Oonasong
New Member
Hi Everyone,
I recently bought my first home which came outfitted with a 20 year old Home Plumber PN 313573 1/2 HP convertible jet pump, and a brand new Pentek Submersible Pump Protector (Model SPP-11P-3RL), a new Wellxtrol 150 psi Pressure tank, and a new Trojan UV Max water filtration system.
Everything is hooked up side-by-side inside an indoor utility room. (Including the pump.)
Two weeks ago there was suddenly no water pressure. I noticed the calibration light on the pump protector was flashing red. First I turned the breaker and the pump switch on and off. Red light was still flashing. Then I thought it might be a jam in the UV system so I cleaned and replaced the pre-filter and the filter. I then went online and found a manual for the Pentak pump protector which said that when the calibration light on this unit flashes red it means that the pump protector has shut down the pump due to an overcurrent situation. It said this was caused by low or high voltage or jammed pump impellers. It also said that if these conditions did not exist I should recalibrate the unit while it was drawing higher current.
That last sentence went beyond my current skill set, but thankfully the manual also said that if the calibration light was flashing red the system was timing through the restart delay and would try to restart the pump if voltage was at an acceptable level.
I hoped this was the case, and about 5 hours after it first shut down the green run light came on, as did the pump, and I figured the problem had happily resolved itself! (I have subsequently opened the unit and noticed the restart is set for 100 minutes...)
Yesterday, 2 weeks after the initial problem, the same thing happened but this time I was in the shower covered with shampoo and soap : ) and the system did not restart itself. 8 hours later, with the red light still flashing, I took a look at the pump, opened and shut a few of the water lines, for lack of any other ideas, (thought I heard some air?), then I turned the power to the pump off and then a minute later on again and low and behold the system started.
I thought I was out of the woods but this morning (with no water being used all night) the red light was flashing again. Once again I turned the power switch to the pump off, let it rest for a few minutes then turned it on again and the pump resumed working for a while! I have done this "trick" about 4 times today. The solid green light is on now, but I dread the flashing red!!
So....I am wondering what the best way of solving this issue is. I don't have access to a volt meter or an ammeter so I have no way of knowing if I am dealing with low or high voltage. I don't think the pump impeller is blocked as the pump has been working fine for hours at a time. I am almost positive the shallow well is not dry (I would get a different error message if it was according to the pump protector manual.) I have made sure that there are no exposed water lines that could get frozen and am leaving a tap slightly running as it is below freezing here right now. I called the power company today to make sure there have not been any power surges. There is a smart meter installed on this house, but the power company said there were no error messages on my meter record. I also called the pump protector manufacturers' tech help line but by this point, they seemed to know less about the unit than me! One interesting thing - the pump I have says it is wired for 230 volts on it, but it is only on one breaker and the pump protector I have is for a 115 volt pump. I checked with the former owner of this house today and he said an electrician installed everything so I don't think that could be the issue? The pump has been working well for the first 3 months of living here.
So - I don't have a big contingency fund for repairs, given that everything just went into buying the place. Should I call an electrician? A plumber? A pump/well expert or is there something else I can do myself? Given that the pump is so old does it just make sense to replace it rather than spending money on diagnostics, or is it possible that that would not solve the problem? Could the problem be with the pump protector and not the pump?
Thanks so much,
Oona
I recently bought my first home which came outfitted with a 20 year old Home Plumber PN 313573 1/2 HP convertible jet pump, and a brand new Pentek Submersible Pump Protector (Model SPP-11P-3RL), a new Wellxtrol 150 psi Pressure tank, and a new Trojan UV Max water filtration system.
Everything is hooked up side-by-side inside an indoor utility room. (Including the pump.)
Two weeks ago there was suddenly no water pressure. I noticed the calibration light on the pump protector was flashing red. First I turned the breaker and the pump switch on and off. Red light was still flashing. Then I thought it might be a jam in the UV system so I cleaned and replaced the pre-filter and the filter. I then went online and found a manual for the Pentak pump protector which said that when the calibration light on this unit flashes red it means that the pump protector has shut down the pump due to an overcurrent situation. It said this was caused by low or high voltage or jammed pump impellers. It also said that if these conditions did not exist I should recalibrate the unit while it was drawing higher current.
That last sentence went beyond my current skill set, but thankfully the manual also said that if the calibration light was flashing red the system was timing through the restart delay and would try to restart the pump if voltage was at an acceptable level.
I hoped this was the case, and about 5 hours after it first shut down the green run light came on, as did the pump, and I figured the problem had happily resolved itself! (I have subsequently opened the unit and noticed the restart is set for 100 minutes...)
Yesterday, 2 weeks after the initial problem, the same thing happened but this time I was in the shower covered with shampoo and soap : ) and the system did not restart itself. 8 hours later, with the red light still flashing, I took a look at the pump, opened and shut a few of the water lines, for lack of any other ideas, (thought I heard some air?), then I turned the power to the pump off and then a minute later on again and low and behold the system started.
I thought I was out of the woods but this morning (with no water being used all night) the red light was flashing again. Once again I turned the power switch to the pump off, let it rest for a few minutes then turned it on again and the pump resumed working for a while! I have done this "trick" about 4 times today. The solid green light is on now, but I dread the flashing red!!
So....I am wondering what the best way of solving this issue is. I don't have access to a volt meter or an ammeter so I have no way of knowing if I am dealing with low or high voltage. I don't think the pump impeller is blocked as the pump has been working fine for hours at a time. I am almost positive the shallow well is not dry (I would get a different error message if it was according to the pump protector manual.) I have made sure that there are no exposed water lines that could get frozen and am leaving a tap slightly running as it is below freezing here right now. I called the power company today to make sure there have not been any power surges. There is a smart meter installed on this house, but the power company said there were no error messages on my meter record. I also called the pump protector manufacturers' tech help line but by this point, they seemed to know less about the unit than me! One interesting thing - the pump I have says it is wired for 230 volts on it, but it is only on one breaker and the pump protector I have is for a 115 volt pump. I checked with the former owner of this house today and he said an electrician installed everything so I don't think that could be the issue? The pump has been working well for the first 3 months of living here.
So - I don't have a big contingency fund for repairs, given that everything just went into buying the place. Should I call an electrician? A plumber? A pump/well expert or is there something else I can do myself? Given that the pump is so old does it just make sense to replace it rather than spending money on diagnostics, or is it possible that that would not solve the problem? Could the problem be with the pump protector and not the pump?
Thanks so much,
Oona