Once again the water supply has been acting up. Some days working, some days not.
Having enlisted, once again!, the help of a friend to haul the water pump from the borehole and examine the thing, all seemed fine except for a split in the pipe just above the pump.
We decided, as the thing was already out, to cut out the split section, replace the fitting with the correct size and test it.
Electrical tests seemed ok, the pump ran. Everything was put back into service, a short pipe fitted to the top of the supply and we switched it on. All worked fine, water flooded out - then it didn´t, then it did. When connected to the main supply all worked again, we had water to the house and the garden.
Then, after little more than a day, it stopped again!
A thorough electrical investigation identified a cable with a broken core inside the insulation just where it was connected to the pressure switch.
This was repaired and the system worked again - hooray!!
It continued to work for more than a week and finally gave up completely on a Friday evening.
With a few trips to PSP Electrical in Fundão we replaced the pressure switch, then the capacitor and finally it was time to scrap the old pump and buy a new one.
So far, we have a whole week of reliable water supply, which should not be a surprise having replaced everything apart from the pipework.