[water otter]

I recently changed the footvalve in my well and installed a checkvalve directly above it(check valve and footvalve next to each other). Since doing so I'm experiencing a problem with not being able to use more than one faucet at a time. The pump is about 8 or so years old. Is my problem the footvalve and checkvalve combo (not losing prime) or could it be the pump itself. Water tank (bladder type) pressure is set at 28 psi and pressure switch at 30/50. I can't get the pressure switch to respond to attempts to adjust it and have tried two other new switches with same result. Water comes in like gang-busters at first and then gets weak. Please give me some input on this. Thanks

[speedball1]

First tell me why you installed piggy back check valves when only one is called for.f the pump won't pump up to cut off pressure then the first thing I would suspect would be the check valves for failing to hold the pressure the pump produces. Or it could simply be a low water table. Regards, tom

[jlisenbe]

Water Otter (clever name), you probably have one of two things:

1. Improperly installed/defective/whatever checkvalve. This will typically cause problems whether you are using water (faucet somewhere on) or not using water. With all faucets off, look at the pressure valve. If the system tends not to hold pressure, then probably you have a checkvalve problem, although it could be a leak somewhere but you would probably have already noticed that.

2. If the system will hold pressure with the faucets off, then turn on a faucet and watch the pressure valve. If everything is wonderful, the pressure should drop SLOWLY over a couple of minutes to the cut in pressure of 28#. If it is getting there (as I am going to predict) in just a few seconds, then your pressure tank has problems and is waterlogged. Assuming it is a bladder type tank, then replacement is the only long term solution.

To answer your direct question, the footvalve is a checkvalve and thus (as SB points out) the second check valve is redundant. However, I am not aware that a second check valve would be a problem. In fact, in deep well situations, it is advised in some quarters that a check valve be placed every 100 feet. So I would look at the tank. As you seem to have guessed, the fact that the system is holding prime would seem to indicate that the checkvalve situation is probably OK.

[water otter]

Thanks for your replies. Just wanted to say that yesterday I emptied the bladder type tank and set the pressure to 28 psi again (It really hadn't changed). When I got everything situated, I went inside and turned on the faucet at a sink in the bathroom, the tub faucet and flushed the toilet. I had great pressure while the commode was refilling and never lost it while I was in there. I turned all the above off and went around to the washing machine. It has been lately been starting to fill quickly and then after about 30-45 seconds the pressure drops and it fills excruciatingly slowly. This time it filled quickly until about 85 seconds into it and then dropped again. When the washer was through all cycles I returned to the bathroom and tried flushing the toilet again and letting it start to refill and turned on the sink faucet. Immediately the pump shut off.

Any ideas? I have no visible water or air leaks. The tank is holding pressure just fine. The one thing I can't figure about it is that no matter how I try to adjust the pressure switch it does not respond to either loosening or tightening the two adjusting screws. It cuts in at about 30psi and runs up to almost 60 and I can't get it to adjust down to 50 psi.
Thanks again for your help and Merry Christmas to all.

[jlisenbe]

Water, follow the plan, #2 above. Turn on a faucet, then go to the pressure gauge and see how it is behaving, up and down a lot, pump cutting on/off a lot, or what it should be, which is gradual and relatively slow. When you say the tank is holding pressure, I am assuming you mean that it holds pressure when there is no demand for water.

BTW, why did you change the footvalve and install a checkvalve? What was happening... symptoms??

[water otter]

I added a check valve to the line because the footvalve alone had been replaced 3 times in the past 15 years(Me being the guy having to replace it.) I was in hopes that adding a check valve would keep me from having to reprime the system as often. I accomplished that, but now wonder if both valves together are too much for the pump to keep open when operating.

What I mean by saying that the tank is holding pressure is that ithe reading on it stays the same or actually increases a little when pump is inactive. I've tried the thing about running a faucet and watching the pressure gauge and it does as follows: water comes out at really good force for quite a while before pump comes on and then it comes on at about 30 psi quickly goes up to 55-58 psi. It doesn't drop for quite a while even after faucet is off.