Possible Pumptec issues

[River Steve]

I am making some changes to our plumbing because our well is a low yielding well. We have a 1500 gallon cistern that has been supplied by rainwater up to this point. The tank was cleaned and a line from our well ran to the cistern. There had been a pressure tank inline with a low pressure cut off previously.

I took the pressure tank out and wired in a pumptec to control the pump for when the well pumps dry. There is a float switch in the cistern for when it’s full.

My issue is that my pumptec does not seem to sense when the well is dry and shut power off to the pump. The pump flows water for 2.5 minutes then the well is dry, the pump continues to run and the pumptec appears to do nothing. Thanks in advance for ideas and suggestions

 

[Valveman]

A pumptec looks for a 25% drop in amps to detect a dry well. If your pump is not dropping in amps by 25% for some reason, the pumptec does not know the pump is running dry. Either find out why the amps are not dropping or get a device like the Cycle Sensor which can be set to any amps needed to protect the pump from running dry.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[River Steve]

A pumptec looks for a 25% drop in amps to detect a dry well. If your pump is not dropping in amps by 25% for some reason, the pumptec does not know the pump is running dry. Either find out why the amps are not dropping or get a device like the Cycle Sensor which can be set to any amps needed to protect the pump from running dry.

It is just straight piped into the cistern. The pump is a 3/4 hp pump in a 50ft drilled well. I’m going to guess it’s not dropping in amps because there is little resistance on the pump to begin with. Should I restrict the line into the cistern? I have ordered a cycle sensor already, but I would like to make this setup work.

 

[Valveman]

Need an amp meter to see what is going on. However, the Cycle Sensor reads amps on its display.

 

[River Steve]

Valveman, I installed the cycle sensor and everything is functioning except I’m only flowing water for about 38 seconds. The pump is only pulling about 4.50 amps when it starts and at 37 seconds the amps dropped to about 2. I know we have let the well run before and it would flow for about 2.5 minutes before going dry. Any suggestions

 

[Reach4]

Well rejuvenation or a new well come to mind. Do you have a lot of iron or manganese in your water?

How long between 37 second runs? It may be that you should increase that time. I am thinking at least double.

 

[River Steve]

We do not have any issues with the water. The well is a 50 deep with the pump about 42 feet. The pump is a 1/2 hp 10 GPM. The well casing is 6”. We could pump for for about 150 seconds before going dry. I’m trying to figure out the cycle sensor to make a longer run time. Other then that everything is working great.

 

[Reach4]

We do not have any issues with the water. The well is a 50 deep with the pump about 42 feet. The pump is a 1/2 hp 10 GPM. The well casing is 6”. We could pump for for about 150 seconds before going dry. I’m trying to figure out the cycle sensor to make a longer run time. Other then that everything is working great.

See step 3 of https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/c...lation-instructions-cs1ph1-2hp-or-cs1ph3-15hp

 

[Valveman]

Yeah just set the restart delay for as many minutes as you want the pump to stay off up to 300 minutes, which is 5 hours.

 

[River Steve]

So with the Cycle Sensor I have been able to fill my cistern to the level I have set using the float switch. I have found that my well is only producing approximately .16 gpm. I thought I was closer to .5 gpm. My current settings on the cycle sensor have the pump shut off at 3.5 amps. It will normally run at right around 4.5 amps during pumping operations, but it drops to around 2 amps when the well is drawn dry. Should I set the cycle sensor to 4 or 4.2 amps to cut it off, it drops to 2 amps quickly as it goes dry.

Right now the delay is set at 30 minutes. When the pump runs it is running for approximately 30 seconds. After reading more on this forum I believe this is to short of a delay. I think the most the well can pump before going dry is 2.5 minutes, so I’m thinking of increasing the delay to 150 minute. This should give us approximately 230 gallons daily.

Our well is 47 feet deep, with the pump being set at approximately 40 foot. We do get some sediment. We have three people in our house, but my wife and I work 24 hour shifts so normally two out of three days only two people are home. I know we will either have to increase the depth of our well or have another drilled in the future, but I’m hoping to get multiple more years from this system I’ve got set up before a new well is needed.

Feel free to share your thoughts on my setup or your experience with your similar setup.

 

[Valveman]

Since it drops top 2 amps when out of water, the Cycle Sensor setting of 3.5 is good. Setting it higher may cause nuisance trips. Running 30 seconds and off 30 minutes will get you the most water from the well. Keeping the well water pulled down in the well will help more water come into the well. You can make the pump stay on longer than 30 seconds by setting the delay restart for longer than 30 minutes, but you will get less water from the well overall that way.

 

[Reach4]

Right now the delay is set at 30 minutes. When the pump runs it is running for approximately 30 seconds. After reading more on this forum I believe this is to short of a delay. I think the most the well can pump before going dry is 2.5 minutes, so I’m thinking of increasing the delay to 150 minute. This should give us approximately 230 gallons daily.

If the pump-on time increases almost proportionally with the longer delay, I would go with the longer delay. Consider graphing pump-on time vs delay time.

If the pump keeps up with your usage at 150 minutes, that would seem to be a better setting.