Our water pressure was on "0" last night when we came home from work, I had the LOML raise the lever on the control box and we managed to get it to 70 PSI, 50/70 switch.

We started having this issue after a toilet ran the well dry twice in a month, said culprit is since fixed. Last night the pump went to 70 and stayed there, tonight I lost pressure taking a shower and went down to investigate further.

I cleaned the contacts again just in case and I managed to achieve 70 PSI but this time it dropped down to 50 PSI right after the pump shut off, not an instant drop but took about 10-15 seconds.

Could this be sediment caught up in the switch and/or tube? Again this didn't start happening until after the toilet ran the well down.

Seems to act like sediment since the pressure will drop to 20-30 and the pump will not turn on at 50 while the pressure is dropping....like the sediment is keeping the contacts open or holding the switch open, or am I wrong to think this.

Hopefully it's not a check valve or the likes but it will build pressure and hold it....needle stays put. Stayed at 70 last night but dropped tonight, just can't figure out why it drops during the day.

I plan on changing the switch tomorrow just in case.
Any ideas? Pump is 575' down as well.....Goulds pump Model # 7GS10 1HP

 

What's a LOML? Loud, Obnoxious, Man Laborer?

Even though you say it's not check valve because it will hold pressure, "...needle stays put." but earlier in the post you say it dropped from 70 to 50 in about 15 seconds? The pressure dropping could be the check valve and if sediment has been stirred up it could be intermittent. The check valve might seal fine sometimes but occasionally sediment gets caught in it when it tries to close causing it to leak allowing the pressure to drop.

I would replace the napple (replace the a with an i, gotta get around the spam filter) leading to your pressure switch. Often rust and sediment can clog the napple and the orifice into the pressure switch which restricts the flow causing the switch to react very slowly or sometimes not at all. Many times just removing the pressure switch and looking at the inlet and inspecting the napple will make it obvious. If everything looks clean that's not it but if you see the napple closed off with crud it's a good possibility.

 

LOML= Love Of My Life.....or wife.

She was home so I walked her through it. I suspect sediment as well and I think while i'm in there I will change out the switch. My local plumbing supply has the Square D but without the low cutoff, no chance i'm using a switch without one.

 

Well, I started a new thread on this and it seems my pressure tank may be bad. When it rains it pours.

 

Update on the pump...The holding tank reads zero PSI when empty, I'm currrently filling it up with less than a large air compressor...fast forward awhile.....it now holds 38 PSI.

Here's what's going on....

When I lift the lever to fill the tank, the pressure builds somewhat quick and at 40 PSI I release the lever and it shuts down at 60 PSI.

There is a slight pressure drop after shutoff, gradually approaching 45 PSI there is a growl from the pressure tank...almost like a dinosaur scream in the movies. Then a few seconds later, all the water drains within a few seconds and the pressure switch doesn't close again at 40 PSI....didn't on the old switch either...

When I manually close the contacts at 45 PSI, the pump will not go above 50 and it really struggles to do so...maybe 1 PSI every minute but I shut it down since I don't know if I should leave it on.

Need some help ASAP..I appreciate anyone's help.

 

I had the pump pulled and it was a piece of the pumps impeller stuck in the check valve. Given it's 15 year lifespan I changed it out to a 1.5 HP Myer and should work alot easier in my given application.