air in system

i have seen lots of these questions,i recently redid the plumbing to my well,shallow well since then lots of air in system.what is the best way to troubleshoot a leak on the suction side,i let the pump run and have sprayed every joint with soapy water,hoping to seeor hear it suck in.no luck.i only had to replace about 3' of pipe but i can,t see any problems,also my check valve is right at the inlet of the pump is this ok,and could it cause a problem if is bad.i had no well problems before.would letting the pump run and then coating fittings with glue be of any use??

Valveman

If you have an air leak on the suction side you will probably loose prime. If glue sucks into the joints on the suction while the pump is running, that would indicate a leak and might also fix it. Air maybe coming from somewhere else. What kind of tank do you have? Tank bladder could be busted and air could be coming from tank. Not a bladder tank, then maybe an air volume control problem.

i have a bladder tank but if it was bad shouldn't i have pressure problems,this air problem has been for at least3-4 weeks.also it sounds like water is draining back to to well,if the check valve isn't sealing 100% what can that do?

Valveman

Could be the foot valve at the bottom of the suction line. Do you have a single or double pipe going down the well?

just a single pipe maybe its just coincidence?what about the check valve??should the pipe going down to the well always be primed or is it ok for water to drain down

You can't see or hear a suction leak. It will always pull in not push out when the pump is running. I would do a re do on the repair you just did and use more pipe dope and bigger wrenches.

bob...

You said the checkvalve was right at the inlet of the pump. I take that to mean there is no footvalve on the bottom end of the suction line.
I suspect that the suction line is draining back into the well when the pump shuts off. When it restarts, the pump runs just a bit before it picks up water again. The water that is in the pump head is sloshed around, creating air, until the water lifted by the pump reaches it.
I think installing a footvalve on the end of the suction line will remedy the problem.
Ron

i dont, know if there is a footvalve i do know if i disconnect the pipe from the well there is no water in it,and you can here water going back down the pipe when the pump shuts off.the reason i redid the plumbing was the old was a maze of pipes and valves going every where most of the valves were leaking and or didn't work.now everything is tight,no leaks could that have just made the air problem worse??because before i only had a slight thump at my kitchen faucet everything else worked fine.is it very difficult to pull up the well and check for a foot valve?besides the digging?of course i don,t know exactly where the well is either.

Sounds like time to call the local well driller and let him have a look.

bob...