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T76 · Aug 7, 2008, 12:09 PM

Hello, I just recently had a sticking pressure switch that eventually led to the well pump and pressure tank going bad per the well man. Well is from late 2004. We just installed a new tank, switch, gauge, and a new pump with a pump screen. The pump screen is the slotted type with thousands of little slots. So when I had him put the new pressure switch, I got him to install one with a protector if the psi gets below 30. Ok. I have 1" pvc coming out of the well and into the ground. When it gets in my basement it is 3/4" pex. I assume that is all they could get in the sleeve in the basement. If we have two or 3 faucets on then the pressure drops and even when the pump kicks in the pressure still slowly falls and then I manually kept the pump on to see how far the pressure would fall and it finally leveled off at 18 psi. Do you guys think it could be that small 3/4" pex causing a restriction and causing the problem or something else. Thanks so much for your time!

Chuck

hkstroud · Aug 7, 2008, 01:02 PM

The pump and well (probably the pump) are not capable of producing the volume of water that is dispensed at 2 or 3 faucets. It is quite likely that the pump screen is restricting the flow of water to the pump.

T76 · Aug 7, 2008, 01:06 PM

It was doing fine before the original pump went out. It had a 10 GPM pump and this guy told me that pump was maxed out as far as depth and that I needed a 5 GPM pump that would go deeper. My well is 260 Feet and it is 10 GPM. Does this help any? Anyone have any experience good or bad with the slotted pump screens (totally enclosed)?

Thanks

T76 · Aug 7, 2008, 01:08 PM

Also, could the 3/4" pex have anything to do with it? That is what this well guy is saying.

T76 · Aug 7, 2008, 01:25 PM

Also, should I just get a regular switch and is it OK going all the way down to 18 psi? Thanks guys!

jlisenbe · Aug 11, 2008, 04:13 PM

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/plumbi...er-247333.html

Check out MassPlumber's comments about pex on this post. He suggests always going one step up when using pex, so that you would need to use 1" pex to get the same volume as 3/4 " copper. He seems to know what he's talking about, so that could explain your problem.

hkstroud · Aug 11, 2008, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by T76

It had a 10 GPM pump and this guy told me that pump was maxed out as far as depth and that I needed a 5 GPM pump that would go deeper.

That sounds backwards. You had, and appearently need, a 10 GPM pump. Why did you need to go deeper?

T76 · Aug 12, 2008, 02:09 PM

See if this helps any. I went out there today and put a hose directly on the top of the well and filled a 5 gallon bucket in 25 seconds. That seems like it is around 12 GPM. I also had the valve after the pressure tank going upstairs to anything in the house off. So the only water coming out of the system was at the well head. The problem is when it is on the pressure switch cuts on and the pressure keeps dropping and finally stops dropping at 18 PSI. I am starting to think I just need to put a pressure switch that does not have the safety cut off and if it gets to 18 PSI or 20 or whatever when 3 or 4 things are on, it is still OK and it will recover when the items are shut off. Does that sound logical to you guys?

T76 · Aug 12, 2008, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by hkstroud

That sounds backwards. You had, and appearently need, a 10 GPM pump. Why did you need to go deeper?

He said that 10 GPM pump was only rated to go like 250' deep and at that depth it would only push like 1.5 GPM. He said the 5 GPM pump would go on down to like 350' or something and at my 260' would flow way more than the 10 GPM pump that was in there.

jlisenbe · Aug 12, 2008, 05:06 PM

T, what you suggested sounds very logical. You obviously cannot keep up with three or more faucets running, which is not surprising with a well. The point of the cutoff on your switch is to protect your pump from running in a dry well, the idea being that a greater than 10# differential would indicate no water to pump from. Not sure if you can disable that feature or not, but for 25 bucks you can replace it.

Also, bear in mind that you were getting 12 gpm running into the air. Running into the tank, with 30 or 40# of tank pressure pushing against it is a different story. The best way to gauge pump capacity is to run water from an outside faucet for a few minutes and then measure what you get in a minute.

hkstroud · Aug 12, 2008, 11:34 PM

Still doesn't sound logical. Should have sold you a pump based on HP and number of stages. If your well has sufficient water at 250" why go lower. If you dropped to 350" that means your pump has to over ride about another 40lbs. Of pressure to get water to surface. Certainly take a larger HP pump to get same GPM. It would just be a guess on my part but a pump that delivers 10 GPM at 250' would probably only deliver 5 GPM at 350'.

Sounds like well man under sized you pump for 350' for the volume you want.

Also doesn't sound like the "cut the pump off if the pressure drops below 30 lbs. because the well is dry" feature is working if your pump continues to run for any length of time at 18 lbs.

T76 · Aug 13, 2008, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

T, what you suggested sounds very logical. You obviously cannot keep up with three or more faucets running, which is not surprising with a well. The point of the cutoff on your switch is to protect your pump from running in a dry well, the idea being that a greater than 10# differential would indicate no water to pump from. Not sure if you can disable that feature or not, but for 25 bucks you can replace it.

Also, bear in mind that you were getting 12 gpm running into the air. Running into the tank, with 30 or 40# of tank pressure pushing against it is a different story. The best way to gauge pump capacity is to run water from an outside faucet for a few minutes and then measure what you get in a minute.

Thanks jlisenbe. I will try that. I also replaced the switch with a regular pressure switch.

T76 · Aug 13, 2008, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by hkstroud

Still doesn't sound logical. Should have sold you a pump based on HP and number of stages. If your well has sufficient water at 250" why go lower. If you dropped to 350" that means your pump has to over ride about another 40lbs. of pressure to get water to surface. Certainly take a larger HP pump to get same GPM. It would just be a guess on my part but a pump that delivers 10 GPM at 250' would probably only deliver 5 GPM at 350'.

Sounds like well man under sized you pump for 350' for the volume you want.

Also doesn't sound like the "cut the pump off if the pressure drops below 30 lbs. because the well is dry" feature is working if your pump continues to run for any length of time at 18 lbs.

The only way the pump kept running is I actually manually kept it on to see just how low the pressure would go. The switch was cutting it off. All the stuff with the pumps does not make sense to me. I tend to agree with your reasoning but I have never dealt with submurged well pumps before. Thanks for the input.

jlisenbe · Aug 13, 2008, 03:51 PM

I think your pump is OK since you have stated that it delivers 12 gpm on its own. That's pretty good. I wish I could get that out of mine.

T76 · Aug 14, 2008, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

I think your pump is OK since you have stated that it delivers 12 gpm on its own. That's pretty good. I wish I could get that out of mine.

Seems like it is to me also. I think I would have never even known the pressure was dropping if we hadn't installed that low pressure switch. It is now off and all is well... I hope... :)