Pump losing pressure
#1
04-17-09, 06:03 AM
Join Date: Apr 2009
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Pump losing pressure
Good morning all,
I have a jet pump that I guessing is over 10 years old. It is a 20psi to 40 psi pump. It is a shallow well that is around 35 to 50 ft deep. It is at my camp so the pump does not get a whole lot of usage (1 or 2 weekends a month). I just bought this camp about 2 years ago and it is my first well so I'm new to pumps.
My problem is that when I try to prime the pump and turn it on, the pump take a long time to get any pressure and I have to sit there holding the switch in the on position. When I do this, the pump eventually gets pressure up to 40 psi and shut off, as it should. From there, the pump loses pressure without using any water in the camp, doesn't turn back on at 20 psi, and drops all the way to 0. I checked the water level in the well and there is plenty of water.
I am going up this weekend to work on it and was hoping to get some feedback on how to troubleshoot this issue. I was planning on checking the foot valve first. I did this once already about a year and a half ago and the foot valve was old but still in working order. Next, I was going to check the airpressure in the tank to see if the tank baldder may be bad.
Any other suggestions on what I should check and how would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I have a jet pump that I guessing is over 10 years old. It is a 20psi to 40 psi pump. It is a shallow well that is around 35 to 50 ft deep. It is at my camp so the pump does not get a whole lot of usage (1 or 2 weekends a month). I just bought this camp about 2 years ago and it is my first well so I'm new to pumps.
My problem is that when I try to prime the pump and turn it on, the pump take a long time to get any pressure and I have to sit there holding the switch in the on position. When I do this, the pump eventually gets pressure up to 40 psi and shut off, as it should. From there, the pump loses pressure without using any water in the camp, doesn't turn back on at 20 psi, and drops all the way to 0. I checked the water level in the well and there is plenty of water.
I am going up this weekend to work on it and was hoping to get some feedback on how to troubleshoot this issue. I was planning on checking the foot valve first. I did this once already about a year and a half ago and the foot valve was old but still in working order. Next, I was going to check the airpressure in the tank to see if the tank baldder may be bad.
Any other suggestions on what I should check and how would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
#2
04-17-09, 07:22 AM
Sounds like a bad footvalve. If you have to hold the switch on until it pressures up, you probably have a low pressure drop out type switch, which is fine.
Check the footvalve and make sure the pressure tank has 18 psi precharge.
Once the footvalve is fixed, the pump may pressure up a little faster, too. Be sure to completely fill the pump and piping when you reprime.
Ron
Check the footvalve and make sure the pressure tank has 18 psi precharge.
Once the footvalve is fixed, the pump may pressure up a little faster, too. Be sure to completely fill the pump and piping when you reprime.
Ron
#3
04-20-09, 06:20 AM
Join Date: Apr 2009
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Ok, I did some work on the pump this weekend with little success. I replaced the foot valve to eliminate that as an issue. I check the pressure in the tank and it was at 0 psi so I filled it up to 18 psi. I thought this was the problem but after I filled it, the tank seemed to hold this pressure. After I did those things, I primed the pump and turned it on. The pump quickly jump up to 30 psi then slowly creeped to 40 psi. It never actually reached 40 and after a few minutes the pressure started to steadily drop back to 0 psi. I think there is a built in overload on that pump b/c it could never quite get to 40 and the pump sounded like it was slowing down after a few minutes. The other thing I noticed was that it never seemed to be fulling primed. I dumped in about 5 gallons of water and it kept sucking it down. I filled the pipe with the foot valve before I dropped it back down the well so I should have only needed to fill about 5 ft of pipe for the system to be primed.
At this point, the only two things I think it could be is the tank bladder is bad (but it seemed to hold the 18 psi after I filled it) OR there is air somehow getting in the system. Is there anything else that I could check?
I priced out a new pump and while most were over $300, I found one for $120, which scares me a little that is it so cheap but it is a 3/4 hp (only have 1/2 hp now), 115V (have a 115V/230V), 20 to 50 psi (mine is 20-40), and a 5 gallon tank (not sure the size of mine but it is larger than 5 gallon). Are they hard to replace? It seems fairly straightforward as I already have a system in place.
At this point, the only two things I think it could be is the tank bladder is bad (but it seemed to hold the 18 psi after I filled it) OR there is air somehow getting in the system. Is there anything else that I could check?
I priced out a new pump and while most were over $300, I found one for $120, which scares me a little that is it so cheap but it is a 3/4 hp (only have 1/2 hp now), 115V (have a 115V/230V), 20 to 50 psi (mine is 20-40), and a 5 gallon tank (not sure the size of mine but it is larger than 5 gallon). Are they hard to replace? It seems fairly straightforward as I already have a system in place.
