Bill in Michigan
New Member
I will start out with some info on my well set up:
Well drilled in 1957? (I believe this is the original well when the house was built)
Not sure of the depth but most wells in my neighborhood are between 40' and 60' deep
1/2 hp Myers two line jet pump (located in the wall between the kitchen and bathroom)
House is built on a concrete slab (no basement or crawlspace)
20/40 pressure switch
19 gallon air bladder tank (set to 18 psi with the system drained)
I have been having problems with my well. I would have good pressure for maybe 5 minutes then pressure would reduce to a trickle. The pump would take a half hour to an hour to build back up enough pressure to shutoff. I have had three well drillers tell me I need a new well or need to hook up to municipal water. I had decided on a well driller to drill me a new well but have had issues with getting the county to issue a permit because municipal water is available. On Thursday, the county inspector told I could have a new well drilled if I can find my current well so that it can be abandoned. There is no well head in the yard. Yesterday, I woke up to the pump running with no pressure. I had already planned on taking apart the pipes on the pump to drop a string with a nut on it to see how far down the pipe goes. I did this and found that it goes down maybe 12". I dug around the pipes and found that the pipes are angled to the northwest corner of the house. After putting the pipes back together I had to prime the pump. I had the pump on while I was priming it. When water started coming out I replaced the plug but only hand tight. I noticed that I now maintained pressure and that the pump would take only 2 to 3 minutes build back pressure. I watered my garden and did a load of laundry without any issues. When I went to put my tools away, I remembered that I did not tighten the priming plug on the pump. After I tightened the plug my problems came back, losing pressure and the pump running for a long time. I loosened the plug back and the problems went away.
After all of that, my question is, why did loosening the priming plug fix my problems?
Also, I still plan on having a new well drilled so any tips for locating my current well would be greatly appreciated.
Well drilled in 1957? (I believe this is the original well when the house was built)
Not sure of the depth but most wells in my neighborhood are between 40' and 60' deep
1/2 hp Myers two line jet pump (located in the wall between the kitchen and bathroom)
House is built on a concrete slab (no basement or crawlspace)
20/40 pressure switch
19 gallon air bladder tank (set to 18 psi with the system drained)
I have been having problems with my well. I would have good pressure for maybe 5 minutes then pressure would reduce to a trickle. The pump would take a half hour to an hour to build back up enough pressure to shutoff. I have had three well drillers tell me I need a new well or need to hook up to municipal water. I had decided on a well driller to drill me a new well but have had issues with getting the county to issue a permit because municipal water is available. On Thursday, the county inspector told I could have a new well drilled if I can find my current well so that it can be abandoned. There is no well head in the yard. Yesterday, I woke up to the pump running with no pressure. I had already planned on taking apart the pipes on the pump to drop a string with a nut on it to see how far down the pipe goes. I did this and found that it goes down maybe 12". I dug around the pipes and found that the pipes are angled to the northwest corner of the house. After putting the pipes back together I had to prime the pump. I had the pump on while I was priming it. When water started coming out I replaced the plug but only hand tight. I noticed that I now maintained pressure and that the pump would take only 2 to 3 minutes build back pressure. I watered my garden and did a load of laundry without any issues. When I went to put my tools away, I remembered that I did not tighten the priming plug on the pump. After I tightened the plug my problems came back, losing pressure and the pump running for a long time. I loosened the plug back and the problems went away.
After all of that, my question is, why did loosening the priming plug fix my problems?
Also, I still plan on having a new well drilled so any tips for locating my current well would be greatly appreciated.
