OT well pressure

[Tex P]

I know this is WAY off topic, but I can't seem to find an answer. My well is 85' deep, has a newer pressure tank with the bladder. When I run the water for a while, say to fill 3 5-gal. buckets, it runs fine for a bucket or 2 - it varies - then the pressure quickly drops to nothing for about 5 - 10 seconds, then the pump kicks in, and the pressure is back. Is the pressure switch bad, and not kicking in soon enough? I have not changed anything, but is started doing this a couple of months ago. Help!

 

[Anonymous-0]

If it is a goulds pump it should have an adjustment screw on the switch. Others might have it too.

 

[Ken (WI )]

The pump usually has a pressure gauge on it. Some pressure switches are adjustable but they usually don't change by themselves unless they're shot. It's been a long time since I was a plumber's aprentice but it seems to me the pump should shut off at around 35 and kick on at around 20. Check the gauge or just get a new pressure switch. It's a pretty simple job to replace it. (shut off the power... pipes are a really good ground)HTH
Ken

 

[Mark Pearce]

Tex,
I'm not a well guy but boy have I done my research on the matter. A water well while running is pretty efficient for what it is. But a well cycling on and off too much burns up juice and motors. Bladder tanks are pretty good when thy are good compaired to the regular tanks. Bladder tanks work as if they are larger than they really are. If you get a leak in your bladder you can bet for sure they will come on as soon as you turn the faucet on. Also your right too, it could be a bad pressure switch. The pressure switch is cheap enough and I'd start there. If that doesn't fix it check your pressure on your bladder tank. Should be a valve stem somewhere visible to do this. I'm figuring about forty pounds on the bladder is OK when the water is out of it. But check the internet on this further for I don't have a bladder tank to compaire or work with. If everything else fails in your trobleshooting there is an item you can buy that will save you some energy in the future. Think it's called an anti-cycling valve. A good forum to check archives is at this link. Also Tractor Supply Sells water well products.


http://www.pumpsandtanks.com/



Mark.

 

[G BRAGG]

Hi Tex
we could go in to this step by step but take a look at this link it may help ya and answer some questions,and i also agree with the others ,check the pressure switch first and tank pressure,I have worked on a few ,not to hard .
good luck Glen from washington

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/plumbing/well/pressure_tank/replace.htm

 

[corvetteguy]

my well is a little deeper.
But the pressuretrol relay with bladder pump
attached turns off at 45
and on at 20.
You are simply using too large a hose to
fill the buckets.
If I run a hose off the tank it will drop to
0 at no time.

ps
I bought a pressuretroll that has a
shut off lever that will prevent the
pump from turning on if the pressure
droops to 10. This protects the pump from
running in the event my pipes freeze or
a main brakes.
I have to manually reset it (pain in the a$$ but
it protects me from a constant flood if I am away.

 

[JOHN HUNT]

do you have filter system on you water system if you take out the filter and don't put a new one in... and see what happen ... today filter don't breath easys, they have so much crap to filter so the water cant pass thur them... mean loss of pressure and water...

 

[justin14054]

My $.02

Kick on pressure setting is to low
Pressure in air bladder to high

 

[justin14054]

Forgot one thing
-Take the cap of the pressure tank and check what pressure is in the bladder with a tire gage

-A symptom that you are decribing is a water logged air bladder(hole in bladder).If water comes out when you check the air pressure-bladder ruptured or was faulty new-Ran across this once back on the farm=Drove me nuts because I took for granit the tank was new and good

 

[TheOldHokie]

Most submersible pumps with a bladder tank and pressure switch are set at 20/40 PSI by the installer. That means the switch shuts the pump off when tank pressure reaches 40PSI and turns it back on when tank pressure drops to 20 PSI. Personally I don't like 20PSI much.

There's a number of issues when you start mucking with this:

• 
  [*:1d39b69ca2] The cycle time on your pump should be no less than a minute. Short cycling a pump will shorten it's lifetime. That is, when the switch turns the pump on it should take at least a minute to build pressure back to the shutoff setting. This is a function of the delivery rate of your pump and the "reserve" capacity of your tank. The tank should have a label on it that gives its reserve capacity in gallons for various pressure switch settings. The delivery rate of the pump varies with the amount of head you are pumping but on an 85' hole that's not an issue.
  
  [*:1d39b69ca2] The range of adjustments on the switches varies by model. Some are not adjustable, some are . You'll need to check the particular model you have for specifics.
  
  [*:1d39b69ca2]If you decide to install a 30/50 switch in place of your 20/40 you need to check the tank reserve and pump delivery rate at that setting. If the pump cycle time is too short you need to get a second or larger pressure tank.
  
  [*:1d39b69ca2]Personally I hate low water pressure and I have a 3hp pump in a 650' hole, feeding a 40/60 switch and two 80g bladder tanks[/list:1d39b69ca2]
  
  HTH,
  
  TOH, who likes a stingingly good shower

 

[KY-N]

With a bladder type tank the air pressure in the tank should be equal to the low pressure turn on setting of your pump. If your pump is set to turn on at 20 psi then turn your pump off, open your water valves until no water is flowing, then use your tire gauge to check the pressure in your tanks bladder. Adjust up or down as necessary. I check mine yearly because like your tires they will lose some pressure over time.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Are you certain you are not pumping your well dry? I can put the next larger nozzles on my irrigation and in 20 minutes or so, the pressure drops to near zero because I have drawn the water level down faster than the wells can recharge. I don't know where you are located, but here in SC, with the last two years of rain shortage, the water table in my wells is down about ten feet, which means I could pump them dry much faster.
Do you know what your well is rated for, ie, do you have a drilling label on the well itself? It should give the rate you can draw down...which can decrease in drought conditions.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Duh...Location? Tex...brain failure again

 

[Anonymous-0]

Pressure tanks with bladders are warrented for 3 to 5 years. Got one free a few years ago.

 

[Mark Pearce]

Tex,
Yep I think we all agree, check your bladder. Or drink more Buds! an ferget about the well fer a while.


Mark........

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have used this site/forum for all types of water well questions:

http://www.voy.com/102731/

Hope it helps.

 

[redleg]

Is this a jet pump? I believe your unpressurized tank needs to be 1 psi under your low setting. Most come stock at 20/40. You can upgrade to 30/50 but need to adjust the tank to match. If you were over pulling the well, you would probably have lost prime and would notice temproary loss of flow altogther. The closer you are to 100' ft you're reaching the max for a deep well jet. Shut the well off and open a valve and relieve the pressure. Get a stop watch and a 5 gal pale and turn the pump on. When you see water fill the pale and start the watch when the water hits the bottom. Stop at 1 minute and measure your water and you have your flow rate. Your pump should have come with a chart for you to compare the flow at your well depth to see if you're in spec. When the tank pressure is relieved such as a toilet flush or long shower, this will be your recovery rate. If you want faster, you need to go to a bigger pump.