Does my 3/4 hp jet pump for a shallow well need a bladder tank?

jlisenbe · Jun 3, 2011, 07:00 AM

The biggest concern to me is that you have to prime it each time. That would indicate a leaking check valve, foot valve, or possibly at the union you installed. It should hold prime.

The pressure gauge, absent a pressure tank, will probably jump up fairly quickly when you turn the pump on and bleed off in the same manner when you turn it off. I don't think you need a tank at all if all you do is run it for irrigation. By the way, what pressure does it run at when you are watering the grass?

epine47 · Jun 3, 2011, 12:29 PM

WE have a bladder tank, but our foot valve is at the bottom of our well. Never have a problem>

jlisenbe · Jun 3, 2011, 01:26 PM

Epine makes a good point. Peg, what you are calling a footvalve is almost certainly a checkvalve. The footvalve would be at the bottom of the well.

Having a bladder tank is OK, but is frequently not needed IF all you are doing is running some sprinklers. The key is this: Have the proper number of sprinklers to keep from having the pressure get too high or too low. If it seems to get too high, and you can't remedy it by adding sprinklers, then you might want to look at a pressure tank and switch to control the pressure.

pegsue07 · Jun 4, 2011, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

The biggest concern to me is that you have to prime it each time. That would indicate a leaking check valve, foot valve, or possibly at the union you installed. It should hold prime.

The pressure gauge, absent a pressure tank, will probably jump up fairly quickly when you turn the pump on and bleed off in the same manner when you turn it off. I don't think you need a tank at all if all you do is run it for irrigation. By the way, what pressure does it run at when you are watering the grass?

That was my biggest concern too; priming it each time! What a pain. Yesterday I got desperate and bought a 2 gallon bladder tank. It's not perfect yet but it is holding prime now and the answer to your question is 60 lbs watering grass. Is that too high?

pegsue07 · Jun 4, 2011, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by epine47

WE have a bladder tank, but our foot valve is at the bottom of our well. Never have a problem>

This is a well from the 70's down in the ground and I am not positive there is a foot valve down there. The pipe was small (like 1"1/4) and we were hoping there was a foot valve already down there; that is why we put the check valve above ground. Not sure yet but I did buy a 2 gallon bladder tank yesterday and it seems to be holding prime although the pressure is not set just right yet. I feel the bladder tank might be the secret.

pegsue07 · Jun 4, 2011, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Epine makes a good point. Peg, what you are calling a footvalve is almost certainly a checkvalve. The footvalve would be at the bottom of the well.

Having a bladder tank is OK, but is frequently not needed IF all you are doing is running some sprinklers. The key is this: Have the proper number of sprinklers to keep from having the pressure get too high or too low. If it seems to get too high, and you can't remedy it by adding sprinklers, then you might want to look at a pressure tank and switch to control the pressure.

I was hoping a bladder tank wasn't needed but got desperate yesterday and bought a 2 gallon one. Doing a lot better. I only have one sprinkler so far (haven't done the dream irrigation yet). It's running at 60 pounds which might be too high? Yeah, I guess I mean check valve. I sure hope there is a foot valve in the bottom of that hole! If not, maybe that is why it was not pulling water up? And, the adjustment on the side of the pump for the pressure seems kind of complicated to use. I believe they are set to 20 and 40 from the factory but we messed with it so much (during it's crazy cycling) that need to adjust it back now. Our sprinkler does keep getting clogged and using the standard horizontal 12". Maybe should get a single hole sprinkler?

jlisenbe · Jun 4, 2011, 06:39 AM

Peg, the main consideration is to have the pump run non stop rather than a lot of off/on cycles. 60# is a little high but when you add more sprinklers, it will go down. A 2 gallon tank is really small. It won't help much from the point of view of having the pump pump up to, for example, 60#, then turn off until pressure drops to 40#, then turn back on, and so forth. It would be doing that cycle many, many times an hour and you don't want that. It's hard on a pump. If it's working well now, then I'd leave it alone.

You can get a inline filter that would probably solve the clogged sprinkler problem. You can get one for thirty or fourty bucks. It has a replaceable filter element.

I have no idea why adding that small tank seemed to solve your priming problem, but if it works, then that's great for you!

pegsue07 · Jun 5, 2011, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Peg, the main consideration is to have the pump run non stop rather than a lot of off/on cycles. 60# is a little high but when you add more sprinklers, it will go down. A 2 gallon tank is really small. It won't help much from the point of view of having the pump pump up to, for example, 60#, then turn off until pressure drops to 40#, then turn back on, and so forth. It would be doing that cycle many, many times an hour and you don't want that. It's hard on a pump. If it's working well now, then I'd leave it alone.

You can get a inline filter that would probably solve the clogged sprinkler problem. You can get one for thirty or fourty bucks. It has a replaceable filter element.

I have no idea why adding that small tank seemed to solve your priming problem, but if it works, then that's great for you!

Seems I have another problem now, seems the pressure adjustment is messing up. We adjusted it and now it seems to be causing it to cut off? Any tricks?

jlisenbe · Jun 5, 2011, 03:29 PM

Peg, your switch probably has two adjusting nuts. The large center nut will adjut BOTH the cuton and cutoff points. Turn it clockwise to turn it up, and CCW to turn it down. The small nut only adjusts the cutoff point.

See this site for a great description of the whole process. Just be aware that the nuts must be turn one or two complete turns to make much difference.

How to adjust water pump pressure, pump cut-on pressure and pump cut-off pressure - private pump and well system do-it-yourself repairs

Does my 3/4 hp jet pump for a shallow well need a bladder tank?

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