Well Pump Not Turning On When Switching Zone 5 Only

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DaDaddy G

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Hello. I'm at a bit of a loss and it's starting to drive me crazy! lol
I have an 8yr old 1HP well pump and Rachio 3 controller which I installed last year, replacing Hunter controller. All sprinklers are Hunter.
I replaced the pump pressure switch towards the end of last season and all 8 zones functioned properly. Old pressure switch did not have the metal bar handle, new one does.
Winterized the system last fall and brought everything back online about a month ago and all 8 zones tested ok. Did not run again until I put down fertilizer a few weeks ago and went to water it in and noticed zone 5 was not watering and discovered the pump stopped working and controller still indicates zone is on.
Troubleshooting shows zones 1 thru 4 and zones 6 thru 8 work fine but when controller switches to zone 5, pressure drops about 5psi more than it drops for other zones. Still appears to be above the cut off threshold but pump turns off almost immediately when switching to zone 5. Pressure does not go to zero and still maintains a prime.
I can pull up on the handle and pump pressure returns and zone 5 works fine which tells me the valve for zone 5 is working.

Zone 5 is the closest zone to the pump, only about 3-5 ft from pump to valve, but 3 other valves in same box.

Can it still be a valve issue or did I get the wrong pressure switch?

Thank you for an help you can provide.
 

DaDaddy G

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Update
I was looking at possible zone 5 valve issue but symptom appeared again after shutting valve to sprinklers then opening it again.
I ordered a 30-50 pressure switch without the low pressure shut off and now it does not shut the pump with the drop in pressure when starting any zone, even though the pressure drop is around 20psi on zone 5. No idea why.
Of course Murphy had to be involved and now my pump is cycling on most zones. Never did that before. Pressure was always around 40psi when sprinklers ran. Now it's running at between 50 and 60psi. I've combined my smaller sprinkler zones to utilize more sprinklers and that seems to take care of the cycling issue, at least for the time being.

The pump now shows between 50 and 60 psi when stopped, I have not made any adjustments to the new switch.
I checked the small tank on top of the pump and it registered 40psi. I drained the tank then inflated tank to 28psi and cycling continues, even though it runs longer between stops before I combined zones.

I am concerned with the pump now maintaining so much pressure when it never did before. Is it possible I did something wrong when I attached the pressure line to new switch?
 

Valveman

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Maybe your water level is higher than last year and the pump can produce more. Adding a Cycle Stop Valve will keep the pump from cycling no matter the size of the zone.
 
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