Low Pressure/Pump Will Not Reach Cutoff

I've been having problems with my water supply for about a year. First, we began seeing sediment in our water. The well people told me to drain my water for 2 hours to see if that cleared it up. I did it for 1 hour and it seemed to help a little. They visited our home and told us the well was low (told us that by dropping a rock down the well. I wasn't too thrilled about that technique). There advice was to try and conserve water and see if the well recovers. Not sure if it did. It's been about a year. During that time the kitchen sink would sometimes blow an air/water mixture before turning to water (that was if we used a lot of water before opening that faucet). We no longer get the spurting but now our water pressure is very low and the pump will not reach the cut-off of 60 psi (I believe our system is set for 30/60). We have a 400ft well with submersible pump and an air bladder storage tank (I don't think the system has been serviced in 12 years). It seems like our pressure never gets above 30psi. Taking baths or doing a load of laundry, the water will start flowing ok (still @ about 30 psi), then drop to 10psi and hold there. After the faucet is closed, it will go to 20 psi quickly then creep up to around 30 psi.

After reading all these threads, I plan to take the following actions:
1. Check the well water depth. If that's okay, then,
2. Shut off the pump and the main supply line to the house and drain the tank. Then check the pressure of the tank. If that's 2 psi below the low cut-off pressure then,
3. Replace the pressure gauge, pressure switch and nipple

If none of this works, I'm going to assume it's the pump or check valve. Then I'll be calling the well people.

Any advice or assistance is greatly appreciated.

Scott

Doing all the things you mentioned above will just be wasting your money. If you are sure your pump only makes 30 psi. it is probably because it ran dry long enough to nuke several impellers. You can't go to bed with your pump running all night not shutting off and without any water being used and expect it to make pressure in the morning. This just won't happen. The heat developed by running that pump boils the water in the pump and melts plastic.

bob...

Thanks for your input. I'm sure your right. I'm going to call the well people to check it out. Should I turn the motor off periodically during the day and off at night until I can get this fixed? I fear my next electric bill.

Scott

It wouldn't hurt. The damage has already been done, but at least you still have water, so don't finish it off until the well guy gets there.

bob...

The air spurting out and lack of pressure could also mean there's a leak in the drop pipe, adding air to the system.

Rancher

Thanks everyone for your input. The well people are coming tomorrow.

Scott

Thanks for not having me waste any time or money doing unnecessary things. The well company came and pressure tested the pump. It was only pulling 40 psi. They pulled it and replaced it (it was cracked). Everythings fixed.

I'll bet it was a Myers. They had a problem with the discharge fitting on top of the pump cracking several years back. They have since fixed it, but in the meantime some employee trying to make this pump for just a little bit less money cost a lot of people a lot of money.

bob..

speedbump said:

I'll bet it was a Myers. They had a problem with the discharge fitting on top of the pump cracking several years back. They have since fixed it, but in the meantime some employee trying to make this pump for just a little bit less money cost a lot of people a lot of money.

bob..

Click to expand...

You're exactly right. It was a 1/2hp Myers that was cracked at the discharge fitting.

What about the air and sediment?

This is not over yet....Ok, so the submersible pump discharge fitting was cracked. That does not explain the pump sucking air. Certainly not the sediment! You do not suck air or muck on a pressure leak underwater. Probably the well drops low enough for the pump to run dry and overheat - crack contributor or cause. If you get one bubble of air now, you need to find your static pumping level, that is the level of water in the well when the pump is running continuously. It means nothing to drop a rock in any well whatsoever - I hope it's not the same guy that put the pump in.

I think you will need to throttle down the output with a valve to match a pumping water level high above the pump set level, or I think you may be working on another pump. By the way, if the pressure never got over 30 that means the pump ran full time for that year - must have had a nice electric bill, but what a good display of the pumps durability not counting the head.

I have a bunch of myers pumps in the ground- are these rustlers? Are they SS or plastic or cast iron discharge heads?? Plastic I suppose. Do they crack because of overtightening or is it just a time pressure thing? However, in this case I dont this the answer is so simple. If it pumped air at 30 psi with a discharge leak, it will do it now several times faster.

At the very least I hope the rock-dropper installed a 20$ low pressure cut out pressure switch that will tell you all that you need to know - its the barest minimum you really must have. Sbump - what would you say about the ethics of this pump guy with his rocks if he did not offer the guy a low pressure cut-out?

I had to answer this way because of memory constraints!

This is not over yet....Ok, so the submersible pump discharge fitting was cracked. That does not explain the pump sucking air. When a well draws down, air gets into the pump stack and is forced into the system.Certainly not the sediment! You do not suck air or muck on a pressure leak underwater. No argument here. Probably the well drops low enough for the pump to run dry and overheat - crack contributor or cause. If you get one bubble of air now, you need to find your static pumping level, that is the level of water in the well when the pump is running continuously. It means nothing to drop a rock in any well whatsoever It could if the well was 4" and they dropped a rock big enough to act like Chines Handcuffs when trying to pull the pump.- I hope it's not the same guy that put the pump in. Me too!

I think you will need to throttle down the output with a valve to match a pumping water level high above the pump set level, or I think you may be working on another pump. This is where the Pumptec or Cycle Sensor come in. By the way, if the pressure never got over 30 that means the pump ran full time for that year - must have had a nice electric bill, but what a good display of the pumps durability not counting the head. In my opinion, what saved the pump was the crack letting it move water instead of running deadhead.

I have a bunch of myers pumps in the ground- are these rustlers? Yup. Are they SS or plastic or cast iron discharge heads?? Plastic I suppose Yup, plastic. They don't break anymore, but sure did cause problems when they did. Do they crack because of overtightening or is it just a time pressure thing? I think they just used the wrong plastic. However, in this case I dont this the answer is so simple. If it pumped air at 30 psi with a discharge leak, it will do it now several times faster.

At the very least I hope the rock-dropper installed a 20$ low pressure cut out pressure switch that will tell you all that you need to know - its the barest minimum you really must have. Sbump - what would you say about the ethics of this pump guy with his rocks if he did not offer the guy a low pressure cut-out? Not much. He should have offered the electronic fixes for the low flow problem. But if not the M4 would have been better than nothing.

I used a different well company this time. Very pleased with them. All the problems have been fixed with the installation of the new pump. They also replaced the old tube and wires. They used sonar to measure the water level. It was 160 feet down. They put the new pump at 360 feet (400 ft well).

Oh Man, I wish you haden't said the part about checking the water level with sonar. I didn't know there was anything on the market for doing that. They are no doubt expensive, and I've got to have one!

bob...

Another gotta-have tool!

You're right, Bob -- sounds like a great thing to have. I also want one of those sewer cameras.

I'm trying to figure out how to measure my well's water level through the 1/2" hole in the casing cap. The pump sits a couple inches above the hole, so I can't just shove a long stick down the hole. Thought about dropping a weighed string and measuring the wet spot, but figured with the pipes, etc., in the way it wouldn't be very accurate. Now looking at dropping a 3/8" vinyl pipe down, hooking up a vacuum gauge, and sucking the water up and seeing how much suck it takes. It can't be much more than 10' down.

Those cameras are outrageous. Same with the downhole cameras for inspecting a well. Outrageous!

If your pump is on top of the well, there must be droppipe down the well also. So dropping the weight might not go.

Do you know if you have two pipes or just one below the pump going into the well?

bob...

Two pipes.

That means you have a two pipe jet. The weight might make it that far. It could even possibly go past it.

bob...