I installed a new 1 hp Sta-Rite pump,primed it and ran it for an hour at about 50lbs of pressure. Shut it off over night and when I restarted it this morning the prime was lost. The foot valve/strainer are about 100ft down so pulling to change/clean will be nearly impossible to do by myself.. Any ideas would be awesome. Thanks in advance..

 

Welcome to the forums.

It certainly sounds like your foot valve is leaking.
If you can't pull the line up to replace it.....you could put one between the well line and the pump topside.

 

Pete- That sounds great but since I am a complete novice...How would I go about doing that?

 

Not necessarily the foot valve. Could be a leak in one of the joints on the suction side.

When I glue PVC these days, I wait at least 24 hours before I apply a suction load. The way they make glue is not the same as in days gone by, yet the instructions never changed. They say wait a couple of hours. The few times I get impatient and followed the directions, I have always been sorry because I always have a leak.

Suction side leaks are really hard to detect. If it's not too much work, you should go ahead and replace the piping and joints on the suction side and make particular care to do it right. And wait the 24 hours before turning the pump on.

But if you are curious, then you can do the shaving cream test. I have pecked in the instructions for this too many times to count and I am feeling lazy today, so I am going to paste them in here from another site:
A good test to locate an Air Leak, and it will sound funny - is to use shaving cream (not gel). Spread the shaving cream over the suction side joints and fittings with the pump on. The pump will try to suck the foam into the pipe because it has less resistance or mass then the water. At the air leak you will start to see the layer of foam dimple as it gets sucked into the system revealing where the leak is. At this point you will know what part needs to be repaired or replaced.
from: Top 5 Pool Pump Problems

I like barbasol. Take your time. Swivel the head and eyes all the way around each joint and look for a dimple. Sounds easy, but not so.

 

I agree a leak in your new piping could be the problem but once the system is charged the place where the leak would be would now be under pressure and water would leak out.

Never heard of the shaving cream method before.

Three questions:
1) Did you have the same problem before you changed the pump ?
2) You said you lost the prime....so the tank had 0 psi on it ?
3) The pump was just running and not generating any pressure ?

 

"but once the system is charged the place where the leak would be would now be under pressure and water would leak out."

Nope. Suction side isn't under pressure, it's under vacuum. That's why it is so hard to find a leak. And it doesn't take much of a leak to lose prime.

I'm not saying that it couldn't be a bad foot valve, but as soon as someone starts talking about replacing pipe and losing prime, I get suspicious about their craftsmanship.

BTW, when you are looking at foot valves, always opt for the bronze more expensive ones. The plastics ones have a better than 75% failure rate in my book.

 

Maybe I'm not seeing this correctly. When the pump is running..... the pipe from the well to the pump is under vacuum. When the pump shuts off..... how is that pipe still under vacuum. There is no check valve at the pump so technically since the check valve is at the bottom of the well.....that entire line from the tank thru the pump right down to the check valve is under pressure.

 

You're right, you're right, I don't know what I was thinking about. The chances are 99% that the foot valve is leaking.

Pilot Dane says he can pull up to 200 feet of pipe with no trouble if it is poly pipe. Depends on how old you are, I guess.

 

I assume this is a shallow or deep well jet pump? If so the worst part of pulling the well is getting the piping unhooked at the top. The stuff down the well is not too heavy without a 40 pound pump hanging at the end.

I never said it was easy but pulling a well can be done pretty quickly. Most important is to not drop the pipe down the well so I like to tie a rope to it before pulling. Put on some old clothes and start pulling. Once you start there is no good way to stop unless you have a helper so I just keep going and luckily it gets lighter the more you pull out. The pipe is usually slippery, slimy and nasty so expect to get dirty. The worst part of the job for me is dealing with all the pipe you're pulling out. A helper can be a big help by just helping guide the hose away and find someplace for it. If I don't have a helper I often clear the area around the well. Pull the pipe and eventually it will flop over. Then I slowly work around the well letting the pipe lay out in a big circle around the well.

 

as stated, shallow jet pump or deepwell jet pump? a leaking foot valve shouldnt keep the pump from building pressure, it will just leak after pump reaches shutoff.

2" well? steel casing? if shallow pump, i'd say suction leak (and you'd have about 70' too much drop pipe). if deepwell pump, can be a number of things.