Low Pressure Whne more than 1 faucet is on

I looked through several threads but the closest I found to my issue was a loss of pressure when the toilet was flushed.

To begin...I m new at well pumps so my jargon may not be correct. I have a 2 pipe well with the pressure tank & pump housed together at the top of the well. We started having issues with the well losing prime & had to replace the foot valve on the jet. The shaft on the old valve had been worn & the valve was sticking open...I did notice that there was no screen on the old valve & just assumed it had fallen off over the years.

That got everything working well for about a week & then we started having issues with water pressure. If 1 appliance is filling (like the washer) we have little or 0 pressure at any of the other faucets. My 1st thought was the filter was clogged so I replaced it. That didn't help.

When more that 1 of us takes a shower the pressure drops significantly. we can wait a bit & the pressure will build back up but it seems to take a while for it to hit the 50lb mark...it seems to hover at 40 forever.Once it builds up it stays at 50...the on/off pressures are set to 35/50. When the pressure drops you can hear the pump cavitating.

The well has been in operation since the house was built in the mid to late 70's but the pump & motor etc have been replaced since. When I replaced the foot valve I left the screen in place so I'm wondering if I should take it off. The well is about 35-40 feet deep & I can see water when I look into it but I am not sure how far below the waterline that the jet is. The only things replaced other than the foot valve is that I took the barb fittings off the pump & went with a 1 in & 1 1/4 in galvanized pipe off the pump to add some stability as opposed to the black plastic pipe that was there before. I have no tools to check volume or pressure other than the guage at the pump.

Any ideas before we start pulling pipes up again tomorrow would be appreciated....I would do just about anything to avoid doing that again.

If it was working fine before, then I would guess that you have an air leak at the threads for the new 1 1/4" galv suction line.

We went through the system today & found the screen loose on the new foot valve...it was also missing the nut that holds the valve & spring in place.

I bought another 1 & found that the nut & screw for the screen was just finger tight, so I put some LocTite on both & made sure they were tight. We also took the galvanized pipes apart & used a slightly thicker teflon tape on them.

So far we can run the tub & outside faucet with just a minor loss in pressure but cannot turn on another outlet without losing pressure which is what the system has been doing for years now so it not abnormal. The system does seem to come back much faster than before so I think we got it solved.

Any opinions on the plastic foot valves? I see that they don't have the screws & nuts that can vibrate off but I didn't think it would last as long as the brass valves.

If the well is big enough i would scrap the whole jet assembly and go with a submersible pump. Do that and all your problems are solved.

Sammy

It looks to be 3" all the way down...I did measure the depth below the waterline which is about 10 feet.

My neighbor went with a submersible pump on his last 1 & is very happy with it. He did say he had to place a pvc pipe around the pump as his well guy said it needed to be sleeved or cased.

Would mine be large anough to support a submersible? What would need to be done to convert mine over?

You need to get an exact measurement on the well casing. If it's not large enough, you would have to drill a new well.

Sammy

The casing has to be at least 3" in diameter to install a Submersible.

bob...

Bob...that is a good site...I also went through the forum there too...reading is learning.


I measured it today & the casing is 3 feet and it extends all the way into the water line.

This is something I would definitely be interested in doing either in the fall or next spring. I may have to wait for my bonus at work to come in.

Considering I have 4 kids + the 2 of us...constantly doing dishes...laundry etc...what HP & GPM would you suggest? I have a 1 1/4 line into the house & on the tank etc. The drop is about 55 feet from ground level to the top of the water line. It is about 70 feet from ground level to the bottom of the well. The only thing I don't know is the pumping rate. We are rural & don't water the lawn so it would be household use only.

I have learned a lot about the well that I have over the past couple of weeks & think I could install 1 myself. Are there any good guides that you would suggest reading so I can plan it out right?

The pumps you lead me to look to be a lot better quality than the box store pumps (which is what I have now...not by choice...it was there when I moved in) so once I decide on the size etc I would like to see about placing an order & getting everything I need from you.

I will try to get with the county this week to see if I can get the specs on the well. The people that had it dug originally have moved out of town so I have no way to find out who dug the well except through the county & I am not sure they would still be in business since we are talking probably close to 30 years since it was put in.

Thanks for the help

I just realized that I stated the casing was 3 inches in a previous post...I need to make sure I'm not mixing terms up I am assuming that the casing would be the cement that runs down to the water line...if that is the case then mine does measure 3 feet...Would I need to run a 4 inch pipe down the well to place the submersible in or acan I just put it into the 3 foot casing that is there?

Sorry fro the late response. I have about a half an hour in the morning to respond while i am drinking my coffee and then i am gone for the day working.

Anyway, if you want to instal that submersible pump in your well, you will have to install what is called a flow sleeve. Its a 4" pipe with a seal at the top. The pump gets inserted in the pipe with a well seal at the top to prevent water from entering by the pump. The pump should sit about an inch or two below the pipe. The purpose of the sleeve is to allow water to enter through the bottom of the 4" pipe so water travels by the motor. This way the motor gets the proper cooling. I have installed them with the pump mounted on a milk crate to support the weight.

Hope this helps, i am off to work!

Sammy

Ok, forget that overly expensive 3" pump. Now that I know you have a very deep Cistern that is 3' in diameter, you can go with a 4" Pump which is nearly 1/3rd the price of the 3" Pump. The only thing that bothers me is the little amount of water in that well. Hopefully it produces enough for the pump. A 1/2hp at that depth can pump around 13 gpm at good pressure, so lets hope the Well will keep up.

The Sleeve Sammy refers to in my opinion is not necessary unless your going with larger horsepower pumps, but it's a matter of choice. I have installed them with and without the sleeve and had on problems with either.

bob...

I guess the next question would be the advantages of a 230 over a 115 volt pump. I have a 115 line already there & to run a 230 would add some cost that I would need to consider.

For an example, if your running a 1/2hp Pump on 115 volts, you can only go 100 feet with #14 wire but with a 230 volt Pump you can go 400 feet with #14 wire.

bob...

Thanks to bob...sammy & valveman for the help.

Got lots to consider now.