Boost pump shuts down

[conmax]

i live on a hill which requires the city water pressure to be boosted to supply our property. city pressure is about 55 psi and can drop another 20 psi depending on time of day. there are 4 pumps and controllers in our pump house which is about 60' from the city supply. all other pumps for the other houses are working. i estimate the gradient is about 30' vertically. i have a 2 hp Gould pump with a Gould 2 AB2 controller. the house is about 10 yrs old, but 1 house further up the hill is about 20 yrs old. i mention this because the developer owns the house furthest up and likely put in the pump shack for all 4 lots at the same time.

my current problem is the pump won't stay running. the error LED is blinking green which says low voltage/loss of prime. input voltage is around 230 vac and remains when failure occurs. the pressure input can drop as low as 20 psi, but is typically around 30-40 psi. i suspect that pressure drop is normal for the gradient and back flow valve. the city checked their meter and valves and indicate problem is upstream from there. a pump contractor replaced the controller 2 days ago and said the problem was fixed. this lasted for about a day before returning with same LED indicator and pump not running. controllers have been replaced 3 times in past 4 years and the pump twice. the pump/controller company says there may be a restriction, but that they don't fix that. the plumbing contractor that services the backflow device that requires yearly inspection says they don't fix such restrictions.

although i am not a plumbing professional, i am somewhat technical and with no luck finding the right repairman, am forced to try to fix or understand the cause. having spent over 5k already, i am not interested in having more money spent on parts swapping with no assurance that root cause is found and corrected.

i think at least some or all of the pipe is galvanized because there are signs or rust around the pipes in the pump shack. also, when i removed the pressure sensor to the controller, only a little water flowed until i cleared the rust. i have some suspicion that there is restriction in the pipe from the meter to the pump. with as much as 60' from the meter to the pump, i am not looking forward to cutting through cement and asphalt to find. i am hopeful that someone on this forum can offer good advice. i live north of LA in SoCal and we cannot be w/o water much longer.

 

[Valveman]

When the pump is running, if you still have 20 PSI on the inlet side, the line is not restricted too much. What kind of pumps do the others have? Maybe you have figured out by now the pump companies are making a lot of money on those variable speed type pumps and controllers. A regular jet pump with a normal pressure switch/pressure tank would not have any lights blinking and wouldn't shut off on you like that. All you need to do to make a regular jet pump system provide constant pressure like those expensive and troublesome variable speed controller/pumps, is to just add a simple Cycle Stop Valve before the pressure tank.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

1. Each of the 4 has a meter, a shut-off valve, a back flow valve, a pressure gauge, a pump, and controller, and a pressure tank in that order?
2. Is there another pressure gauge after each pump?
3. How similar are the 4 setups?

my current problem is the pump won't stay running. the error LED is blinking green which says low voltage/loss of prime. input voltage is around 230 vac and remains when failure occurs. the pressure input can drop as low as 20 psi, but is typically around 30-40 psi.

• Have you monitored the voltage while the error trip happened? Have you watched the pressure gauge, that is before the pump, while the trip happened?
• Have you checked the air precharge in the pressure tank? What should it be set to?

• Does the trip only occur while you are using water at your house?
• Can you predictably trigger the trip by some action?