Is a pressure switch needed for this gravity fed system?

[CPugh]

Hello --

This is my first post on the site.

I have a cabin with a hillside cistern (1000 gallon) that supplies the cabin with water. The water is pumped to the cistern from a 175' deep well equipped with a submersible pump. There is neither pressure tank nor float valve in the system. Except for check valves at the wellhead and cistern, the piping (1.5 inch pvc) from well to cistern is unobstructed, and there is no obstruction in the cistern. The same pipe from wellhead to cistern carries the water back down (gravity fed) to the cabin. The check valve at the wellhead keeps water from draining back into the well. The check valve at the cistern directs incoming water at the cistern to an inlet near its top. The cabin supply comes from an outlet near the cistern's bottom; it then passes through the check valve, a tee to the incoming water, the main well/cistern pipe, and a branch pipe to the cabin. It's branched before reaching the wellhead check valve.

At the moment there is a pressure control switch in the system at the wellhead. (It's followed by a Franklin motor control box and then the wires to the pump.) The pressure switch seems to serve no function since:

(a) Closing the circuit breaker starts the pump just as though it were wired directly to the Franklin box.

(b) There is never enough pressure from the water in the cistern to alert the pressure switch to open its contacts and turn the pump off. (I turn off the pump by opening the circuit breaker when I hear water overflowing the cistern. It needs filling only about once a week.)

My question is: Is it safe to control the pump by means of the circuit breaker connected directly to the Franklin box?

I guess I should add that there is a shutoff valve in the piping from wellhead to cistern, but while I'm at the cabin, it's always open.

The reason for my question is: The pressure switch is acting up (chattering, probably due to membrane age, dirt, or some such) and it's been installed in a way that would make it awkward to repair or replace.

Thanks for any advice and analysis you can give.

 

[Valveman]

If the pressure never gets high enough to open the pressure switch, the switch should not be chattering. Maybe you have developed s restriction to the cistern and there is now enough pressure to open the switch. A pressure switch should never be installed without a pressure tank. But if you have a restriction causing the switch to bounce, a pressure tank will just make it bounce slower. As long as you never close the valve between the well and cistern you don't need a pressure switch or tank.

No problem turning the pump on/off with the breaker except that you will eventually wear out the breaker. I do it too on once a week or so type things. A float switch in the cistern would fill the tank automatically, but it is not needed if you like to fill it manually.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[CPugh]

If the pressure never gets high enough to open the pressure switch, the switch should not be chattering. Maybe you have developed s restriction to the cistern and there is now enough pressure to open the switch. A pressure switch should never be installed without a pressure tank. But if you have a restriction causing the switch to bounce, a pressure tank will just make it bounce slower. As long as you never close the valve between the well and cistern you don't need a pressure switch or tank.

No problem turning the pump on/off with the breaker except that you will eventually wear out the breaker. I do it too on once a week or so type things. A float switch in the cistern would fill the tank automatically, but it is not needed if you like to fill it manually.

Thank you Mr Valveman. You've erased my wiring worries. "Chattering" was probably the wrong word. "Repeated On/Off at about 1 second rate" would have been more accurate.

Best, CPugh

 

[CPugh]

Thank you Mr Valveman. You've erased my wiring worries. "Chattering" was probably the wrong word. "Repeated On/Off at about 1 second rate" would have been more accurate.

Best, CPugh

 

[Reach4]

"Chattering" was probably the wrong word. "Repeated On/Off at about 1 second rate" would have been more accurate.

Is there a pressure tank that you know of? Usually if there is a pressure switch, there is a pressure tank.

 

[CPugh]

I bought the cabin 20 years ago. The system is simple. There is no pressure tank. I suspect the previous owner/constructor set things up with a pressure switch by copying someone else's setup. Or perhaps he intended to have a pressure tank, installed a pressure switch, and then got the idea of a hillside cistern. Lost in the foggy past.

Thanks, CPugh