Jbrady1981
New Member
This forum has been super helpful to me over the years. I am hoping for some more help:
Residential water system. Has been in service since 2018. Here is the setup: I have a Goulds J10 twin pipe jet pump sitting at 754' above sea level. The twin poly pipes run about 430' horizontal down to a Corp of Engineers lake that is typically 705'-715'. The jet assembly is about 5' under the surface. The discharge side of the pump goes about 175' to 800 gallons of storage tanks. From the cisterns, a J10S pumps water through the pressure tank, filtration and onto the house. On the deep well pump to the lake, there are no check valves in the drive or suction pipes, only the jet assembly and foot valve. On the discharge side, there is a 1" tee with a ball valve at the top for priming, then a Pulsafeeder diaphragm back pressure valve, another tee, a ball valve to isolate the discharge and then the poly pipe going to the storage tanks. Th pump is direct wired to 220V and the power kicks on and off via a float switch in the tanks. When everything was working properly, I'd maybe get 2-3 gpm at the tanks. The optimal pressures were 40psi on the suction side and 15-17psi on the discharge. I am familiar with tuning the pump with the back pressure valve to get the max flow and keep the suction stable.
Recently, I am assuming the lake flipped over because I got really dirty water for a few days and then no pressure at all. I took the pump apart and the impeller had welded itself to the diffuser. I rebuilt the pump with OEM parts and everything returned to normal for a week or so, then it started getting air in the pump and losing pressure while running. It would start pumping then slowly trickle off to no flow. I'll go "burp" the pump and get it pumping again. Sometimes, it would pump until the float switch turned it off, but mostly, it would just stop pumping after an hour or so. I replaced the foot valve, installed a new nozzle in the jet assembly, and resealed the barb connections at the jet assembly. It got better for a day or so then back to making air. I have put shaving cream, plastic wrap, soapy water on every connection I have access to (the main run of poly pipe to the lake is buried. If I fill the pump casing completely full of water and close the ball valve on the discharge side, the water level will stay the same overnight. Likewise, when it is pumping, I can close the discharge side and turn off the pump and the pump case pressure will go from 40psi to 18psi and stay there overnight. My current theory is I have bad motor bearings (based on sound) and that allowed the motor shaft to wreck the new pump seal and I am getting air through there. I'll replace the bearings tonight and install a new pump seal. What else should I be looking at? Could a torn diaphragm in the back pressure valve cause the loss of prime? The only other thing I have changed was to raise the jet assembly 5-6' to get it above that thermocline that was so murky. Does the jet assembly have to be pointing straight down? Mine is probably at a 45 deg. Can I be making air at the jet assembly even though it is completely underwater?
I'd love to have a submersible in the lake, instant problems solved. That is not legal and the Corp does occasionally pay me a visit. I am leaning towards drilling a well, but I feel like that is giving up. I put all of this system in myself and have always been able to keep it going, but this past month has been constant attention. The attached picture is older, I have added a valve on the discharge side, replaced the priming valve, etc.
Residential water system. Has been in service since 2018. Here is the setup: I have a Goulds J10 twin pipe jet pump sitting at 754' above sea level. The twin poly pipes run about 430' horizontal down to a Corp of Engineers lake that is typically 705'-715'. The jet assembly is about 5' under the surface. The discharge side of the pump goes about 175' to 800 gallons of storage tanks. From the cisterns, a J10S pumps water through the pressure tank, filtration and onto the house. On the deep well pump to the lake, there are no check valves in the drive or suction pipes, only the jet assembly and foot valve. On the discharge side, there is a 1" tee with a ball valve at the top for priming, then a Pulsafeeder diaphragm back pressure valve, another tee, a ball valve to isolate the discharge and then the poly pipe going to the storage tanks. Th pump is direct wired to 220V and the power kicks on and off via a float switch in the tanks. When everything was working properly, I'd maybe get 2-3 gpm at the tanks. The optimal pressures were 40psi on the suction side and 15-17psi on the discharge. I am familiar with tuning the pump with the back pressure valve to get the max flow and keep the suction stable.
Recently, I am assuming the lake flipped over because I got really dirty water for a few days and then no pressure at all. I took the pump apart and the impeller had welded itself to the diffuser. I rebuilt the pump with OEM parts and everything returned to normal for a week or so, then it started getting air in the pump and losing pressure while running. It would start pumping then slowly trickle off to no flow. I'll go "burp" the pump and get it pumping again. Sometimes, it would pump until the float switch turned it off, but mostly, it would just stop pumping after an hour or so. I replaced the foot valve, installed a new nozzle in the jet assembly, and resealed the barb connections at the jet assembly. It got better for a day or so then back to making air. I have put shaving cream, plastic wrap, soapy water on every connection I have access to (the main run of poly pipe to the lake is buried. If I fill the pump casing completely full of water and close the ball valve on the discharge side, the water level will stay the same overnight. Likewise, when it is pumping, I can close the discharge side and turn off the pump and the pump case pressure will go from 40psi to 18psi and stay there overnight. My current theory is I have bad motor bearings (based on sound) and that allowed the motor shaft to wreck the new pump seal and I am getting air through there. I'll replace the bearings tonight and install a new pump seal. What else should I be looking at? Could a torn diaphragm in the back pressure valve cause the loss of prime? The only other thing I have changed was to raise the jet assembly 5-6' to get it above that thermocline that was so murky. Does the jet assembly have to be pointing straight down? Mine is probably at a 45 deg. Can I be making air at the jet assembly even though it is completely underwater?
I'd love to have a submersible in the lake, instant problems solved. That is not legal and the Corp does occasionally pay me a visit. I am leaning towards drilling a well, but I feel like that is giving up. I put all of this system in myself and have always been able to keep it going, but this past month has been constant attention. The attached picture is older, I have added a valve on the discharge side, replaced the priming valve, etc.
