Hello,

I'm a new owner of a home 2 years old. We have a private well with a submersable pump, which, I was told, is down 300+ feet. We seem to have adequate, but not great pressure, but enough water. The problem is this; when we're using water the press will drop slowly to about 30 psi, then suddenly, very fast, will drop to 10 psi or less. At that point the pump kicks in and the pressure recovers back to 30psi, and slowly builds up to 50 psi until the it kicks out. If we're not drawing any water, the pressure will hold at any pressure 30 to fifty psi. It's only until we draw it down to the magic 30 psi- were we will see the sudden drop, follow bythe switch/ pump kick-on.

If you're in the shower, you will see the water flow suddenly stop and recover (in about 1/2 second) consistent with the pump kick- on (you can see the lights flicker).

Tonight, I'm going to turn the pump power off and see what happens after we draw the pressure down below the 30 psi mark. Any other ideas as to what I can do or what the problem is ? I'm guessing right now that I have a bad check/ value that lets loose below 30 psi.

Thanks!

It sounds like you have a faulty pressure switch at the tank. You can increase it to 40/60
I would go that way first. It may fix the problem. If there were a check balve problem the pump would lose its prime completely. I do not believe that submersible pumps have a check valve because they are always submerged in water. Also, if you have a pressurized storage tank, the bladder may be leaking and the pump is trying to make upo for the pressure loss.

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I do not believe that submersible pumps have a check valve because they are always submerged in water.

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While it's true that a submersible pumps does not have to be primed There is a check valve next to the pump on the pressure line. If there wasn't you would have to lift 300 foot of water every time you flushed or drew a glass of water. But I agree with the handy man that it's not a check valve. You have a 30/50 control box. Your bladder tank setting should be 28 PSI after the power's shut of and the pressure bled down. Are you sure it's set correctly? Do the control box contacts close when the pressure drops under 30 PSI? If noit, then check the bladder tank setting first and if the contacts still don't close then replace the control box. Good luck, tom

SB is onto the problem. It is not a check valve, though submersible pumps do have check valves, in fact MUST have check valves. If not, the pressure tank would simply empty back down the well pipe every time the pump cut off. Your problem probably centers around the pressure at the top of your bladder tank. To set it, you must first turn off the power and then drain the tank through an outdoors faucet. When the pressure gauge reads zero, you can set the pressure at the top of the tank to 28#, then turn the power back on. If the problem continues, try "playing" with the pressure setting, taking a pound or two of pressure off it, or adding a pound or two.

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the input. The bladder tank was inflated to 40 PSI, (with the system drained & the pump off) BUT my pressure switch was set to 30/ 50 I guess -but it usually cut out before it hit fifty. Since the bladder was @40 PSI, I assumed the set up should have be 40/ 60. After adjustment, I can get it to cut in now @ 40 psi, but can't quite hit the 60 psi cut out- I seem only to br able to get it to about 55 psi- So that's where I left it.

So now, other than a very fast needle perturbation, the pressure doesn't seem to drop anywhere as much when the pump kicks in now. I'll find out more tomorrow morning in the shower. I wonder why it changed so much ? Is this a sign that the swutch is bad or is on it's way out ?

Al P,
You need to further adjust your air in the bladder tank. If your pump is set now to run at 35-55, your bladder tank air pressure should be 33psi at the air stem on top. Every time the pressure gets down, it sounds like the bladder collapses right before the pump comes on. This will tear the bladder from collapsing so frequently.

Follow the instructions above to drain all of the pressure off, then adjust air pressure in the tank to 2 psi less than the psi that your pump comes on at.
Al

Thanks Albinfla,

I'll pay closer attention to the pressure and tweek it tonight. But what about the change in the switch settings? What caused them to change so much ? Is this s ign that the switch is going bad? Should I replace it to be safe ?

First set the bladder tank and we'll go from there. One step at a time. Regards, tom

The switch is not necessarily bad. The springs may have weakened a little over time. Or, your pressure gauge may not be 100% accurate. Just make sure you don't get a rapid pressure drop before the pump starts. It should be a nice steady drop with a spigot running, then the pump comes on.

Once you think your air pressure is set correctly, turn off the pump and let a spigot run. Watch the pressure gauge, and listen for the pressure switch to engage. You should observe the pressure switch engaging. Then, after 2 psi further drop on your pressure gauge, the pressure should drop suddenly to zero.

Hope that helps!
Al

Thanks Albina,

This all makes sense now. Apparently the bladder tank was set to 40 PSI, and the cut-on pressure was set to 30 PSI, hense the sudden drop before the switch engaged. Since this system is only two years old, I wouldn't be surprised if it was never set up correctly. The switch is a 40/60, but maybe someone was parinoid about setting it to 60 PSI and tweeked the switch down. It took many turns on the spring nut to get it back up to 55/40. I haven't played with the smaller spring yet, and that may be why I can't get the 20 psi cut-in/ cut-out differential. I didn't have a whole lot of time last night- but I be a little more dilligent tonight -setting the bladder 2 psi below the cut in pressure, etc.

Funny thing is my wife thinks I'm nuts- the water was flowing so why am I messing with it ? The sudden- short drop in pressure in the shower went undetected by her, but I knew something wasn't right -it's the engineer in me :)

Thanks again to all for the advise! - If you guys ever need advice on servicing blood analyzer equipment or photo-lithography machines let me know!

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Thanks again to all for the advise! - If you guys ever need advice on servicing blood analyzer equipment or photo-lithography machines let me know!

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we're glad we have helped and if we ever need to repair the above mentioned items you're our man. Cheers, tom

Al,
You'll need to tighten the short screw down. That will increase the differential. But, you'll have to loosen the tall screw so you'll be able to not go over 55psi. Try tightening the short screw 2 turns, and loosening the tall screw 2 turns. Then tweak from there to get a 20 psi differential.

FYI- The short screw only affects the pressure that the pump cuts off at. The tall screw adjusts on and off simultaneously.
Al

If you're changing the cut in-cut-out pressure this may help.
How to adjust water pump pressure, pump cut-on pressure and pump cut-off pressure - private pump and well system do-it-yourself repairs
Good luck, Tom

Hey Tom,
He said that he only had 15psi differential. That is hard on the pump, since startup is what kills the pump more than anything. He needs to be sure that he sets that up to 20psi differential.
Al

Gents,

All is good. The bladder tank was set to 40 psi. I reset it to 38psi and tweek the switch for a 40/ 58 psi cut in/out. - Now it great!

Thanks for all your advice and help !

-Al

All's well that ends well! If we can ever be of service in the future just jerk our chain. Regards, Tom