I had a well pump that was producing 5 gallons a minute in 2020. The system worked fine for watering my lawn. At the end of the season the pump failed. In December I had the pump removed and hydrofracted the well. The yield was over 10 gallons a minute. Then I had a new pump put in that produced 10 gallons a minute. At that time, I also replaced the pressure switch with a 40-60 with a lever. The old one did not have a lever. I have a 20 gallon tank. There never was any backflow valve in the system. Now I can't irrigate my lawn even using the old watering settings. The pressure switch shuts off after a period of time. I have adjusted the pressure switch turning the larger spring clockwise perhaps five full turns.
" Now I can't irrigate my lawn..." What does that mean? Why can't you irrigate your lawn? Is the pump running but no water comes out? Is the pump turning off when it should remain on?
"The pressure switch shuts off after a period of time."
Is the system up to pressure when the switch turns off the pump?
What type pump do you have? Is it a submersible with the pump down in the well or is the pump above ground?
" Now I can't irrigate my lawn..." What does that mean? Why can't you irrigate your lawn? Is the pump running but no water comes out? Is the pump turning off when it should remain on? The pressure switch cuts out to zero pressure.
"The pressure switch shuts off after a period of time."
Is the system up to pressure when the switch turns off the pump? From my limited knowledge it is below the pressure on the tank (38 PSI).
What type pump do you have? Is it a submersible with the pump down in the well or is the pump above ground? Submersible.
if the pump comes on with the lever until pressure builds up then its likely just an adjustment to the pressure switch or air bladder tank pressure if applicable if the pressure falls to low before the pump kicks on you will always have to use the lever to restart it.
Here are the photos. At this time the pressure is 57 PSI. After it drops to zero and I move the lever, it gurgles a bit and when I am lucky it works its way back up to around 60 PSI.
What does this mean: "when I'm lucky it works its way back up"? That should happen every time, if there's water in the well and power to the pump.
When you (gently) lift and hold the lever, the pump should start. You hold the lever until enough pressure builds to "take over" and hold it in place without your help.
If you lift the lever to vertical, that's the OFF position. In passing from the horizontal to vertical, the switch and pump will engage for a moment. I've seen people think that it's supposed to keep running when that happens, but they are actually turning it off instead. Easy to misunderstand if your previous pressure switch was one without the lever.
I. Mullins, I understand that. I had seen it in operation with the cover off.
I emptied the tank this morning with the power off and checked the pressure. It was about 43 PSI. I lowered it to 38 PSI. The irrigation system was off from last night's rain because of the rain sensor. I'll see what happens the next time programs B and C are operating. Maybe that will help.
Weeks ago the pump installer looked at my system after I told him that I had problems. He said that a lever pressure switch was wrong and I needed a check valve. Does that make sense?
That will probably do it if the cut in pressure is still 40psi. I think you said that you adjusted it. The air pressure in the tank MUST be below the cut in pressure of the pump. If the air pressure is higher, the tank will push all the water out of the tank before the pump kicks in. Since a pressure tank cannot exert pressure on water that is not in the tank the water pressure will drop to zero. When that happens your safety switch will permanently shut off your pump until you manually bring it back with the lever.
So when you try it again keep an eye on where your new cut in pressure is, since you said you adjusted it. It is important to know so you can maintain the proper air pressure in the tank.
What is the cut in pressure where the pump turns on. The pressure where your pump turned off is not really relevant to your problem. If the cut in pressure is above the air pressure, I would leave it alone. If it is below the air pressure I would probably just remove some air. Optimally the air pressure will be about 2-3 psi below the cut in pressure of the pump. That will give you the most water between pump cycles without the pressure drop to zero before the pump can turn on.
should already have a check valve or maybe more than one depending on how deep the well is so unless you have a bad check valve I dont see why you would need one.
would just monitor cut in pressure and see how much the pressure drops before starting to rise while your using water the off position of the switch is likely only 10 psi lower than the cut in so if you was using water and the pump comes on at 40 psi if it fell below 30 it would probably need to be restarted by the lever.
It stopped raining and Program A went on. It did complete. I watched the gage for about 12 minutes. It stayed on 70 PSI. So, I do not know what the cut in point is. I'll try again tomorrow if it is not raining and see if that changes. I have a feeling that the spring setting is too tight.
