Gould J5 deep twin well low pressure

[slm91]

I have a setup I inherited from the previous homeowner. Purely used for garden currently. I would like to use it for sprinklers, but the pressure isn't very high (20-30 psi). Is this normal? What kind of pressures should I expect from this setup?

6" diameter well, ~34' well depth, foot valve reaches to approximately 26' deep. Water level is 12' down.
J5 1/2hp Goulds jet pump. Green hose attached to the well was for priming only and shutoff when running the pump.

 

[Valveman]

The book says that pump will do 12 GPM from 30 PSI. But it will only do 8 GPM at 40 PSI and 3 GPM at 50 PSI.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

So maybe you are pumping more than 12 gpm.

 

[slm91]

Used a ~10', 3/4" hose and took about 2 mins 45sec to fill a 5 gallon bucket. So ~1.8 gallons/min. Flow seems to get worse the longer I let it run. Guessing I have an air leak in there.

Also forgot to mention. I did just have the pump rebuilt a few months back as it was leaking water thru a crack in the housing.

 

[slm91]

Ok, found a leak, tightened up and filled a 5 gal bucket in 30sec! So 10 gallons/min.

With flow turned off the pressure doesn't build beyond~25psi. Shouldn't it continue building pressure until the pressure switch shuts the pump off?

 

[Reach4]

Ok, found a leak, tightened up and filled a 5 gal bucket in 30sec! So 10 gallons/min.

With flow turned off the pressure doesn't build beyond~25psi. Shouldn't it continue building pressure until the pressure switch shuts the pump off?

Slowly falling pressure with time can be the level of the water dropping.

A clogged jet can keep the pressure from building.

 

[Valveman]

Or a suction leak.

 

[Reach4]

Or a suction leak.

He can slather the accessible joints with shaving foam while the pump is running. Look for sucking.