Shallow well pump losing prime


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Old 04-23-07, 06:06 AM
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Question Shallow well pump losing prime

I am looking for some ideas. I have a shallow well pump with a 2" well point. I think my well is slowly losing prime. We It is fine as long as I keep using water. When I use water, it is fine until the pump starts. When the pump starts, I get blasts of air and eventually it begins to pump. It fills the pressure tank, shuts off and does not lose pressure in the tank or lines. But every time it sits for a while, I get those blasts of air after the pressure tank empties and it begins to pump.

I think there is a very slow leak in either the union or a fitting, but I don't know for sure and can't find it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Marcia L.
 
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Old 04-23-07, 07:34 AM
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Wink

Have to ask ? do you know the welll???? Here we use air tanks on the wells. So we do have what is called a sniffer in the line to the well. This will fill with air when the pump is off. then put it in the tank when the pump comes on. The tank will have a float control on it. this will let some air out if to much is in it???????? can that be it????
 
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Old 04-23-07, 09:09 AM
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It has a 2 gallon precharged pressure tank.
 
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Old 04-24-07, 10:35 AM
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When you say "blasts of air" do you mean that the sprinkler heads sputter and spit a while? That's okay. The water will normally drain out of the lowest sprinkler head after the valve to the sprinklers closes. How fast it drains out depends on how much lower it is than the rest of the pipes and sprinkler heads.

If you are only getting air into the pressure tank after you start the pump, I wonder how you would know this, but I will take your word for it, than you could be losing prime a little.

Between the well pipe and the pump, there ought to be a check valve.

If that check valve is leaking a little (and they do that sometimes), than you can lose some prime, but if it is only a little than when the pump starts, it will be very noisy until the pump "catches" and starts pumping pure water, not air and water mixed. That's how you would know if you were losing a little prime, the noise -- sounds like gravel is in there.
 
 

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