Sudden pressure drop at faucets/shower/toilet

[D.tronn]

Hello all -so glad I found this site... I have 30 year old dual tank system (Aqua- Air v250) I'm a single family residence but also have a pool and guest house; just myself and my son currently, so usage is not extreme.. installed new pump at 380' about 5 years ago. So, as I said in title, had a pretty sudden pressure drop at kitchen faucet. I first checked electrical thinking a current rain/wind storm had caused a gfi trip or something - breaker at main, breaker at pump/well head and pressure switch everything was/is getting amps. My pressure gauge however had dropped from its usual ~ 50-ish psi down to 20. I manually toggled the pressure switch and can hear water movement. I used 220 grit sand paper and cleaned the contactors then I bled the tanks and pulled both valve stems to start from scratch which was registering as 10 psi on the inline gauge but using a gauge on tanks showed 0 psi, repressured to 52psi turned breaker back on and tanks filled to ~20 psi again.... no more.
sorry site wont allow a 3.1 meg upload so ...resizing blur but that's the beastie... and the problem???

Thanks for help !

 

[Valveman]

Hole in the pipe.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[D.tronn]

Hole in the pipe.

Hole in the pipe.

hmmmm thanks for the response Valveman ... but I looked everywhere outside for a leak, my drip system for the few plants I do actually water but found nothing... including the 60' between my backflow/valve at house out to the well head.... no wet ground- I realize it may not show but I have a solid caliche layer at 4' so I thought if there was a leak capillary action would show at surface....
so you dont think its a pressure switch issue? OH I am getting spurts and squirts of air in the lines also,. which makes me think hole as well.... could it be a pinhole in one of the tanks?
thoughts?

 

[Valveman]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Sounds like a hole in the pipe 1" above the pump.

 

[Fitter30]

First sign with a hole in the pipe is a larger electric bill from the pump running longer.

 

[Reach4]

D.tronn, I think your black/gray pipe from the submersible pump enters at the upper right of your photo, and the water feeds into a check valve. The check valve has a port for the pressure gauge and switch on its side.

Usually you don't want an above-ground check valve when using a submersible pump and air-precharged pressure tank.

This check valve limits how much water flows out of the hole.

Instead of a hole in a pipe, you could also have a pitless adapter, and the o-ring needs to be replaced. The usual recommendation is to replace the o-ring when you pull the pump, but people often do not do that.

 

[Valveman]

First sign with a hole in the pipe is a larger electric bill from the pump running longer.

Yes, like Fitter said. Air in the lines and loss of flow and pressure are also signs of a hole in the pipe.

 

[2stupid2fixit]

Well lets talk about the pitless and holes in the supply feed. Bad pitless gasket can cause all of the problems mentioned. Sometimes pitless gaskets crap out due to electrical chemical degradation or just plain old "dry rot". Does the OP have any air? unusal noises when running water? pipes banging or vibrating (if not pex, pex isnt noisy) ? wait for water? noise when first toilet flush of the day? I do remember reading that the pump and motor submersible combo was 5 years old. Do we now expect performance of 5 years for a submersible combo that has only a 3 year warrantty? You may remember me posting Cheap Pump Update. I am pushing 5 years on a cheapo ebay $160 pump with no complaints BUT I EXPECT IT TO FAIL at any moment because if I spent $900 on the same spec Grundfos pump or $1400 on the same spec Franklin, I would STILL be out of warranty with a pump replacement on my hands. I am going with 5 years is the longest you can trust any deep well submersible pump. Take the cap off the well and use a flashligt that is tied around your neck to look down the well casing while the pump is running. Tell us what you see.