Suddenly, well stops producing or impeller ?

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Rockwind1

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I had a good well on my little ranchette, 20 acres, just outside Prescott, AZ. the original well report from 2000 has limited info. the well is about 260' deep. and states a 6+ gpm production rate. I have a 1/2 hp franklin control box, a pretty nice one, with a run dry switch in it. the pump fills up a 3000 gallon plastic tank,, and it fills it by pumping into the bottom of the tank thru a 1" PVC pipe. it has historically filled it up in 6-7 hours but a few days ago, I was watering some trees and the jet pump started burping, so i went to go look and the tank was really low, at the point where the submersible had kicked on to refill it. but after 7 hours it was maybe only a third full, i did some math and the pump is now doing about 2.5 to 2.9 gpm. it is pulling acceptable amps at 5.8 ish. I checked the main and start windings and they are within spec.

Anyway,, one time during the filling, after a few hours , I went down and checked amps and it was at 1.3,, basically it had stopped,, or possible sucking air. I reset it and it pumped for a few more hours then shut off that time. I let it sit for half a day, then turned it on and it ran for a hour and a half, then started pulling 1.3 amps again.

I am not sure if the run dry feature is working correctly, cause why would the pump run at 1.3 amps,,,if the run dry switch senses that it should totally shut off like it did that one time.

I am beginning to think maybe the well isn't filling up with water. my neighbor has well abut 80 yds away that is 300 ft,, no problem with his but he doesn't have a storage tank so pump only runs for short times.

The only thing it could either be it is maybe somehow the impeller is not working as well as it used to? How does an impeller just stop working as good, it either spins or it doesn’t right?

Thoughts.

I don't want to pay thousands to pull this pump if the well is dry,, seems more better to just drill a new deeper well. The wells in the area have been drying up.


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Rockwind1

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Tell us about the run dry feature. The boxes have diagnostic lights. https://franklinwater.com/products/drives-protection/residentiallight-commercial/pumptec-family/ Any indications from the lights?

Your well running dry theory sounds right. But why pulling 1.3 amps? Could it be the electronics draws that much? Sounds very high for electronics.
Hi I posted a picture of the control box where I thought dry feature was

I talked to a sort of friend does Wells told him which box it was and he said it had a Milton run dry cut off switch but he said they were problematic, that particular box anyways, I’ll try to post a picture later, anytime I try to post a picture. On here, it tells me it’s too big so I have to go through some rigorous process to make it smaller

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Valveman

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5.8 amps means the pump "impellers" are working fine. When the pump draws max amps but takes a long time to fill the cistern it is usually a hole in the drop pipe. 1.3 amps doesn't sound right for anything. I don't think the motor is even running at 1.3 amps. When a well pumps dry the pump will draw max 5.8 amps until the well is dry, then it drops by about 50% to 2.5 amps or so. Reset the pump saver and try again.
 

Fitter30

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Want to know the shut off pressure if you know what pump you have? Shut pump off see if pressure falls off fast. This will test the check valve and piping.Then with a clamp on amp meter run pump when amps drop off shut pump off. Wait 2-4 hours turn pump on see how long it pumps till amps fall off. Tell if the well is refilling.
 

Rockwind1

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Want to know the shut off pressure if you know what pump you have? Shut pump off see if pressure falls off fast. This will test the check valve and piping.Then with a clamp on amp meter run pump when amps drop off shut pump off. Wait 2-4 hours turn pump on see how long it pumps till amps fall off. Tell if the well is refilling.

the submersible is not controlled by a pressure switch,, it is controlled electronically by some warwick control box which is connected to some rods in the tank that measure water height. as the water goes below a certain point, the control box sends power to the franklin well control box which turns on submersible,,,
 

Fitter30

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Level control. Still the pump and piping need to be checked out to make sure their working correctly. Level control turns pump on and off doesn't care if the pump or piping has a problem.
 

Rockwind1

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5.8 amps means the pump "impellers" are working fine. When the pump draws max amps but takes a long time to fill the cistern it is usually a hole in the drop pipe. 1.3 amps doesn't sound right for anything. I don't think the motor is even running at 1.3 amps. When a well pumps dry the pump will draw max 5.8 amps until the well is dry, then it drops by about 50% to 2.5 amps or so. Reset the pump saver and try again.
if there was a hole in the pipe,, wouldn't the pump just keep running? mine keeps shutting off, in increasingly shorter increments of time, fist time it ran 5 hours,, then 3 hours, then 1 hour, it just ran for like 30 minutes yesterday
 

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if there was a hole in the pipe,, wouldn't the pump just keep running? mine keeps shutting off, in increasingly shorter increments of time, fist time it ran 5 hours,, then 3 hours, then 1 hour, it just ran for like 30 minutes yesterday
What is shutting off the pump? What do you have to do to restart it?
 

Fitter30

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if there was a hole in the pipe,, wouldn't the pump just keep running? mine keeps shutting off, in increasingly shorter increments of time, fist time it ran 5 hours,, then 3 hours, then 1 hour, it just ran for like 30 minutes yesterday
All depend how large a hole. If pump according to a pump curve dead heads at 70 lbs and only producing 50 lbs is either a hole or the impeller. By shutting off the pump while dead heading pressure drops can either be the check at the pump or a hole.
 

Rockwind1

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What is shutting off the pump? What do you have to do to restart it?
i don't know what is shutting it off,, a couple times, i don't even know if it is actually off as like i said, it wasn't sending any water but was still pulling 1.x amps on both legs. what i do is shut off the big throw switch, and turn it back on and it usually works,, but for increasingly shorter times it seem.
 

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