Well again! What else can it be? FRUSTRATED!

[SPYDERLK]

Here is what has been done.

1. Pump replaced with Myers 1hp on Monday.
2. Bladder tank replaced last night. 40psi put in and holding same pressure this morning.
3. Checked the depth of the water in the well and it was roughly 60'.
4. Depth of pump to the bottom of the well is roughly 20'
5. Regulator switch NOT replaced but was working last night.

Thanks
Wade

Ok guys I think that the issue is not with the tank or the switch. A friend came over that is an electrician and he jhas replaced all of this himself st one point. When he got here he manually kicked the pump on at the reg. The pressure shot to 50 psi and cut off. The wife turned the faucet on and the pressure held steady for a minute or so and then slowly started going down. At around 32 psi the reg tripped for the pump to come on. The pressure raised about 2 psi and then started falling until it hist 0. The pump was still on but pumping nothing to the tanks or to the well head. I am not a well guy as I have figured out the last week or so. However, this makes me think that I have 1 of 3 things going on.

1. The new pump is bad again or both legs are not pulling the same load. The problem with this is why does it pressurize and then when the house water is turned on and the pressure drops it comes back on bu no longer pumps??

2. The refresh rate is to slow now. The odd thing here is that it has never given us a problem over the last 8 years. The well is 322' deep. We measured the depth of the water last week and it was roughly 60' deep. The pump itself was 12' from the bottom. I took off 5 feet to rais it from the bottom more due to all the sediment that was on the line and pump when we pulled it. That still had the pump roughy 43' below the water line. The pump could really lower the well not that fast?????

3. The well is now bad. Again if this was the case why am I getting water???

At this point I do not know what to do. Does any of this point to a solution? Would adding 10' back to the line placing it 7' from the bottom fix the issue? Right now I have the breaker off to keep the pump from running. I almost would bet that if I turn the breaker back on in the morning I will have water for a while anyway.

Does any of this make sense??? Idea's????

Thank you all for the patience and help!

Wade

Good Afternoon Harry,
Going back to the beginning of the thread the OP stated that hi static level was 60ft. He mentioned a well depth of 322 ft. So thats 260 ft of water minus the pump depth at 20 ft off the bottom, giving hom 480 to 500 gals of reserve... 1 1/2 gals per t Thats quite a bit of water for just domestic use.Ive read through the thread, and didnt see any mention of GPM return rate, but Im finding it hard to believe that he is actually running out of water. On a guess, and only a guess it almost sounds as if there is an issue with the pump.

Just a comment, by lowering the pump 10 ft, your only going to get about another 15 gals of reserve, and usually pump guys are not big on splicing in another section of pipe...

Theres 60' water in a 322' well. ... Circuitous to follow but I think thats right. Lowering the pump 10' in that case would, like you say, make only ~15 gal more reserve. ... But that is a significant proportion more than he has. Also, delivery rate increases continuously as you fall below the static level [where it is zero] so delivery would rise a bit too.

BUT there is no current info that confirms that hes reaching a dry pump condition. I think there is reason to consider the recent idea introduced that the pump is having trouble starting & running under hi pressure load. Consider that the pump must start and run at ~115PSI water column plus the water pressure in the tank. Is this a deep well pump made for this?
larry

 

[clovergamecock]

Well I "think" I have at least a partial conclusion. The well is running dry not to the point that there is no water but to point where it is no longer replentishing itself at the rate it once was. We did all the electrical checks today and the power to the pump and regulator all tested good. We drained the tank and reset the pressures. cycled the pump a few times by running water in the tub, The recovery rate got slower and slower to the point that it finally only made it to 40psi but the pump would not shut off anymore. I called a well guy and luckily he answered and was really nice. He said to isolate the well at the head turn the water on and see how long it lasts. Anything from 15-30 minutes without a significant loss of pressure would show that the refill rate is fine and there is another problem. LONG STORY SHORT, THE WATER RAN FOR 3 MINUTES BEFOR IT DRIED UP!!!! The pump was still dry running verified with a meter and you could hear it from the top...

I called the guy back and hopefully he will be here tomorrow. Any ideas on what the possible fix will be??? Whole new well? Drill this one even deeper??? Any idea on what I can expect this costing me???

Thank you again all for your time help. I learned a lot at least.

Wade

 

[JOE G]

Sorry I don't have anything to add which already hasn't been said. Good Luck I am wondering what the issue is.

 

[Bikewanderer]

If that's the case I think you should look at an indoor cistern with a jet pump to feed the house and a pump controller such as the coyote to keep from damaging the pump.

It does make sense given all the conditions that you cited. I misunderstood initially and thought that you had water 60 feet from the surface and a 322 foot well.