Any idea as to how I can get the pressure switch back to the factory settings? I think that would be my best bet and then make any adjustments I need from there.
For example: Tighten the large spring fully and then back it off a set number of turns.
It did stop with a zero pressure reading on the tank. With the tank empty the pressure was above where it should have been. I reduced the pressure and moved the lever on the controller and got the tank to refill and then it worked.
So, the pressure in the empty tank was set right. Then after some time it increased apparently over what the controller was set for. Would that mean that the tank has an internal leak in the bladder and needs to be replaced?
It has been raining a lot here so the system has not been running for over a week.
I had posted this at the end of a previous thread but got not responses.
I have an irrigation well that is controlled by a controller pressure switch on my tank. After a period of time, maybe weeks the system stops working with a zero pressure reading on the tank. With the tank empty the pressure was above where it should have been. I reduced the pressure and moved the lever on the controller and got the tank to refill and then it worked.
So, the pressure in the empty tank was set right. Then after some time the tank pressure increased apparently over what the controller was set for. (Measured when empty.) Would that mean that the tank has an internal leak in the bladder and needs to be replaced?
Moderator note:
Threads combined for better continuity and to eliminate asking all the same questions again.
With the tank empty the pressure was above where it should have been. Please explain as this does not make sense.
You mention tank pressure several times. Keep in mind that there are two pressures and you need to say which one you are talking about. One is the air pressure and it can only be checked when the system is off and ALL water pressure has been removed (open a faucet or zone until all water stops flowing). The other is the water pressure and it will vary depending on it's point in the cycle. Usually it's something between 40 and 60 psi for example.
possible the bladder could be leaking you did not really state what it was initially set to and how much it went up.
suspect there may be another possible cause for it going up do to higher ambient temps than when you set it initially since its an outdoor tank and ambient temp can have some effect on the pressure but it shouldnt be much 2-3 psi
I tested this morning. The air temperature was around 70 degrees. The empty tank with the pump power off and the valve to the sprinklers closed read 35 psi on my tire gage at the top of the tank. I added air to bring it to 38.5 psi. It is looking that the air temperature may have caused the higher reading before. The air temperature when I reduced the pressure could have been as high as 85 or 90 degrees.
I have a 40 gal well X-Trol tank and a 180 gal holding tank in my main home and need to supply water to a new in-law-apartment addition. I would like to tee off the top of my holding tank in my main home with a 1" line and run it around 80-100 feet to the addition, running this water line that distance would I need to install another X-Trol tank inside the new addition to get the proper water pressure I need?
Hi,
I inherited an old shallow well with jet pump at my house. It pumps okay, but only after I pull prime up the well column with a hand pump. It always loses prime when shut off, at least by the following day. In case of a leaky or faulty foot valve, I installed a new check valve upstream of the pump (there was an existing check valve downstream of the pump). That didn't fix the problem, so now I figure the suction piping is leaking, and I'm trying to determine how to proceed. There are 5 visible threaded joints before the check valve (see photos below). I wish I could figure out a way to find the leaks or test the joints, but none of my ideas so far have worked.
I guess I could take it all apart and put it back together. I already put together 3 of the threaded joints and used TFE thread paste, plus PTFE tape for the PVC-galvanized joint.
I also wrapped the 2 most suspicious-looking joints with silicone (X-Treme) tape. Maybe there's a different method I should try. Before I took apart the existing piping, every threaded joint was wrapped with some kind of tar-like substance and thick rubber tape.
Also, I don't have any record of the well log or any details and don't find it registered with the state. The suction piping is 2" diameter. I suspect that it's contiguous with the well casing and that the well never had a foot valve. I've measured water depth with a fishing weight and it was around 17' deep to groundwater. Probably deeper now in July, as it's gotten very difficult to pull prime with the hand pump.
Any advice or ideas are welcome. Thanks!
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[i]Current condition (today)[/i]
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[i]Last month, after installing new check valve[/i]
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[i]Prior condition, before installing new check valve but after removing existing joint seals (remnants below and on joint)[/i]
05-26-21, 07:16 AM
