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Juanitab · Oct 6, 2015, 04:50 PM

Have another question. The pump and tank on up a hill from our house, when I turn on a faucet at the bottom out side it causes the pump to stop pumping water. I have to turn off everything and let the pump refill the 52 gal tank. What to do to fix this? And it takes 5-6 minutes to recycle, is that normal or not?

ballengerb1 · Oct 6, 2015, 05:06 PM

You need to go back and post this on your original question, we can not see what you were talking about earlier.

ma0641 · Oct 6, 2015, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

You need to go back and post this on your original question, we can not see what you were talking about earlier.

It is the one about the pressure tank.

Juanitab · Oct 7, 2015, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

You need to go back and post this on your original question, we can not see what you were talking about earlier.

I thought that is what I did!!

hkstroud · Oct 8, 2015, 04:08 AM

Let's start over.
You have a well and tank (up on a hill). Describe that well and tank.
How deep is the well, what kind of pump, submersible or above ground, how far from the house?
You say the pump turns off when you open an outside faucet. Is that faucet a part of you house plumbing or has a separate line been run to it from the well.

You say the pump turns off, how do you restart it.

In other words describe your complete set up.

It is totally illogical for a well pump to shut down because a faucet is opened.

Juanitab · Oct 8, 2015, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by hkstroud

Let's start over.
You have a well and tank (up on a hill). Describe that well and tank.
How deep is the well, what kind of pump, submersible or above ground, how far from the house?
You say the pump turns off when you open an outside faucet. Is that faucet a part of you house plumbing or has a separate line been run to it from the well.

You say the pump turns off, how do you restart it.

In other words describe your complete set up.

It is totally illogical for a well pump to shut down because a faucet is opened.

The pump is not shutting down it is still running it just stops pumping water. The well is 130 ft deep in FL, the pump is above the ground with the 52 gal tank. The faucet is in line with the house water it is at the bottom of the hill the pump is on and the house in on another hill past that faucet but not as high as the one the pump is on, we have been using this set up for years with a smaller tank, it is still doing good as long as I do not open that one faucet at the bottom of the hill. I guess as long as it is working and we know not to turn on that faucet we will be OK. Thank you so much for all your help and I appreciate your time and fast response that really helped me a lot.

jlisenbe · Oct 8, 2015, 04:10 PM

If your pump is running nonstop, then you are not OK by any stretch as you'll use up a pump much sooner. If the pump just runs and runs, then you need to adjust the cut off pressure down. That's done at the switch. With the power off, remove the cover from the switch and turn the large, center nut counterclockwise one full turn. Turn the power back on and see what that does. Keep at it until you reach a point where the pump will cut off.

Once you find out what pressure the pump can get to and cutoff, then you'll have a better idea of how the pump is performing. BTW, I don't think the larger tank is an issue at all.

hkstroud · Oct 8, 2015, 05:14 PM

You have a 52 gal tank. That means you have approximately 18-20 gallons stored in the tank when pump shuts off. If it takes 5-6 minutes to reach maximum pressure and shut off, that means you are pumping approximately 3 gallons per minute.
A kitchen faucet has a flow rate of about 2 gallons per minute. I don't know what the flow rate of a hose bib is but a kitchen faucet is approximately 2 gallons per minute. A hose bib would have a far greater flow rate.

When you open the hose bib and use the water stored in the tank, you will then only get the water that the pump is pumping. So if the pump is pumping 3 gallons per minute and the hose has a flow rate of 4 gallons per minute, all the water from the pump will go out the hose bib. There just is nothing left to go to the house which is at a higher elevation.

If you were to open the kitchen faucet and a shower valve at the same time (with the hose bib closed) you wold see significant drop in flow and pressure after the tank has emptied (approx 5-6 minutes).

If this is unsatisfactory the only solution would be a larger pump.