 

[radioman]

Well, with this new info, sound like you have a well drying drilling it deeper is an option.but I think you need to confirm this with a well driller as he can investigate this for you.perhaps all is needed is to lower pump.again the well driller can figure this out with equipment he has.

 

[stuckmotor]

Here's what Ithink I'd do: (1)Measure out a rope to the length of the well pipe, plus enough to hold on to. (2) Subtract ten feet, then tie on a ten foot long green pole that would sink and show a water level. (3) Run the pump till the water stopped. (4) Quickly lower the pole to the end of the pipe. (5) Pull it back out of the well. (6) If the pole was wet all the way up, I'd jump for joy and wait for the pump guy. (7) If the pole wasn't wet but a few inches, I'd lower the pipe a ways and see what happened. Note: They used to be able to pull out a steel casing and deepen a well. I'm not sure about plastic.

 

[sam5570]

Wade here is a option it was mentioned in one of the post, put a restricting valve on the line so the water does not flow thru faster than it can reover, suer it's going to be inconvienent but bet's paying 5 grand or more for new well. just a thought. best of luck

 

[dave1949]

<snip>

I called the guy back and hopefully he will be here tomorrow. Any ideas on what the possible fix will be??? Whole new well? Drill this one even deeper??? Any idea on what I can expect this costing me???

Thank you again all for your time help. I learned a lot at least.

Wade

If you are in the drought area, it may be that it has caught up with your well, just not as much ground water as there has been in the past. Anybody around you doing serious amounts of water pumping from a well, like for irrigation?

Maybe they can fracture the existing well? I hope it don't cost you an arm and a leg.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Well I "think" I have at least a partial conclusion. The well is running dry not to the point that there is no water but to point where it is no longer replentishing itself at the rate it once was. We did all the electrical checks today and the power to the pump and regulator all tested good. We drained the tank and reset the pressures. cycled the pump a few times by running water in the tub, The recovery rate got slower and slower to the point that it finally only made it to 40psi but the pump would not shut off anymore. I called a well guy and luckily he answered and was really nice. He said to isolate the well at the head turn the water on and see how long it lasts. Anything from 15-30 minutes without a significant loss of pressure would show that the refill rate is fine and there is another problem. LONG STORY SHORT, THE WATER RAN FOR 3 MINUTES BEFOR IT DRIED UP!!!! The pump was still dry running verified with a meter and you could hear it from the top...

I called the guy back and hopefully he will be here tomorrow. Any ideas on what the possible fix will be??? Whole new well? Drill this one even deeper??? Any idea on what I can expect this costing me???

Thank you again all for your time help. I learned a lot at least.

Wade

Very strange that you never see milky looking water that clears as the bubbles float out.

Get your well pumped/cleaned out to the original bottom and put your pump down about 3' off bottom. The added reserve plus the higher replenishing flow rate into a nearly empty well should do it for you. Also put back in one of those safety pressure switches that cut off if theres no flow from the running pump. That way itll save the pump and youll be alerted when its being overused.
larry

 

[The kid]

Here is what has been done.

1. Pump replaced with Myers 1hp on Monday.
2. Bladder tank replaced last night. 40psi put in and holding same pressure this morning.
3. Checked the depth of the water in the well and it was roughly 60'.
4. Depth of pump to the bottom of the well is roughly 20'
5. Regulator switch NOT replaced but was working last night.

Last night I had 50psi line pressure coming from well to regulator. As I mentioned above I put 40psi in the expansion tank and it shows the same amount this mornig. After my son took a shower this morning we have no water and no pressure from well to regulator. When I manually flip the switch on the reg I get spark at the connectors but still no pressure which was expected because there was 0 line pressure and someone mentioned in another thread that it needs a minimum of 10 psi in the line or the pump will not run. I did the trick of holding the switch half way and still got nothing.

So did the regulator go bad??????

Thanks
Wade

Wade did you fill the air bladder with no pressure on the line. That's how your suppose the set the tank pressure. Usually it's the same air pressure as the cutoff pressure. You will not get the endurance of pressure if the line is pressurized when you air it up.

You say you didn't replace the pressure switch. Take a look at this one which is exactly like the one I have. It is put inline with the unfiltered well water which tees into the blatter. Note the relay contacts. There are two. One for each 115V phase. These are usually gold plated but they can start to pit and loose current in a bad connection. I kept a fine grit emery board I swiped from the Mrs to burnish the contacts to keep them clean on a regular basis. That entire assembly can be replaced in one piece if necessary. I had a blade 220V disconnect close by while I did maintenance on the relay. Your pump should operate/start at zero pressure. I have never heard of a pump requiring pressure unless the new ones have a safety feature built into them to prevent leak low pressure/no water damage. Show us a picture of your pressure switch.

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