Siegfried
Broadcast Technician
Hi, newbie on the Forum, looks very informative.
I hope you can help me. Here is the problem.
In our cottage we are using a 1/2HP pump to suck water through a 1 ½†(I.D.) pipe from the lake. There is hardly any rise to the line.
The intake hose runs about 100' with a 90 elbow to a rigid 3' pipe then to a another elbow to the foot valve in the lake.
This pump has a pressure gauge switch that cuts in at 40 psi and cuts off at 60 psi. I checked the pressure tank pressure back in May and it was very low.
So with the system emptied of water, I pumped the tank back up to 38 psi. It seems to be holding this pressure.
The pump was replaced last year by a plumber. I can not find on the pump any detail regarding flow rate. Which is puzzling.
Now we have very low water pressure intermittently. Sometimes there is no water at all. This is when the pump keeps going for 10 minutes or more.
When the pump does come on during normal usage of taps or toilets it seems to take quite a bit of time to get the pressure back up.
The pump runs for 5- 10 minutes before reaching cut-off. This seems long.
I checked our foot valve and this seems okay too.
I was thinking of digging up the intake hose and inspect it for leaks but it is buried under 2 feet of dirt for about 20 feet before it goes into the lake.
So then I thought I would replace it with a new hose and foot valve and thought that I could use a different size hose. Say 1†or something.
So what do think the problem could be?
Can I change the intake hose to a smaller diameter hose if this is the problem?
Thank you for any help you can provide,
Siegfried
I hope you can help me. Here is the problem.
In our cottage we are using a 1/2HP pump to suck water through a 1 ½†(I.D.) pipe from the lake. There is hardly any rise to the line.
The intake hose runs about 100' with a 90 elbow to a rigid 3' pipe then to a another elbow to the foot valve in the lake.
This pump has a pressure gauge switch that cuts in at 40 psi and cuts off at 60 psi. I checked the pressure tank pressure back in May and it was very low.
So with the system emptied of water, I pumped the tank back up to 38 psi. It seems to be holding this pressure.
The pump was replaced last year by a plumber. I can not find on the pump any detail regarding flow rate. Which is puzzling.
Now we have very low water pressure intermittently. Sometimes there is no water at all. This is when the pump keeps going for 10 minutes or more.
When the pump does come on during normal usage of taps or toilets it seems to take quite a bit of time to get the pressure back up.
The pump runs for 5- 10 minutes before reaching cut-off. This seems long.
I checked our foot valve and this seems okay too.
I was thinking of digging up the intake hose and inspect it for leaks but it is buried under 2 feet of dirt for about 20 feet before it goes into the lake.
So then I thought I would replace it with a new hose and foot valve and thought that I could use a different size hose. Say 1†or something.
So what do think the problem could be?
Can I change the intake hose to a smaller diameter hose if this is the problem?
Thank you for any help you can provide,
Siegfried