Well Pressure tank sound like?

[tradosaurus]

Drain you pressure tank. Then shake it, If it's has water in it then replace it.

I had mine replaced but didn't know it was leaking until I had the pump replaced.

 

[tomplum]

So as I think about this, should I be checking water level and what it draws down at to confirm if that has remained much the same as when it was put in? If I had to go lower into the 4" PVC section, one would buy a 3" pump rather than a 4"? Disadvantages to know with doing that could be good if anyone has input.
I looked at a few neighbors that are close by. Two newer wells across the creek ~ 1/4 mile away have vastly different wells. One is down 300'. Her next door neighbor that has a well 500 feet away from hers is only 80 feet down. The deep one has a 5 GPH rating. The 80' is 20 GPH. Go figure. It's above my paygrade.

 

[Carl_NH]

A 6" casing has 1.5 gallons per foot, so with 40' of water that's 60 gallons, plus 5 GPM recovery rate is 210 gallons. Take a 5 gallon bucket and run the pump for 30 minutes timing the bucket fill. If you are pumping at 7 GPM that would be 210 gallons. 5 GPM x 30 min = 150 gal + 60 in casing = 210 gallons is roughly when you should be out of water.

The 4" casing holds about .7 gallons per foot, so you have an additional storage of 90 feet or 60 gallons. Unless you are running out of water after the test above putting a 3" pump down at 150' is buying you basically 10-12 minutes/60 gallons of capacity.

I would suggest having the low pressure cutout switch installed to do this test to confirm the flow rate.

As far as checking the water level, a string and weight can be used but be careful not to snag the wire/pipe in the process.

 

[Valveman]

Just run the pump and watch the amp meter. 6 amps means it is pumping lots of water. If after a time it drops to 3 amps, you have pumped the well down below the depth of the pump. If it goes from 6 amps to 30 and trips the overload, the motor has cycled has many times as it is going to and will need to be replaced. The only exception is if the pump trips the overload during pump start, then maybe the start capacitor and/or the relay in the control box is the only problem.

 

[Cougsfan]

From reading most of this thread, I assume you are having these problem mainly when the wife is watering the lawn. Your pump does 5 gpm. That won't power very much irrigation before your demand out strips your supply and create the problems you are describing. Sounds like you either need a cistern, a higher capacity pump, and/or to run fewer (or lower volume) sprinklers at the same time.

 

[Valveman]

From the depth I would guess it is a 10 GPM pump. But if it is a 5 GPM pump it will still pump about 9 GPM as the pressure gets low. Either way the amps will stay at 6 if the pump is pumping all it can, and will drop to 3 amps if you pump the well dry. An amp meter is a pump mans most used tool.

 

[Carl_NH]

From the depth I would guess it is a 10 GPM pump. But if it is a 5 GPM pump it will still pump about 9 GPM as the pressure gets low. Either way the amps will stay at 6 if the pump is pumping all it can, and will drop to 3 amps if you pump the well dry. An amp meter is a pump mans most used tool.

Could not agree more on the Amprobe/Ampmeter - have used them for 40 years on pumps, now have a digital one to monitor the pump, or any motor - invaluable!

Agree on the pump GPM too - it's a Grundfos 1/2 HP 4 Wire, so it's most likely a 4" pump, either a 5 or 7 GPM, and either one will put out 7-10 GPM at 80' depth.

Just to note the 3" Grundfos SQ Series are now all 2-wire soft start, so no control box, as the start and run parts are in the pump.

 

[tomplum]

Thank you for all the good input. This gives me some tools.

 

[Valveman]

Could not agree more on the Amprobe/Ampmeter - have used them for 40 years on pumps, now have a digital one to monitor the pump, or any motor - invaluable!

Agree on the pump GPM too - it's a Grundfos 1/2 HP 4 Wire, so it's most likely a 4" pump, either a 5 or 7 GPM, and either one will put out 7-10 GPM at 80' depth.

Just to note the 3" Grundfos SQ Series are now all 2-wire soft start, so no control box, as the start and run parts are in the pump.

Have a few digital meters that are nice. But I still prefer my old analog Amprobe. With the digital you can't see a bounce to peak like on pump start or see dips and fluctuations like you can watching the needle on the old style meters. The same thing with pressure gauges. A liquid filled gauge is nice, but I prefer a cheap gauge as you can see the needle bounce and flicker when that is happening.