Filled pressure tank, now have a new problem.

[Jasondelane]

Hi all. I have a 1/2 horsepower Aermotor HNAS50 pump, and I'm not sure if it's a deep well or not because I know very little about wells. Here's the story. Usually when taking a shower, using the water hose to wash the car or whatever, the water pressure slowly drops until there is very little water flow. I could hear the pump running trying to get somewhere and not making it. Today I decided to check everything and what I found was that the pressure tank had no air, and the pump switch was set way to high. It wouldn't shut off until it got to 80 psi. I adjusted the switch to cut off at 60 psi, and put 28 psi in the pressure tank.

Now I've got a new problem. When I close the valve going to the house and open the spigot at the pump, the pressure drops slower but once it reaches 40 lbs or so and the pump cuts on, there is 0 pressure all of a sudden until I close the spigot. The pump then takes 5 plus minutes to come back up to 60 psi, where it holds pressure well until I open the valve again. I've got a video of all this uploading now to youtube, and I'll share the link when it eventually finishes.

My questions.

Did not knowing the problem with the switch and pressure tank settings cause the pump problem?

Is the pump shot or is there something else I'm not seeing?

There is some dirt coming up for a second if I close the valve and reopen it, is this a symptom?

Is the pump switch still set too high? should I lower it to 30/50?

 

[Jasondelane]

Here is the Vimeo link.

 

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[Reach4]

I can tell you that you have a jet pump with the jet down the hole. Those who know more about it can recommend if you can just pull and clean the jet or if the pump probably needs replacement.

You say the water start out dirty. Is that like rust coming out, or like it is sucking some soil? If you pull the jet, you might consider replacing the galvanized pipes with an appropriate plastic that will not rust.

 

[Jasondelane]

When I run cold water into the bath tub it seems like a lot of rust. Not really dirt.

 

[Reach4]

With galvanized pipes, that is not so surprising. I put in a new diverter spout with a 3-1/2 inch nipple. There was not a nipple quickly available to me in that size. In a few days, when I ran the water through the spout, there would be a brief dose of rust. I was shocked how fast that occurred. I figured the galvanizing would take years to get penetrated. I got a brass nipple and replaced the galvanized. Rust dose went away. I will say that old galvanized can be better than new galvanized in that regard.

When you replace pipes, go to some suitable plastic or copper. When I look at your well, I see an opportunity. I don't know what pipe I would recommend. If you post the length of the drop pipes and your casing diameter, somebody will probably have a suggestion.

 

[Jasondelane]

With galvanized pipes, that is not so surprising. I put in a new diverter spout with a 3-1/2 inch nipple. There was not a nipple quickly available to me in that size. In a few days, when I ran the water through the spout, there would be a brief dose of rust. I was shocked how fast that occurred. I figured the galvanizing would take years to get penetrated. I got a brass nipple and replaced the galvanized. Rust dose went away. I will say that old galvanized can be better than new galvanized in that regard.

When you replace pipes, go to some suitable plastic or copper. When I look at your well, I see an opportunity. I don't know what pipe I would recommend. If you post the length of the drop pipes and your casing diameter, somebody will probably have a suggestion.

I have a deep well packer system apparently. I'm scared to pull it because I've seen that the leathers can get stuck. The cavitation has to be coming from somewhere, and I can definitely hear it in the pipe coming from the well head to the pump.