Pump shuts off when demand peaks

[Stevecater]

Hi, I have a Pumptrol switch on a submersible pump (165').
It's a new (1 year) install, 7gpm water recovery rate, 5gpm pump.
I have a recurring (and very annoying) problem that when I run a couple sprinklers outside if anyone flushes a toilet or opens a tap for very long the pressure drops to 30psi and the switch shuts the pump down immediately.
I'm pretty sure it's a pump protection feature so that if the well runs dry the pump won't keep running and burn out but it's darn annoying is all it really is.

This requires me to go to the basement, hold the manual start lever up until the toilet refills etc and pressure can climb above 30psi then all is well. LOTS of fun if you happen to be mid-shower when it trips!

It is NOT a problem of well running dry as I can leave those 2 sprinklers on all day for DAYS in a row but flush ONE toilet, even after 5min of watering and BAM, shut down!!

What ever happened to the good ol' days when you flush the john, sprinklers drop for2 min and all comes back to normal!

My Question then is how do I either adjust that trip point or better yet, override it altogether? I'd rather burn the pump out in the REMOTE chance I run out of well water than ever have to dry the soap off to go reset that bloody switch 'cause my kids flush a toilet while I'm in the shower!

Googled this many times and come up blank (well, came up here so hope for the best)

Thanks
Steve

 

[Waterwelldude]

All you have to do is change the switch out with one without the low pressure cut off.

On a low producing well, it is not a good idea to override any safe guards.


If a few trips down to the well house is worth more than a new pump?

A switch is about $20 bucks.
A new pump is about $1000 or more if you add labor.


Travis

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Gary Slusser]

This doesn't sound right. The switch is a low pressure safety cut off type and if you aren't getting low pressure running more tha n1-2 sprinkler heads I don't understand how running a shower and flushing a toilet causes low pressure.

Where is the pressure switch installed in relation to where the irrigation is teed off from?

 

[NHmaster]

Steve, do you happen to know waht the static level of the well is?
You may be running sprinklers at very close to capacity and flushing the toilet is all it takes to drive it over the edge so to speak. If the well is being pumped to pump level I would strongly recommend that you leave things alone. Do not remove the low pressure safety unless you want to buy a new pump. You might try reducing the sprinkler head flow a bit.

 

[Valveman]

A low pressure cut off switch will shut the pump down when the pressure gets low. This can happen if the well runs dry but, it can also happen just because the pump can’t produce the amount of water that is being used. With a 5 GPM pump, a couple of sprinklers and flushing a toilet will use more than a 5 GPM pump can produce. So you don’t know if the well is really dry, or if the pump is just not capable of producing the amount of water being used.

There are other ways to protest against dry running. A Cycle Sensor looks for low amps caused when air gets in the pump. The Cycle Sensor will only shut down the pump when the amps get low, not when the pump is maxed out. Your pressure may drop but, the pump won’t shut off. Then if the Cycle Sensor does see a dry well condition, it can be set to automatically restart the pump after a certain time. It can be set from 1 to 300 minutes to restart the pump. At least this way the pump won’t shut off until the well is really dry. Then is will restart itself after a certain time without having to go lift the little lever.

 

[Stevecater]

This is a new well and the driller assured me it would never run dry, that's why he put in the 5gpm pump rather than the 10gpm I had asked for.

That said, this is repeatable in that I can turn on the sprinklers and they stabalize about 40psi after the pressure tank drains down. Flush and it takes a few seconds, but as soon as the gauge pressure on the tank crosses 30psi BAM, off it goes.
This could be 2 minutes or 2 hours after I start the irrigation.
To me that means it's NOT running the water level down it's simply demanding more than the pump is capable of producing and the pressure drops for a few moments but that's enough to trip that darn safety.

What valveman said backs up that theory and it seems I may need to explore other options. Bottom line here is i need a switch without the low pressure cutoff.
Anyone know if there is such an animal under the 'pumptrol' brand? Part #?

Thanks for the replies, sorry for taking a while to reply, thought this forum sent email notification automatically, I see you have to ask it to.
Steve

 

[Valveman]

A regular pressure switch looks the same except it doesn't have the little lever on the side. It will also have the same model number except the regular pressure switch ends with M1 instead of the M4 like you have now.