Old shallow well pump froze and fractured in uncommonly cold weather. Replaced with identical pump. couldn't get prime. Used a new back check valve at pump. Took a long time to get prime back. Finally got gauge pressure up to shutoff (about 60) Seemed to pump up to shutoff at normal rate. Watched for about 1/2 hour and no gauge drop. Initially had fair pressure at faucets but tapered off to small stream. Pump started (38) and built up to shutoff again. Repeated this again. Still very low pressure. Lots of air evacuated in earlier cycles of priming. No air present now. Air tank pressure at 32. No leaks visible now, no bleed off of gauge pressure. Why no pressure at faucets? What am I missing?

 

Welcome to the forums.

If you have 60psi of water pressure but low flow into the house then something is blocking it or you may have gotten a lot of sediment into your plumbing. Try checking the flow at a place like a washer hose connection where there is no filter screen.

 

What type of pump do you have. I'm assuming it's above ground and not a submersible by your description. Do you have one or two pipes connecting the pump to the well?

 

half horse, jet pump,above ground, 1 pipe, very shallow driven pipe well. Worked just fine till hard freeze cracked pump. All else as reported in previous input.

 

Do you use a filter in the system? If so, take a look at it or try removing it and see if things are better and if they are it needs changing.

 

no filter other than on sink faucets

 

It sounds like something is stuck/clogged between the pressure tank and the rest of the house. If you are getting poor pressure from both hot and cold, I would guess it is before the cold water intake of the hot water tank.

You could try draining the pressure tank and taps and refilling it all again in hopes that it dislodges any crud or maybe a weird air bubble or something.

I assume there is no chance that a pipe froze.

 

Ok, had 58 lbs pressure and very low flow. Must be a blockage, underground broken pipe with blockage or similar. Hmmmm, shower works ok, toilet, bathroom sink, and workroom sink low flow. All low flow fixtures have faucet or inlet filters, including toilet. Very small, fine filters. Cleaned all of large amounts of sediment, rust etc. Normal flow results. however, had to clean several times (possibly more), but all looks ok and flow is as before. Thanks to all who responded. BTW, with pressure switch starting pump at 38, what should my air pressure be in the water tank? Mine is 32 now. Can I benefit by raising that a bit?

 

Your pressure tank should be set 2-3psi under the cut in pressure or around 35psi.

 

Yes, I would add a little air to the tank. 35 psi would be perfect. The more air in the tank the more water you get from the pressure tank BETWEEN pump cycles. Not only does this provide a quieter environment by reducing the time that noisy jet pump is running but it should reduce the wear on the pump and make it last longer as well. More air is better until the air pressure gets higher then the cut in pressure of your pump. Then you have a whole new problem, you really do not want. So 35 psi and no more would be the optimum set up.

And as you know, air in the pressure tank is measured with the tank completely empty of water.

 

Guess I can add that to the tank with my air compressor. Should the air be added when the pressure gauge is at the cutoff pressure or can it be anytime? Will the pressure change as the tank rises and falls?

 

You recharge the pressure tank with the pump turned off and 0 psi on the water pressure gauge.
Any pressure in the system will change your tanks actual pressure.

 

ok,, I shut the pump off and turned on the faucets until all flow stopped. The gauge at the pump stopped at 10lbs and would drop no further. Can I still add air pressure to tthe tank and if so, how much is safe. Pump start pressure on this gauge is 38 lbs. shut off is 58 lbs.

 

I would check the air pressure now. Add/or remove air until the air pressure is between 35 and 36psi. Then refill the system.

If you add air to the tank, you should get more water between pump cycles. If you add too much air (air pressure ABOVE pump cut in pressure) then you will get a noticeable drop off in water pressure just before the pump kicks on and/or the pump will short cycle just before it refills the tank. If this happens, simply remove a pound or two of air.

Optimum is to get as close to cut in pressure as you can without going over. Keep in mind that air pressures change with temperature so 2 psi below cut in, is as high as you should ever go.

 

If the gauge will only go down to 10 psi then it's possible it's damaged and no longer accurate. You will need some way to accurately measure your pumps cut in (turn on) pressure to correctly set the air pressure in the tank. I would replace the gauge before spending too much time fiddling with your pressure tank but if you've got relatively steady water flow and pressure for taking a shower then you've probably hit it close enough and don't need to spend the money on a new gauge.