Deep well pressure problem. Help

I have a 1000' well , 18 years old, with a 2HP submersible pump 3 wires,set at about 900'. WellXtrol 350 tank. My pump is 3 years old, I dont know the brand, the motor is Franklin.

I started running out of water too frequently to be normal (i use water for house and to water 80 animals).It looked like the water was disapearing when not in use. Called well man, said I had leaks in pipes going to pump. Replaced 440' of pipe (today admitted only 40' had leaks}

Next day started to run out of water quickly again, the pump will kick on at 30 and creeps up to 40/45 and wont go any higher and I can hear the pump running but it wont cut off, until I finally cut the power off so I wont burn out the motor.
he has been out twice over the last 2 weeks, all he does is fiddle with the pressure switch and it works while he is here, it's set for 30/50. It cuts off and on fine every time he is here.
He cannot figure out what could be wrong.
Any ideas? This has been going on for 3 weeks now

I'm not sure if damage has been done to the pump by running dry or if your running out of water or you have more holes in the pipe. I would think the driller should know what is wrong, since that's his job.

If you had holes in pipes, I would think new plastic pipe might be in order.

bob...

speedbump, he replaced 440' of pipe already.

I know, but was it plastic. Pinholes are usually in galvanized pipe. If she had pinholes, I would expect him to replace it with plastic. And in my opinion, all the pipe should have been replaced, not just some of it. The rest is going to pinhole soon, just like the other pipe.

bob...

Ahhh, you talking about what is down in the well. I missed that. I was thinking 440' from well to house or where ever.

If the pump is set at 900 ft, then it is reasonable to estimate that the water level may be as far as 800 ft down. That means almost 400 psi at the pump and up through the water elevation with your 50 psi tank pressure.

I think Schedule 80 PVC may handle that (I don't have references available now.)

Also, 50 psi is only about 15% of the required pump head, so it won't take much degradation of the pump to lose the ability to deliver water to the tank.

The pump guy should measure the current when the pump is running. If the current is nominal, then the pump is pumping water and you almost certainly have leaks. If the current is low, then you aren't pumping water. Low current/no pumping can mean the pipe is plugged, or the pump is failing, or you are running out of water in the well.

You might measure the flow with no back pressure at the tank by opening a valve and running water to discharge into a 5 gallon bucket. If that gives you nearly nominal flow for the pump, then the pump may be wearing out.

If the flow is low and you have high current, then you have a leak. If the flow is low and you have low current, then you have a plugged pipe (unlikely), or running out of water in the well, or a pump with impellers wearing out.

Valveman

BobNH is right. Open flow test, low current = no water or worn pump. Normal current = leaks in down hole pipe. Don't think I would use PVC pipe that deep. My book shows sch 120 PVC only good to 700'. Galv. pipe may rust out sooner but would better hold the weight and pressure.

If your pump man doesn't have a clamp-on ammeter, or doesn't know what it means when he measures current, or can't find the correct operating current for your 2 HP Franklin motor; then he is no pump man. Find someone who knows what he is doing.

Thanks guys for all your suggestions. The well man I used is a deadbeat. I had a friend come over and tested the amps, but in the meantime this morning when I turned the pump back on, I could not hear the motor, so I guess it burned out. I am now looking for a new well man.