I've been having trouble with my well. It started back in Mar/Apr, seemed like pressure was low, but it was running, and the gauge seemed normal. It pumped up to 50lbs, drew down to 30, and the pump kicked on. (In retrospect, it was taking a little long to fill up, but we're not there yet.)
So I left it alone until a couple weeks ago. I woke up one morning, everything was fine, made my coffee, took my shower, went to work, came home, blah blah blah. But then before bed, I found that when I opened a tap, nothing happened.
FF to the next morning, I go down and start messing with it. Breaker's not tripped. Junction box has power. Pressure reads 0. So I kill the power and start looking at the switch. It looks like the mechanical/pressure thing has the relay engaged, but the terminals read open and nothing's working. I poke around with a screwdriver to see if anything's stuck or if I can move anything, and it all seems normal.
So I turn power back on and it takes off running. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That was ~2 weeks ago, and everything seemed fine until this afternoon. Went to turn the tap on and nothing came out. I had the sense to buy a replacement switch last round, so today I installed in. Quick job, easy-peasy. Power it up, it takes off, everything's fine. For about two hours. Go to turn on a tap, nothing comes out.
Go back down, open the switch back up, everything looks fine. Breaker's not tripped. Junction box has power. Flip the breaker, take some measurements, make sure all the terminals are tight and the wires are seated properly, etc. Flip the breaker back on and it takes off running again. That was like 4 hrs ago and it's still fine.
So here's the question, I guess:
Do well pumps go intermittently bad like that? i.e., Is it time for a new pump? I thought they ran until they just didn't any more, same as any motor/pump.
Or should I be looking elsewhere? Bad connections? Bad chunk of cable?

could be several things. How old is it, how deep, construction, is the well screen clogged, does it have a gravel pack, can you run the pump and discharge the water at the well head to see if the well is producing suffiicient volumme/rate - has it decreased over time? Roots in the line between the well and house?. When is the last time you had the water quality checked? Is the groundwater level in you area dropping. Bad electrical connection. Break it down into segments - well first, collect sufficient info from each segment to determine where (could be multiple issues in different segments) that need to be addressed.

>>2927678
>How old is it
Old. Early 90s, give or take.
>how deep
75-85' or so. Well below the water table, and I'm surrounded by decent sized lakes.
>construction
???
>is the well screen clogged
No idea. I don't even know how to check. I assume I'd have to call someone?
>does it have a gravel pack
No idea.
>can you run the pump and discharge the water at the well head to see if the well is producing suffiicient volumme/rate - has it decreased over time
Never tried. Volume/flow is unchanged in the 8yrs I've been here.
>Roots in the line between the well and house
That's a possibility, but I don't see that causing an intermittent failure like this.
>When is the last time you had the water quality checked
Not once the entire time I've lived here. (Since '17.)
>Is the groundwater level in you area dropping
It varies year to year. I've seen the lake way lower than it is now. When the snow/ice melted it was almost over my seawall. (mspaint map related. not posting a picture due to autists.)
>Bad electrical connection.
That's the assumption I'm running with now. I'm going to make a new cord for it tomorrow at work to go from the junction box to the switch just to make sure. Old one's kind of ratty, but it Ohms out.

Could be your pump has an internal "fuse" that kicks when it sucks air or starts pulling too many amps that is reset when you cut power to it. Pump could be dying, screens might be clogged and need cleaning (acid pellets that will drop down all the way into the screens are the best for this, especially if the static water level is really high).
You can check to see if it's sucking air by taking the cap off the well and listening while its running, just open a bunch of outside faucets and let it run for half an hour, if it's sucking air you'll be able to hear it. If you have a clamp multimeter you can check to see how many amps it's pulling when it kicks on and runs. Should be around 6-7A-ish for a 1/2 HP pump.
Levels of water at the ground level have no effect on the static water level (how far up the casing the water pushes above the aquifer) or the aquifer (or shouldn't, if they do then you have groundwater penetrating the aquifer which is fucking bad) especially at 80'.
If you had roots compromising your line, you'd know it from the water coming up in your yard, usually around the well or the foundation, following the line. If it was a bad electrical connection flipping the breaker wouldn't do much for you.

>>2927771
Also, before you start dumping acid down there, make sure your pitless adapter isn't some dumb shit like a spool type that completely blocks off the casing.

A well riser/drop pipe should have 2 things on it.

One is a torque arrestor, which keeps the pump from impacting the sides of the well pipe when turning on and off. Constantly hitting against the inside of the well pipe can eventually lead to failures inside the well pump/motor.

Second thing is there should be spacer rings every 10 feet or so of riser pipe, which keeps the riser pipe and power wires from rubbing against the inside of the well pipe. Most importantly the wires, as them rubbing against the inside of the well pipe every time the pump motor turns on and off can wear through the insulation and cause sporadic power issues or it not powering on completely.

>>2927845
This is the most autistic shit I have ever heard in my entire life. If I pulled a fucking pump that had spacers every 10 feet I would find the driller who did that and beat them to death. What in the absolute fuck. Put the pump down on schedule 80 and tape the wires every 10 feet and it'll last forever.

>>2927845
>>2927905
He's right, had the same issue, thought it was the worst, pulled the pump up and could plainly see where the insulation had been rubbed off causing the short, wrapped it and checked on the pump connections (crimp that shit with a mallet) and was gtg. The older well pumps tend to last longer than the newer ones. Your recharge rate can change, I've seen it go so low that every time someone wanted to use water, they'd have to flip a breaker. The only options there are expensive.

>>2927911
Over the last 15 years I might have pulled 10 pumps where the problem was a worn-through wire, it was always on poly drop pipe and they were lazy taping the wire to the pipe. Not saying its impossible but putting in spacers every 10 feet is just goofy.