possible well pump problems?

[whistlepig]

It does not matter if it is submersible or an above ground pump. A submersible and above ground pump does the same thing. Almost.

 

[lectro88]

It does not matter if it is submersible or an above ground pump. A submersible and above ground pump does the same thing. Almost.

I asked that because. I have dealt with both type of pumps. Yes I know they do the same thing. ALMOST but DIFFERENT ways. A submersible to me seems to recover faster.
Depending on how deep you have the pump or foot valve, AS I ASKED SUBMERSIBLE or OTHER. SO I KNOW WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. sediment over time can wear submersible pump discs, causing less performance.
Is the water clear or murky.

 

[merrickvilleguy]

water clarity/taste/smell have not changed, and are clear and as tasteless as it gets (no rusty taste, no sulphur smell etc)

I have my geothermal running now in 1st stage and its sitting at 28psi (which is better than the 15-20 I was seeing before)

If the well was running dry shouldn't I have some cavitation?

oh and the well is apparently only 55' deep

 

[whistlepig]

You are starting to fuzz this up quite a bit. I have Geothermal and also a well pump. As of now you have thrown out so many variables that there is no way I can track them. A well pump is a well pump. Pumping Geothermal water or water for the house. A well pump is a well pump.

 

[whistlepig]

I asked that because. I have dealt with both type of pumps. Yes I know they do the same thing. ALMOST but DIFFERENT ways. A submersible to me seems to recover faster.
Depending on how deep you have the pump or foot valve, AS I ASKED SUBMERSIBLE or OTHER. SO I KNOW WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. sediment over time can wear submersible pump discs, causing less performance.
Is the water clear or murky.

I did not mean to infer that you did not know what you were talking about. I apologise if I did so.

 

[kidstrustfund]

Sorry I just wrote a long tutorial and seemed to miss several posts that answered my questions. This is not for the faint of heart. For a submersible pump you can pull up the pump and swap out the foot valve with a high quality foot valve. Go to a supply house that supplies well drillers not home centers or places who do not deal with professionals because the valve you buy might not be a good valve. Do not try to save money here it will burn you. Look for restrictions in the valve. Replace it regardless. Its a weak link. Look for sediment in any piping. If you do not see a restriction you could disconnect the well line from the manifold inside your house and look for sediment build up. Your main valve at your house could also be restricted. Take a fishing weight tie it to some string and drop the weight down the well while holding the string and determine the water level. Put things back together once you find any of the problems I mentioned and test to see if you corrected the problem. If the problem still persists you could also air rate the well. You pull the pump, get a compressor with as much cfms and with as big an air tank as you can and drop a minimum 3/4 air line down the well below the water level by several feet. You pump up the air pressure than release the air down the well with a quick opening valve dumping as much air down the well as you can as quickly as you can. Water should shoot 10 plus feet in the air. Do this several times ( 20 times or more). If your points are restricted you will notice more water shooting out of the well as it opens up with each time you shoot air down the well. You should get a large air compressor like a 25 cfms. Well tanks do not effect water pressure after the pump starts running. If your well is bad, or points are clogged you will notice air in your water or water fluctuations as the water level starts to drop below the pump. Does water in your system have any sediment, Iron, hardness, that could clog your system? Several things could be going on here especially if sediment in the cause. I would guess its a foot valve, restricted line from the pump to the house, or the pump itself. Eliminate the foot valve, and restrictions in your well line and manifold. If you notice air or big fluctuations in pressure in your water after the pump runs for a while look to air rate the well. If air rating the well does not solve the fluctuations or air in your water after the pump runs for a while then lean towards a bad well. Finally replace the pump with something that delivers plenty of gpm's. Pm me if you need advise. I have more hours than I wished I had trouble shooting well/ pump systems. Tom

 

[merrickvilleguy]

well for a brief history of the prob is that beginning of jan our water return valve in the geothermal died, so that left the pump running for about a week, we fixed the valve, and shortly after that we went into the cold time around here and at the same time, started noticing low water pressure in the mornings (since the fire wasn't going the geothermal was running overnight)

today, we didnt have a fire going so the furnace was running more frequently and we noticed the pressure problem during the day and I started looking more thoroughly into the problem ...

knowing nearly nothing about how well pumps and what not worked, started collecting data on the lot of it to then try and sort it all out, so I checked the tank, seems fine as far as I can see (proper pressures, no water at the top valve at pressure)

so now I'm at a point where I'm getting 5gpm at 20psi on my well pump, not seeing cloudiness or getting cavitations/bubbles

my initial through to the loss of pressure was that the geothermal was really draining the water, and that was partly correct (power outage reset the differentials for the 3 stages so it was running in second all the time and using more water than it needed) ... but the pump should keep up ?

 

[lectro88]

Yes, if the well was going dry, you "should" notice air and or debris, sludge, grit etc.

I had a 1 hp. submersible with 1" pipe in my well. With a drained tank, ball valves open, so no restriction with spicket type faucits.
I could fill a 5 gallon bucket in about 10-15 sec. from a fresh start.

 

[whistlepig]

well for a brief history of the prob is that beginning of jan our water return valve in the geothermal died, so that left the pump running for about a week, we fixed the valve, and shortly after that we went into the cold time around here and at the same time, started noticing low water pressure in the mornings (since the fire wasn't going the geothermal was running overnight)

today, we didnt have a fire going so the furnace was running more frequently and we noticed the pressure problem during the day and I started looking more thoroughly into the problem ...

knowing nearly nothing about how well pumps and what not worked, started collecting data on the lot of it to then try and sort it all out, so I checked the tank, seems fine as far as I can see (proper pressures, no water at the top valve at pressure)

so now I'm at a point where I'm getting 5gpm at 20psi on my well pump, not seeing cloudiness or getting cavitations/bubbles

my initial through to the loss of pressure was that the geothermal was really draining the water, and that was partly correct (power outage reset the differentials for the 3 stages so it was running in second all the time and using more water than it needed) ... but the pump should keep up ?

Do you have a well loop or pond loop geothermal? Does the well pump feed the geothermal as well as the house at the same time?

 

[merrickvilleguy]

ya I'm not even sure of the size of the submersible pump I have, and even the dept of the well was a ball park from the previous owner (hubby died and wife wasn't 100% sure)

If I fill a bucket using it from full pressure, it takes no time at all to fill a 5 gallon pail. If I wait till the pump is running and the pressure is in the 20-25psi range, I get around 5gpm off the pump.

This problem was very sudden and dramatic and coincided with the pressure valve on the geothermal pump (i.e. a week before the valve went, we had no pressure problems, a week after the valve went, we did)