Keep losing prime or pressure

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LLigetfa

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The first thing chucky said makes a lot of sense, about a small suction leak allowing air to build up against the diaphragm.
It was me that said that. Depending on what the precharge pressure is, when the pressure switch starts the pump, the pressure tank should be almost empty. The precharge on a jet pump system should be about 3 to 5 PSI less than the cut-in pressure so that there is still enough water until the pump starts producing more. If the precharge is too high, there can be a hesitation. If air has collected where that little bit of water should be, that air can cause a loss of prime.
 

Dylanlakepump35

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Ok so that makes sense with what I see happening.
So I’m still pretty new to this system. What should my pressure tank be at with zero water pressure? And by cut in pressure you would mean the lower of the 40/60 psi. So when it hits the 40psi my pressure tank should have 35ish psi ??
 

Dylanlakepump35

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Hey again, so after removing any extra connections and tightening all the other ones, i still lost my pressure this morning.
so it really looks like i still have a suction leak and air is getting in and building at the top of the pressure tank.
How can I find this suction leak?
Is there anything else I can do besides tighten all connections and try again?
 

Reach4

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Ok so that makes sense with what I see happening.
So I’m still pretty new to this system. What should my pressure tank be at with zero water pressure? And by cut in pressure you would mean the lower of the 40/60 psi. So when it hits the 40psi my pressure tank should have 35ish psi ??
Slather any above-water joint with shaving foam, and run the pump. See if the foam gets sucked in anywhere. If you take a picture of foam being sucked in, we would find that interesting.

Include the connection to the pump.

Did you establish there is no check valve except for the one in the check valve in the lake?
 

Dylanlakepump35

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Slather any above-water joint with shaving foam, and run the pump. See if the foam gets sucked in anywhere. If you take a picture of foam being sucked in, we would find that interesting.

Include the connection to the pump.

Did you establish there is no check valve except for the one in the check valve in the lake?
Alright I will do that today. And I’ll take some photos too

and yes the only check valve is the foot valve.
 

Dylanlakepump35

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Hey everyone sorry for the late update.

I tried the shaving cream thing but i didnt see anything. Maybe I did it wrong…

So I just tightened everything and changed some of the hose clamps. But today I got really low water pressure, when I turned off the pump and cracked the fill port air came out for 3 minutes. It seemed like way more then before…

Can I just add an air relief valve as a bandage until summer? I know it should have one anyways

I’ve added pictures, if you have any other ideas please let me know

Btw I replaced the two connected pipes with one solid one.
 

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Valveman

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No. Air relief won't help. Got to prevent the air in the first place. Maybe the pump? What is model number or max head/pressure of the pump? If not considerably more than 60 PSI, you can be drawing the air molecules right out of the water.
 

Reach4

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I have not seen it written to used for your type of system for pumping. For them to work, you have to have a pressurized place to put it. I can't be sure that one could not play a part, but it is not the norm.
 

Dylanlakepump35

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No. Air relief won't help. Got to prevent the air in the first place. Maybe the pump? What is model number or max head/pressure of the pump? If not considerably more than 60 PSI, you can be drawing the air molecules right out of the water.

So I shouldn’t add one to help for now?

And is there anything you can recommend to find where this air is getting in from? I tried the shaving cream but had no luck?

And I have added photos of the pump I’m using. I didn’t buy it it was already here when I moved back…
 

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Reach4

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1. How many pipes (ignoring joints) connect to the lake? One?
2. What is that black section in the line between the output of the pump and the pressure tank?
 

Chucky_ott

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Agree with Reach. You do not want a check valve between the pump and pressure tank. Without the check valve, the suction line will be under positive pressure when the pump is not running. This is a good thing. It will prevent air from getting into the line, will force the foot valve to properly close, and may identify leaks in your suction line.
 

Valveman

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So I shouldn’t add one to help for now?

And is there anything you can recommend to find where this air is getting in from? I tried the shaving cream but had no luck?

And I have added photos of the pump I’m using. I didn’t buy it it was already here when I moved back…
No. Air vent won't help even temporarily. The check valve after the pump will cause it to lose prime overnight. Foot valve should be the only check valve in the system.
 

Dylanlakepump35

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so it turns out it’s not a check valve at all. It’s just a small piece of black pvc pipe.
I have no idea why it was there. This system was all out of sorts when I started and it just keeps getting worse
Anyways I removed it and put a solid piece of tubing there.
So I guess I’m back to square one. Finding the leak…
 
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