Short Cycling Well Pump

[Craig Sprinkle]

I have three different zones on my sprinkler system. Zone 1 is the only zone that my pump short cycles on, zones 2 & 3 the pump works fine.

History, my system is three years old. Last year zone one did the SAME thing and it had a clogged or blocked diaphragm. I cleaned it and all was well. This year, short cycling again. I checked for blockage and all looked good. But the release valve would not tighten down. I replaced the ENTIRE top of the sprinkler valve (everything) and it still short cycles.

Here is another puzzle piece: if I run the outside faucet and zone 1 simultaneously the pump DOES NOT S/C!

Please.

Help meeeeeeee!

 

[Reach4]

Your zone 1 does not use enough water. Use bigger sprinkler heads for less time.

You don't define short cycling, and you don't say what the minimum pump run time is. You may also have a failing pressure tank that makes the condition worse.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Craig Sprinkle]

Your zone 1 does not use enough water. Use bigger sprinkler heads for less time.

You don't define short cycling, and you don't say what the minimum pump run time is. You may also have a failing pressure tank that makes the condition worse.

Short Cycling: pump runs for less than a second and cuts off about 3 seconds and repeats. I discovered the old tank was water logged and replaced it was a new tank set at 48 psi (30/50 pressure switch). I have the zones set at 15 minutes each which run consecutively. The heads for zones 2 & 3 are rotator heads while zone 1 has spray nozzles. Thanks.

 

[LLigetfa]

new tank set at 48 psi (30/50 pressure switch)

Too much precharge. Should be 28 PSI.

 

[Craig Sprinkle]

I lowered the pressure to 28. Nope, still short cycling on z1, and z2 & 3 work fine. Thanks you though!

 

[Valveman]

You must have a very small tank? To stop cycling every zone has to put out as much as the pump can supply, OR you need a Cycle Stop Valve to eliminate cycling no matter how small the zones are.

 

[Craig Sprinkle]

You must have a very small tank? To stop cycling every zone has to put out as much as the pump can supply, OR you need a Cycle Stop Valve to eliminate cycling no matter how small the zones are.

Very informative. Thank you very much. By the way, it’s a 2 gallon tank.

 

[Valveman]

A 2 gallon size tank only holds 1/2 gallon of water. You REALLY need a CSV.

 

[Craig Sprinkle]

A 2 gallon size tank only holds 1/2 gallon of water. You REALLY need a CSV.

So, there shouldn’t be any issues going from a 3/4” output to the 1.25” CSV back down to 3/4” ?

 

[Reach4]

Adapting up and down is OK.

If using the adjustable CSV1A https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/csv1a-specifications , it also has 1 inch FIP threads. You would be better screwing into the 1 inch female threads in that case.

The CSV125 has lower pressure drop below the pressure setpoint. It is not adjustable.

 

[Craig Sprinkle]

Adapting up and down is OK.

If using the adjustable CSV1A https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/csv1a-specifications , it also has 1 inch FIP threads. You would be better screwing into the 1 inch female threads in that case.

The CSV125 has lower pressure drop below the pressure setpoint. It is not adjustable.

Ok, thanks a lot.

 

[Craig Sprinkle]

The issue has been resolved! Thanks for suggesting the CSV !