Well Pump

[Lloyd_E]

Once again I turn to the wisdom and knowledge of you folks.

19 year old well pump and switch. Replaced the tank last spring.
Shallow well pump - Red Jacket. Pump and tank is in basement.

For about the last 2-4 weeks it seemed to take forever to fill tank.
I checked pressure at tank = 26 lbs of air. Pressure is good in the house, sink, shower etc.
I tried adjusting old switch but it only got worse. This morning I replaced the old switch(only had one spring adjustable setting nut) with a new switch that has two adjustable spring setting nuts. It was supposed to be factory set at 30/50 psi. Took forever to get the thing adjusted. The best pressure I can get is 28lbs at pump - also put in new gauge this morning. The pump clicks on around 18lbs and will go to about 28lbs and shut off. Lots of pressure in lines but seems to take a long time to fill tank.

I tried adjusting both springs/nuts - got everything from not shutting off pump with pressure around 30lbs to loosing all pressure at pump, which I than had to manual turn on switch. Can't seem to get pressure above 26/28 lbs.

So, is it the tank again? Or is it time for a new pump? I drained tank of water and adjusted pressure as per instructions on the side of tank too.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

TIA.

 

[Mousefield]

Wow, 19 years is pretty good for a pump. As it is in your basement and you made no mention of it leaking. It could be that the impeller inside is not pushing enough water anymore; this could be cause by the seal inside wearing out. This could explain why you are getting some water pressure. Not sure if you could get parts for it, you could look into the cost of a new pump. It may not be worth the hassle and cost of trying to fix the old one.

 

[20 20]

without seeing it I'd say your impeller is worn out. I had a couple of pumps do this over time. do you have hard water?

 

[Lloyd_E]

Thanks All...

Little bit of iron in the water... not much though.

Ok... so tomorrow will be new pump install day.

Keep ya posted...

 

[bearcreek paul]

My pump did the same thing 2 hrs ago.The impeller was worn out from the hard water.

 

[studor]

Just a thought -- are you sure nothing is frozen? I bought a new convertible pump two years ago only to find out one of the lines had ice in it -- similar circumstance to your description -- very frustrating until I found it , and then thawing it out using heated water from the stove was not fun
Oh well -- now I have a spare pump on hand

 

[Lloyd_E]

If it was frozen would I not get pressure to 50psi at pump... eventually?

 

[studor]

If it was frozen would I not get pressure to 50psi at pump... eventually?

No because you never get enough water to compress the air in the tank to 50psi-- Quick way to find out is to see if the pump will actually pump five or ten gallons of water from the well without worrying about the pressure at all -- if it will not pump straight from the well then it is either the pump itself or it is frozen, plugged or lost prime. Mine froze between the well head and the house and it had never done it before so I figured it was the pump. When I stuck a snake down the line I figured out pretty quickly what my problem was -- of course this was after I had bought a new pump, changed it out and reprimed it and could not seem to get any pressure!

 

[Carl_NH]

Lloyd.

If its a single pipe from the pump to the well, on the side the pump near the bottom there is a venturi or jet - usually a 1" or 1.25" looking like a plug (plastic) on the side which creates the vacuum to pull the water up from the well. This can get plugged with rust chips or similar. Take this out and check this first. (fill a bucket of water first for priming). If this jet is clear, then it could be the impelller but if since this happened over that last few weeks it could be the impeller but I would check the jet first.

If its not the jet on the side plugged, you can remove the 4 bolts holding the pump end on and pull the pump section off as there is an o ring seal on the housing, but I would have a new seal, impeller, and diffuser plate to install if you go this route.

If its a two pipe system (usually a 1.25" up and a 1" down) the venturi/jet is in at the bottom of the well. In this case the some of the water goes down the 1" at higher velocity thru the jet creates a vacuum and sucks it up the larger pipe.

Usually single pipe are 30' deep wells and 2 pipe less than 100' wells with the jet set at 80' in the two pipe set up.

its not fun but I am sure you will get to the bottom of this, and if it is a two pipe system I would just replace it with a 1/2 HP submersible and new pipe/wire at this point.

Carl

 

[TheGoose]

Carl sounds like a seasoned well man. Classic case of a plugged nozzle in a shallow well jet pump. 28 psi is the dead-giveaway.

Good luck.

 

[Lloyd_E]

Carl,(thanks),

It is a single line to a 18' dug well that is approximately 200' from the house. The rise is about 30 feet in total. I am getting lots of water via the pump and tank when I open an auxiliary valve from the tank. It just isn't getting up to pressure.

Last summer it would pressurize to 45-50lbs and shut off.

I am thinking new pump. Will keep the old one and see if I can get parts.
It will be a warm weather rebuild project!

Thanks...

PS: will also check the jet before I go off to purchase...

 

[Lloyd_E]

OK,

I took out the plastic jet. A lot of metal flakes and crud came out. I reinstalled jet and primed. Initially I got a few pounds more pressure but it went back down slightly after running water from the tank a few times. Must say pump is quieter.

So I am thinking new pump still.

Nice thing about all of this is that I will have a handle on how the whole system works...

 

[studor]

Noticed today here in Ontario that Home Hardware has pumps on sale. Hope you get it resolved -- absence of water or sewage can be a real PITA

 

[Carl_NH]

Lloyd,

Happy to help - I spent a few years doing well work and these things can be mysterious if you havent done it before.

Sounds like you have a good handle on your situation. YOu can find two types of pumps out there today - the lower cost ones $150 range will be plastic housings typical then the $200-300 range will be metal like you have now. Ideally if you can get anther red jacket you would have one set of parts to deal with.

On the parts aspect, its really not hard to pull these apart and replace the impeller and diffuser plate. Basically the impeller threads on to the shaft opposite the motor rotation direction and the diffuser plate is pushed into the metal case, then the o-ring replacement. Maybe $50-60 at most for the three parts. You should be able to do this in less than an hour and be up and running in less than two hrs. Finding and getting the parts will take the longest..

As to your present situation you could set the cut out at 25-28 PSI and that would work for a while..

Good luck in your task today.

Carl

 

[Lloyd_E]

Carl,

When you quote prices generally double it for up here... and is always questionable if we can get it. I will rebuild red jacket pump just to have as a stand-by.

The new one was around $300. Came with lots of parts and great instructions. About 1/2 hour to install. No leaks either!

Back in business. One new pump installed no leaks!
Studor I did go to HH and the pump that I needed was on sale... but non in stock.
Went back to my local hardware and they had a pump plus a few other fittings.
They provide great service and no issues returning stuff.

Pump is made in USA to boot.

Thanks...

 

[jimmyj]

Go to see you are back in the water business. I notice of my own accord that these things never break down in summer when it's nice and warm and convenient!

I now keep all sorts of spare parts such as venturi, fittings, clamps, guages, foot valves, etc just in case.

 

[Mousefield]

About 1/2 hour to install. No leaks either!

That's great. 1/2 hour and no leaks, way to go. :thumbsup:

 

[Carl_NH]

Lloyd,

Awesome job 1/2 hr.. probably took three times as long to get all the parts and shop around. I know about the Canadian prices for hardware as I travel up there and you guys pay 25-30% more (and 50% more for Canadian beer which I can only surmise is a sin tax).

Glad it was easy and everything worked out for you in a short timeframe.