Air Lock in Well Line?

[Chuck Damler]

Ok, hopefully I can explain this clear enough to get some help. I have attached a drawing.

We recently upgraded our pressure tank and moved it from the barn to the home. The problem we were having was low pressure on the second floor of the home and since the pressure tank was so far down hill we thought it would help to move it. We put in a 125 gal pressure tank with the pressure set at 60/80.

The well makes about 10 gals per minute with a standard well pump.

What seems to be happening is that occasionally we will not have any water or very low pressure at the home. The pressure gauge on the tank will read may 10 lbs. I will go to the barn, where the pressure gauge is and the pressure will read about 30lbs with the pump running constantly. I will shut the pump off and drain water out of the system, which is very little, should be quite a bit as the entire line should be full of water. Turn the pump back on and everything is fine.

It seems like we may be getting a vapor lock up top somewhere. Maybe between the T and the pressure tank or ?

We did not have this problem before when the pressure tank was at the barn. So the obvious answer is move the tank back to the barn? But that doesn't solve the low pressure at the home.

So I was thinking of putting another small pressure tank at the barn and leaving it set around 50/70 lbs to try and even out the pressure from the bottom up or just a storage tank to take some of the volume out of the equation.

Hopefully someone with some experience can help with this equation.
Thank you for your input.

Sorry about the turned image.

 

[Valveman]

Is this a submersible pump or a jet pump? You don't want two pressure tanks in different locations. The one pressure tank you need must be close to the pressure switch. Other than that it won't make any difference in pressure where the tank is located. The pump just sees the larger tank as another load to fill, so you will be at low pressure for longer periods of time until the tank fills.

Air lock would mean a problem prior to the pump. With a jet pump you could have a suction leak. With a submersible you would be pumping air, like if the well is dry.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Chuck Damler]

Is this a submersible pump or a jet pump? You don't want two pressure tanks in different locations. The one pressure tank you need must be close to the pressure switch. Other than that it won't make any difference in pressure where the tank is located. The pump just sees the larger tank as another load to fill, so you will be at low pressure for longer periods of time until the tank fills.

Air lock would mean a problem prior to the pump. With a jet pump you could have a suction leak. With a submersible you would be pumping air, like if the well is dry.

its a submersible pump. The pressure switch is at the barn and the pressure tank is in the house about 125 feet away. Why does the pressure tank need to be close to the pressure switch? I didn't think it would make a difference as long as the switch is set to shut off at the correct pressure.

 

[Valveman]

The tank cushions the pressure switch. If the tank and switch are not close together, the switch will bounce the pump on and off rapidly. This is probably tripping the overload, and you are having to wait a minute or so for it to reset before the water comes back on.

 

[Chuck Damler]

The tank cushions the pressure switch. If the tank and switch are not close together, the switch will bounce the pump on and off rapidly. This is probably tripping the overload, and you are having to wait a minute or so for it to reset before the water comes back on.

Very good. That does make the most sense. OK. So I will move the pressure switch up to the pressure tank and then are you suggesting also putting in a cycle stop valve?

 

[Valveman]

Very good. That does make the most sense. OK. So I will move the pressure switch up to the pressure tank and then are you suggesting also putting in a cycle stop valve?

Well of course the CSV has many benefits. But just moving the pressure switch close to the tank should be all you need to stop the "vapor lock" issue.