Pressure Problem

First a little history. We had a new pump put in about two years ago after a storm. About a year later we had an issue with the pressure switch which caused the pump to cycle quite a lot. Shortly after replacing the pressure switch the pump stopped working and that turned out to be a wire problem where it had rubbed the well casing and shorted or broke. About a year later we are experiencing, and have seen this getting progressively worse, low water flow, I think. The pressure seems to be ok as the pressure switch shows about 30PSI when pump is not running and 50-55 PSI when pump is running. Is it possible or likely the excessive switching, which went on for about a couple of months could have caused the pump to wear and that is our problem? I think if I need to replace the pump this time I may as well do that myself as I was not impressed with the folks that did this before not to mention the cost. The pump is pretty deep, about 250-300 feet I think. Also would moving to a higher HP pump help increase flow? Not sure what to do with this but it is bad enough that a simple water sprinkler in the yard will not cycle.

 

If the pump is set as deep as you say, Don't try to pull it your self without the right tools!!!!!!! It waights about 1000 to 1500 lbs. If you didnt like the pepole that did it the first time try to find a co. that has been in biz for a long time.15 years or more. Most of the time there is a reson they are still in biz.The pump turnning off and on real fast will burn the motor up before it will hurt the pummping. You should drain the tank DRY at least once every two months. That will stop the pump from comming on and off real fast. It will also help the pump last 5 times as long. Most pressure switchs are set at on 20 and off 40psi, or on 30 and off 50psi.

 

When you say drain the tank dry I am not sure what you mean. Drain the well dry? I am not sure that will happen. Do you mean drain the pressure tank dry?

I understand about pulling up the pump and will check the depth first. I was able to add a second small water pump to the hose outside and generated lots of pressure for the sprinkler so maybe it is a pressure issue. I thought though that the 50psi generated at the tank would be enough. I do have a water softener system and maybe I will try to bypass that to see if the pressure increases. I know there can be lots of variables so I am just trying to think through the steps to troubleshoot. If I get the 50psi out of the pump I would think that would be adequate at least in the house. The pressure is less then what it used to be so maybe I should start with the softener bypass then shut off some lines to areas of the house and try to find something where the pressure increases to at least what is used to be which was never great but acceptable for a well.

Thanks and if you can clarify the run 'til dry that would be good.

 

I'm sorry. I ment the pressure tank. Its called a water logged tank(when the pump turns on and off real fast) 1. turn off power...2.open the faucet at the bottom of the tank till pressure is down to 0psi....3. take the guage out(that breakes the vacuum on the tank)....4. let all the water run out....5.put the guage back in...6. close the faucet...7. turn the power back on... Thats all there is to it. That little bit of time it takes to do this will save your pump and save money on the electric bill.

 

A pump for a deep well like that should be able to give you all the pressure you want. And 50 PSI is usually plenty for a house. It may be a softener stopped up or something. Yes cycling on and off will destroy your pump, and is also what rubbed the wire raw in the well. Cycling could also have loosened the pipe in the well and some of your water could be leaking down the hole. Cycling is the major cause of most pump failures. You should search for something that stops pump cycling, before it is too late.

 

I agree with Valveguy here, and will add that it's not a good idea to increase the size of the pump unless you're sure that the well will be able to support a larger pump.
Also, draining the pressure tank as waterwelldude described works for a galvanized steel tank, but not for a bladder or diaphragm tank.
Ron

 

Thanks all. I was able to stop the cycling with a new pressure switch. That works well now. I do have a softener system and will take a look at that. I may try putting in a bypass line - that is not that difficult and actually would probably be good in case the system needs servicing. A couple of valves and some pvc piping (if that is what it is called) should do the trick there. I was able to add an external small electric pump to get the sprinklers working with the well last year but I would think the well pump should be able to push the water but actually the garden is slightly uphill from the house and actually close to the well. So maybe I am fighting gravity with that. To be truthful even water at the outside faucet in the front of the house does not have much pressure. I have drained the pressure tank and will take a look at the water softener. I know it has been a while since my last post but I did get busy and since I had a workaround I focused on some other things. Now spring is near and it will soon be time to start gardening again.

 

Water going to outside faucets for watering the lawn or garden doesn't normally need to be run through a water softener. If you use regular salt in the softener, you will be gradually increasing the sodium levels in the soil you sprinkle, which isn't good for the plants. If you are in a high rainfall area, the natural rainfall would probably leach the sodium away, but in a low rainfall area it could accumulate over time to damage your lawn and garden. Because it isn't necessary, and it costs money to treat the water even if it is just going out on the ground, outdoor faucets usually bypass the water softener.

Unless you have a mammoth softener, the softener would be designed to handle a quantity of water typical of indoor use, but this tends to be less than the quantity you can put out through a garden hose and sprinkler. The result is that the softener may limit the quantity of water that can flow through it, so watering with a sprinkler after the water passes through the softener may result in restricted flow compared to what the sprinkler can put out, which will show up first as reduced pressure at the sprinkler.

 

Hope it’s ok to ask this on this without starting a new thread. Much earlier on the thread waterwelldude indicated that a submersible pump down deep as 250-300 feet can weigh as much as 1000-1500 lbs. I was just wondering is that because the length of pipe connected to the pump is very long? And would that heavy weight apply also to that black polyethylene pipe? Or would that weight only apply to galvanized steel pipe. Or is it mostly the weight of the water in the pipe so it’s the length of pipe that really matters ?

 

That was with 1.25" steel pipe full of water. I find it to be a little safer to err on the side of caution. If the weight is underestimated, it can give a false sense of (oh that is not that heavy) and a diyer can get hurt or drop it down the well.

Something that deep, full of water, is going to be heavy.

With the black poly, it would be lighter by about 5 to 6 hundred pounds.



Travis

 

Thanks Travis for taking the time to answer.

Gotcha! Very good info. Been tackling just about everything else with my well system and have been trying to think ahead about what I will do someday when the pump fails. I have heard some really nasty stories as you allude to, about diyer’s underestimating the weight and the problem and dropping their pumps down the well. Guess I’m leaning towards getting the pump guy to do it when the day comes.

Ready for a laugh… I have no idea how I got this ridiculous idea got stuck in my head but I thought my 4” submersible pump down 100’ on the black poly pipe would weigh about 50 lbs. Would have been pretty funny (or maybe not so funny ) if I ever acted on that notion. That’s why I really took notice of your comment about the real weight. Good thing I did.

Thanks very much!