-couple-of-years sort of thing. Later I had to replace the hose, and Island Catchment sold me one that is a huge improvement.

That new fangled pump looks great, but appears to be no longer available, and the new version is over $2k. I had no idea pumps were so expensive.

[terracore]

So the burning smell and pressure switch issues were resolved by replacing the switch. Everything went fine for months until I noticed now that when the pump roars to life it stutters like it's struggling.

Any ideas what causes this or how to remedy?

[kalakoa]

I have seen the "stuttering" effect when the pressure switch threshold is too close to the ideal system pressure. Easy way to test this theory is by turning on something that doesn't have a flow limiter, such as a spigot (not a faucet).

Another possible cause is a failing run (or start) capacitor, but that's a bit outside my expertise.

[MarkP]

The SCALA2pump would be great if it weren't so prone to leaks.

[terracore]

Because the stuttering was only happening like 20% of the time it's hard to know for sure but it seems to have stopped after changing the filters.

The filters have definitely been worse off in the past and no stuttering.

So I'm not sure what to make of this.

[kalakoa]

seems to have stopped after changing the filters

Sounds like pressure threshold for sure. Mine manifests as "pump cycles when flushing upstairs toilet" -- only happens when it's time to replace the filters.

[terracore]

That makes sense. Even though they were both factory defaults the newer pressure switch is likely not exactly like the previous one. It was time to change the filters anyway. Even after 10 years still learning about this system. I'll know more if the stuttering is still in abeyance after awhile.