Hello everyone,

Our pump in the last week or two doesn't seem to build up enough pressure now to reach the cut off limit. It will get to about 25 and then climb slowly to about 30 but never reach the cut off at 40 PSI

We drained the tank (a Well-Trox(sp?))last night and pressurized it to 18 PSI (it was down to about 12, but the bladder appeared to be ok, no water came out of the valve and the tank was able to empty completely). Once at 18 PSI, it appeared to hold the pressure without any problems. When we drained the tank, there wasn't any sand or discoloration in the water.

The contacts on the pressure switch looked pitted so we replaced it with a spare 20/40 Square D switch a friend had. We also placed a new gauge on the pump since the prior one was completely busted out. We also checked out the pipe that goes to the bottom of the pressure switch and it doesn't appear to be obstructed in anyway.

The pump is a deep well jet pump with 1-1/4" and 1" pipes, 3/4 HP. The pump is a fairly old Goulds pump, the previous owners didn't seem to take care of it, the casing is fairly rusted all over and it is hard to make out the numbers, but I see a J07N or something similar. You can hear a slight hiss too and a whine out of it.

When we cut power, the pressure holds fine, and I even had it off over night and there was no drop, so I don't think the foot valve is bad or that there are leaks in the pipes.

When we turn on the water it appears to be at a steady pressure, albeit not that great. We don't get spurts of air and the water is still very clear.

I am wondering if it is likely the pump is going up or does it appear to be something with the well? Is there an "easy" way to tell if it is the pump or a plugged jet or the well itself?

The well cap is buried beneath the ground at around 2' deep I am guessing from the looks of where our pipes exit the basement foundation, so I haven't gone through the pain of digging that up yet.

If it is the jet, how hard is this to pull up and clean/replace? We are on the eastern shore of VA, so I doubt the well is too terribly deep, but this is a project I have never tackled before and would like to get as much info as I can before doing that.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Goulds did make a J07N convertible jet pump.
If there are indeed no leaks in the piping, the most likely culprit is a plugged nozzle in the deep well ejector, which is located in the well.
Before you go and dig up the well head, you might want to take the pump apart and check the impeller for breaks or cracks. If the piping is galvanized, the impeller could even be plugged with scale.
Once you get down to it, the piping shouldn't be too difficult to pull up out of the well. If it's galv. pipe it could be heavy, so be careful.
If you have to pull the pipes, you may as well look inside the pump, too. Parts are readily available for the the J07N.
Ron

 

Thanks for the reply!

I made sure to close the valve just beyond the tank and pump, to eliminate the piping in the house. This didn't affect the PSI either. So between that and the pressure holding over night with the pump shut off, I am guessing the piping isn't leaking.

The piping coming through the foundation is all PVC piping, though I am not sure if this holds true for the entire length of the pipe into the well. On a side note, I am not sure if this would be relavent as to the quality of water and the chance of things getting plugged up, but we recently took out a hot water radiator with the original piping from 1938 and the pipes showed no scaling or deposits what so ever.

Also would the plugged ejector be something that happened gradually over time or something sudden? Being 10-12PSI below the cut off all of a sudden seems a lot, but this is all new to me and I am interested in learning as much as I can for future reference.

I definitely will take the pump apart and see if anything is noticeably wrong. From what I have read, the Goulds pumps are pretty long lasting and quite reliable, not to mention I would think it would be considerably cheaper just replacing a part than to buy a new pump.

 

That nozzle could plug up suddenly. The hole in the nozzle is only about 1/8" in size.
Goulds pumps are good pumps, if they're taken care of (like anything else).
Let us know if you find anything wrong in the pump.
Ron

 

Definitely makes sense. It appears this is the problem area now. The pump appears to be fine, other than not building up enough pressure. A friend has a pump we might put in place to just confirm this, but I am 99% sure it isn't the pump now.

I tried to get the location of our well today from the Health Department, but they were only able to tell me the "front yard"...which isn't all that big, but the well cap is buried, so I don't even know where to begin. The pipes I believe are PVC, but I guess the well cap would have metal screws? I am wondering if a metal detector would help?

The only other internal piece to the system would be the tank...though I would think the system would be able to still build up enough pressure to reach cut off? The tank doesn't seem to be losing air and I've never had water come out of the valve when releasing air. It is just my fear to have to call a well company out and then have it turn out to be the tank.

Thank you again for the help, I have never had to really look into how the well works/what it entails before, but it is nice to learn.

 

Thank you Pumpman, it was the nozzle at the end of the pipe. It cracked in half. Amazing such a small piece of plastic can cause such grief.

I had been hoping it was something I could fix myself, but I didn't have the tools/equipment in the end to pull up the metal piping.

Definitely learned some new things at least. Thank you guys again for the info and pointing me right to the issue.

 

Just to touch on something you brought up about the pump and tank. Even if the tank bladder is bad, the pump will still build pressure. The tank cannot keep the pump from reaching cutout pressure (unless it's leaking, of course).
Glad the problem is fixed.
Ron