Well Pressure tank sound like?

[tomplum]

The misses gave me shout today saying no water. She had been watering a lot this AM and pressure went away. Smart girl that she is, she hit the web and looked for things to check. In January I put on the Square D pressure switch new that had the arm on the side and the feature to shut the pump down in case of a water line break. She reset the arm and worked, then didn't. Built pressure to 56 instead of 60. My thought was that it wasn't compatible with her watering, so I put the old switch back on. I had the thought at the same time to check the pressure in the tank whilst it was empty, which was 31 PSI rather than 38 that I set it at in January. So my 9ish year old 85 gallon tank has a pressure leak. Is that enough to make that pressure switch all wiggy and shut down? Thoughts are appreciated gentlemen.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

It will just cause a slight pressure variant, it could mess with the pump cycle, but it shouldn't cause the pump to shut down. Did the thermal overload trip (if equipped)? If she just turned the pressure switch on / off, and that fixed it, my first guess would be the switch.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Could the well be out of water and not filled up yet? If it's a curb well it may just trickle in to fill itself. Demand is more than supply. Are you using a pump with a foot valve or a submerged pump? And as far as bladder pressure in the tank, lot of difference between now and January, reason for pressure fluctuation. Even your tires need air in temp changes.

 

[ponytug]

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that your tank has a pressure leak. The Schrader valves on the tanks leak all the time. I would refill the pressure and see how it does.

I could certainly see how long sustained watering might "look" like a leak to a pump controller.

All the best,

Peter

 

[tomplum]

I didn't think to grab a new valve core whilst I repressurized the tank. It did pass the spit test... Will see how she does tomorrow for watering. The temperature is 40-45 degrees warmer than January when I put things back together. 6-7 PSI seems like a lot. The pressure gauge variation threw me. This a 150 /160 ' well if I remember correctly. The water table should be good, the pump older. I don't recall what I did to check but I was thinking at the time the pump had life to give. I'm assuming that to get an accurate reading, the tank has to be empty- pressure off?

 

[Carl_NH]

That's correct - with a 40-60 PSI switch you set the tank air pressure at 38 PSI (tank empty).

I have two bladder tanks and a 40-60 Square D low pressure cutout switch with the lever on the side - sounds like the same one you have. The switch is meant to drop out/cut out if water pressure drops below like 15 PSI to protect the pump from running dry.

One of my two bladder tanks looses 5-8 PSI every year, the other one never, but the only effect this has is lowering the amount of drawdown by a gallon maybe.

I suspect you have either low water level, or you have a pump issue. If you have 150' well likely it's a 1/2 or maybe 3/4 HP submersible pump which should run about 6-7 amps 1/2 HP, or 9 Amps 3/4 HP. Also take the cap off the well and check the water level (drop some ice cubes and record the time they hit the water (1 second is about 20' if I recall)

 

[Valveman]

Letting the wife water anyway she wants will cycle the pump to death. Having to replace a pressure switch or losing air from the tank are just the first signs the pump is cycling on/off way too much. Cycling is what kills 99% of all pumps. Pumps are made to run 24/7/365, cycling on and off is what destroys them. To water correctly and not cycle the pump to death, you need to use all the water the pump can produce, Running just a hose or two will cause cycling, which is the worst thing you can do to a pump. People will say, "my pump only cycles every 5 minutes or so". There are 1440 minutes in a day and that is 300 or so pump killing cycles everyday you do that. Air can leak out of the Schrader on a pressure tank. But usually it is the bladder that is leaking air as it has been flexed a million times from the pump cycling and the bladder is torn. Everything in a pump system is destroyed from the pump cycling. The pressure switch, start box, check valve, tank bladder, wire chaffing, and most especially the motor all have their lives shortened by the cycles from the pump.

It is probably too late to save the pump now. Once it starts tripping the overload and causing you to hold the lever up on the pressure switch to restart the pump, it is usually too late to save the pump/motor. Adding a Cycle Stop Valve will stop the cycling and allow the wife to water anyway she wants. The CSV is a disruptive product as it makes pumps last longer an use smaller tanks, so pump companies will not recommend them. You have to figure it out for yourself if you want strong constant pressure to the house, your pump system to last many times longer than normal, all while the wife is able to water with just one hose if she wants to.

 

[tomplum]

For now, here is the other half's notes:
Pressure got down to 36-37 filling the barrel - pump kicked on ~42, fell to about 38, then back up to 42-43, then slowly fell to 36-37 while filling; took less than 10 minutes to bring pressure back up and kick off.

I don't think a knew what HP it was. 20 AMP 220 Volt breaker though

 

[Carl_NH]

First, the pump pressure drop when filling tank indicates either you are drawing too much water, and pump can't keep up, or pump is failing. How big is this barrel 55 gallon, then how big of hose/pipe? Then 10 minutes to shut off - if this is with no water being drawn, that's way too long for an 85 gal bladder tank (maybe 20 gal drawdown capacity?)

 

[tomplum]

So our well's output has always been steady, but low output relatively. We had a well test done a few years back and output was rated at 5 gal/ min after running for 2 hours or whatever. That was also the original output test when the thing was put in 25 years back. She's had the water sprinkler on for the last 20 minutes and the pump is running and holding in the upper 50 PSI area. I get 6 AMPS on 1 leg and 6.25 AMPS of the other. Also tightened a loose ground to the controller box. 4 wires off the pump, 12 AWG.