Well pressure tnak issue.

[flyerdan]

I have my outside faucets on a well, which is located in a bedroom closet under the floor, not the most ideal place to work. It had been working fine until recently when a motor issue started kicking the shutdown on the motor. Pulled it and fixed a couple of wires going from the pressure switch to the motor board, and replacing the rear bearing which was making metal. Runs great now, and after replacing an eroded foot valve that wouldn't hold a column of water, got it to prime and pump.
Now it runs up to 20 pounds on the gauge and stays there, whether an outside tap is on or not. I'm sure that I lost the air charge in the tank, but it has no schrader valve, never did, and it worked fine, off at about 50 psi and on at 30. I had this happen before when I had to pull it to replace the ceramic pump seals, but forgot how I got it to charge, I think it just started working somehow.
There are four unused ports, visible in the picture, two on the side near the bottom, one higher up which is almost up against the 2x4 brace, and one on the top. I really hate the idea of trying to remove one of those plugs, as the tank is unsecured and I don't want to risk breaking the bottom pipe and causing more problems. Plus, it doesn't leak and holds pressure now. If adding a schrader valve is necessary, could it be done through a T behind the union at the pump outlet? The gate valve shuts off flow to the outside, so any air would have to go into the tank.

 

[topbuilder]

From what I see, and what I know about wells... you have the wrong tank. You have a retention tank and you need a bladder tank. The tank you have works for a chlorine contact tank or for a submersible well that delivers an air charge every time the pump comes on. That air chamber is then maintained by a float switch (the upper bung hole on the side) which released the extra air until the water level stops it.

 

[RobertBrown]

Does not look like a "pressure tank" to me either. Looks like a storage tank. Could it be that there is another tank on the system somewhere?
I think the ports are so the tank can be used in different configurations. It probably had a jacuzzi pump at one time.

 

[Soundguy]

Our jet pump and tank at work just uses a big galvanized tank and the pump/switch. I just changed the noisy motor last week.

We just drain the tank down to 2/3 level, put the bung in and go.

 

[RobertBrown]

Where is the pressure switch?

 

[Qapla]

The pressure switch must be under the 2x4 - the little black hose coming from the front of the pump just under the gauge goes to the switch.

However, even though it may work, that really is the wrong tank for this configuration. A plain galvanized tank is usually placed "in" the water path, with the water flowing through the tank, not "adjacent" to it. The configuration in this picture would work best with a bladder tank - one that has a charge of 28 psi, since you have a 30psi "cut-in".

That said, you could still use the setup you have - but you need to make sure you have an air charge in the tank. If they can be removed you can try this:

• Turn off the power so the pump cannot run.
• Open the faucet outside to relieve the pressure
• Remove the plug in the top of the tank
• Allow the tank to fully drain
• Replace top plug and close faucet
• Turn power back on

This should get it back working as long as the pump is actually pumping water and making pressure. If the pump impellers are too worn, even though the pump may pump water at low pressure, it may be that the pump cannot build pressure.

 

[Egon]

Forget the tank and replace a worn out pump.

your tank looks like an ordinary galvanised pressure tank with no air bladder. Means that the air you put in will dissapear over time.

If you wish to add air pull the top bung and replace it with one that is tapped for a zerk. Various ways to pipe a schrader into the top bung opening. Depends on fittings available.

If you pull and replace the pump there will be lots of possible piping configurations available.

If removing top bung put a ratcheting strap around the tank to hold it.

 

[flyerdan]

Here's what I've done. I pulled the 1/2" plug that faces the 2x4 and put in a street elbow with a bushing and a schrader valve. The location is just below the halfway point on the tank. Am currently waiting for it to charge, as I set my regulator at 28 psi and have a clamp on tire chuck.
The pressure switch is on the side of the motor under the floor joist; I never messed with the settings or took the hose off, just the romex and motor wires.
I was working fine before this, so the pump being worn out is moot. Hopefully this will get it going, if there was room to get at the back of the motor I never would have broke the water lines.

 

[Egon]

If the pump only builds up to twenty pounds pressure and holds there with no outlets open the well suction is at water level, the pump is worn or you are at an extremely high altitude with low pressure.

 

[Professor Marvel]

Our jet pump and tank at work just uses a big galvanized tank and the pump/switch. I just changed the noisy motor last week.

We just drain the tank down to 2/3 level, put the bung in and go.

this is right

 

[Carl_NH]

Whether the tank is waterlogged or not the pump should still build pressure to 50 pounds and short cycle on/off. The tank is a Jacuzzi which is an older tank style but should cycle normally if air is added as you have done.

I suspect the issue is the jet in the front body of the pump has a piece of debris in it from when you replaced the seal which will not pull the water from the well thus the low pressure. Most of these single stage pumps have two bolts housing the jet on the face of the pump - if not then you need to take the pump housing off to access the jet.

Do you get a low flow at 20PSI ? If so its a clogged jet is my guess.

 

[flyerdan]

It gets a pretty fair flow, I timed it yesterday, took 1:50 to fill a five gallon bucket so that's about 2.5 gpm which is not enough to run my pressure washer. Enough to keep the garden wet. Before it was up around 4 gpm. The pump seal was replaced years ago, and I didn't breach that section of the unit.
Adding air to the tank didn't help, my next step is to pull it again and reverse the rotation in case I have it running backwards. I diagrammed all the wiring before I took it apart, should have taken pictures. I also didn't note which way the pump rotated before I took it out to begin with, and there isn't a rotation arrow cast in the housing anywhere. 20 /20 hindsight.

 

[flyerdan]

Took everything apart and checked the pump, the impeller and components look good. Cleaned out some rust and scale while it was apart, put it back together and tested it (with an old radiator hose on the intake and some plumbing bits bodged together on the outlet to form resistance) and it cycled like it should. Stuck it back in the hole and hooked everything up and it works. Had to fuss with a butterfly right below the pressure gauge, but it functions as it should now. Got almost 4 gpm; hate it when you can't find a definitive problem, but it's good to have water outside again.

 

[Soundguy]

Yup, smoking gun is always a good feel, absence of one leaves you wondering
.