Can't get pressure tank above 24lbs, jet pump

"What would happen if the tank were bad and had become waterlogged? Or if I had no tank on the system at all? Would the pump cycle on and off whenever I used water?" Garliceggs

"Yes it would cycle on and off." Rancher

If the pump can only build 24 PSI, then the pump will run all the time and will not cycle. It doesn't matter if the tank is waterlogged or gone, the pump cannot build enough pressure to reach the shut off point of the pressure switch.


"Or would (as my coworker suggests) the pump just remain on all the time, but not pressurize the system? I don't see how that's possible," Garliceggs

"Nope that's not possible." Rancher

That is possible. If the pump cannot build enough pressure to reach the shut off point, then the pump will run continuously at 24 PSI until it gets hot and burns up.

Sorry Speedbump, you beat me to the post by 3 minutes. I did't look before I hit post.

No problem, it happens to me all the time. Sometimes, I'm just not quick enough.

bob...

Sorry to butt in as a non-plumber, but did you ever solve this?

I'm wondering if you don't have air in the line from well to pump - if you ran dry at any point in the past then you have to get ALL the air out of the line before it will work properly.

I don't have a well per se, but a culvert off a creek near my house. Foot valve in the culvert, line to the house, jet pump (and pressure tank) in my crawlspace.

Usually annually (sometimes more often, sometimes less depending on how closely I am paying attention) the intake between creek and culvert silts in and the culvert runs dry (and thus zero water at the house, and air sucked into the line). When I prime the pump again after incidents like these (once I have dug out the silt, etc. and there is definitely water in the culvert) it can take HOURS to get all the air out of the system so the pump can get enough pressure to get up to 40 psi and finally kick off.

My technique is turn off the pump (convenient switch in the crawlspace), pour as much water down the line (through the pump prime hole, yes I need a better system but have never gotten around to it) as will stay without overflowing, close the priming plug, turn the pump on, wait until it hits whatever pressure it can hold and doesn't climb any more (often nothing for a while), shut the pump off, undo the priming plug (very slowly), let all the air out (in later stages it will be under some amount of pressure and followed quickly by water, so do it slowly until water rather than air starts seeping out, then shut it again), and do it all again. And again, and again, and again....sigh...I also have a tap turned on upstairs in the house to help with the process, but shut off the supply between the upstairs and the pump when I shut off the pump as in later stages the water left in the house lines can help the priming process.

You will get running water with air still in the system but you'll never get the pressure you need to get the pump to reach 40 psi (or whatever it's set at) and shut off. And you would also have that symptom of water flowing back into the line (almost as though you had a faulty foot valve) until all the air is out. I've found that once I can get to 25 or 30 psi usually the rest of the air will clear out through the open tap in the house, but not before that. So maybe see if that is the problem?

As I said, I'm NOT a plumber but am (unfortunately) intimately acquainted with my water system out of necessity, and as I read this thread I thought hmm...that sounds familiar (I actually have instructions for myself written a few years back complete with the time it takes to prime the system posted in my crawlspace so if I go a couple of years without having to do this I know when to give up and go drain the culvert and take off the #$$^()& foot valve and clear out tree roots or mud or what have you). Which is another thing to consider, but I'd look at the air issue first.

Cheers,
Lelani

One other note for anyone with systems like this that have the potential to run dry - if you ever have a situation where the water isn't coming in (pump running constantly) and there's any chance the foot valve has failed, TURN OFF your hot water tank right away. I've had my foot valve go and siphon all the water out of the hot water tank and burn out the elements as a result.

garliceggs,
Check out Jess Stryker's www.IrrigationTutorials.com .

I brought my pump home and took it apart. It had a little pice of rock stuck in the nozzle at the end of the venturi. It also had two bits of broken plastic stuck in the impeller passageways (2 of 4). I put it back together and brought it back.

the other pump I have is a Monarch. It has an opening for cleaning out its venturi nozzle and we did this, then hooked it up. I figured I would use the Monarch to pump out enough water to the point where we weren't bringing up sand - that way I wouldn't jam up my flotec again.

But now I am unable to get the monarch to prime. I've added about a dozen gallons of water and just can't get it to catch.

I tried the same with the flotec - can't get it to prime.

I understand I may be dealing with multiple problems here. Certainly my flotec is damaged somewhat, but both it and the monarch used to at least bring water up. Although I can't verify the water level in the well I'm fairly certain there's plenty as we've had lots of rain and last week we were pulling water out without issue.

I will try adding more water to see if I can get it to prime, but don't know what else to try.

One thing worth mentioning on the air in pipes issue is that I did try removing the pump from the well and just pumping out of a 5 gal cooler to see if I could get pressure built up in my tank. I could pump the water, but not build any more than 15 psi. That was last week before this priming issue came up.

LeLani,

as will stay without overflowing, close the priming plug, turn the pump on, wait until it hits whatever pressure it can hold and doesn't climb any more

Click to expand...

Just a note to maybe make your priming a little easier. Leave the prime plug loose. The air will bleed itself out. Once it's primed and water starts squirting from around the plug, then tighten it.

bob...

I don't think that my problem is with my pump. I had a guy bring over a new one and put it on there - same problem.

Last week I could pump water, this week I cannot. I mentioned that I can't get the pump to prime, but that might not exactly be true. It's just that I can't get it to pump water (even a gallon). I pour water in the priming hole and let the pump run for a minute. It seems to build up pressure (almost 20 psi), but as soon as I open the output valve on the tank, the pressure drops and I get a little spurt of water and that's it.

I took off the pump and check valve. I see that water is standing in the pipe all the way to the check valve. When I take it off, the water slowly recedes back into the well. BTW - does a foot valve allow for water to drain this way?

I put a measuring tape down there because I'm curious to know what the well and water depth is. The well depth is 18 ft and the water is at 15 ft.

I don't really have any experience troubleshooting a well. I've got people telling me all sorts of things, from clogged screens to cracked pipes, but I'm unclear how to rule out various possibilities.

Sorry, this post might serve any purpose other than a written record of my own activities.

I may retry my experiment with the cooler just to see that I can now build pressure up to the shutoff point and verify that the trouble is with the well and not the pump or tank.

This whole episode has covered a couple of different problems. I was able to finally run my pump and get 50 lbs of pressure in my tank though.

The two main problems:

1) The well has a bunch of dirt/rocks in it which had clogged up my pump as explained. It clogged up the second pump as well.

2) I was able to clean out the pump, but the sand point screen became clogged and I was unable to get water out of it.

I eventually used compressed air to clear the screen. Then I hooked up my pump and primed it, it ran the pressure tank up to about 54 PSI and kicked out. The water was pretty dirty though and there isn't that much of it. If I run the hose continuously, I'm soon pulling in air because the water level in the well has dropped.

So I think there's something I need to do with my well, but that's another topic.

Thanks for all your help.