Cycle stop valve problem

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danp

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I have a CSV1Z installed and a 32 gallon wellxtrol tank (app 8 gallon drawdown) I am happy with the results of the CSV1Z when there is more then a 2 GPM demand however have a consistent problem with the well pump not running long enough on a cycle when the demand is off.

I have a 1hp 10 gpm pump. pressure switch set to 40/60. valve is adjusted to 50 psi. With no demand the pressure tank is filling faster then the 1gpm rate the valve is supposed to let pass to fill the tank. The tank is reaching shut off pressure in less then 1 minute indicating it is filling at almost 4-8gpm.

My initial thought was the pump is oversized for the tank size but thought the CSV was supposed to alleviate the need for a larger tank.

Any thoguhts?
 

LLigetfa

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A 1HP GPM pump depending on depth to water could give you 12-15 GPM. The CSV will let more GPM through when the pressure is below the setting.

I don't see what you describe as a problem. So what if the tank fills in less than a minute if you are not using water?
 

danp

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A 1 HP motor should run a minimum of 2 minutes to cool the windings. A cycle of less then 1 minute is bad for the pump. This is one of the reasons I installed the CSV in the first place VS a much larger pressure tank.
 

VAWellDriller

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I've had similar problems with some models of CSV that have high headloss at higher flows ..(or pressure drop off or friction loss) whatever anyone wants to call it...it's all the same results....on an adjustable CSV, you cannot say that it is set for 50 psi, without saying what flow rate you set it at (in my opinion....valveman may agree or disagree). So, if you buy a valve factory set at 50 psi...you don't know what flow rate that was.... the valve will not hold the same pressure with a 1 gpm flow as it will with a 20 gpm flow, or a 10 gpm flow...you have to factor in the flow rate and pressure loss. So to alleviate your problem, you could open a 1 gpm demand, and then set the valve to hold 50 psi...or 2 gpm demand (whatever that particular valve is supposed to go as low as)....I prefer to set the valve in close proximity to the majority of my demand range...so if I think I'll be using between 5 and 10 gpm most of the time...I might open a 7.5 gpm demand and set the valve at the pressure I want.
 

LLigetfa

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A cycle of less then 1 minute is bad for the pump...

Only if another cycle starts before the pump has a chance to cool. If you are not drawing water, then it is unlikely the pump will start again in a minute or two. If you are drawing water, it should run for more than a minute.
 

Valveman

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If you set the CSV at 50 PSI while running 3-4 GPM, then it will deliver about 55 PSI at 1 GPM. If that tank is holding 8 gallons as it should, at 55 PSI it has 6 gallons in it and the CSV should take another couple of minutes to get it from 55 to 60 PSI. But if the CSV is set high enough that is holds 1 GPM at 58 PSI, then it won’t take very long to top the tank off to 60 PSI.

As VA said, a CSV set at 58 PSI while using 1 GPM, will hold 48 PSI constant while using 20 GPM. Setting the CSV to hold 58 PSI at 1 GPM, so you get 20 GPM at 48 PSI is how you adjust the CSV to make up for the reduced pressure falloff at 20 GPM.

Although, when using a CSV, the one to two minutes of run time is no longer needed. When the CSV restricts the pumps flow the amperage also drops. Dropping the amperage de-rates the motor, making it run cooler, and it no longer requires a minute of run time to dissipate the heat.

The CSV won’t let the pump shut off until you are finished using water. So as LL says, the pump should then stay off long enough to cool down completely.

If the CSV is really set at 58-59 PSI at 1 GPM as I think it is, then I am not at all concerned that the tank is filling in less than 1 minute, 30 seconds is plenty. However, you should check to make sure you are getting the 8 gallons draw down from the tank as you should be.
 

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I am a newbie here, and am hoping to satisfy my concern about doing the right thing concerning my well water system by bouncing off my knowledge of well systems in a discussion with professional well men. Well, I am not exactly a newbie as I am 75 years old and even worse I have installed only one well system in my entire life for which the 3 wire 1 HP submersible pump finally died after 35 years. Understand that I hold two degrees electrical engineering and have never been known to be a people person but one of honesty. I definitely do not wish to get into an argument with anyone but do wish to promote a conversation to meet my own water needs and understanding.

I have a 18 foot dug well whose bottom's diameter is 6 feet which for all practical purposes is excellent heat sink. Living in New England means the well water temperature remains around 50 degrees (actually 49 degrees right now) year round. Like many dug wells, in time of extreme drought, the water table can, and has, dropped below my submersible's pump's intake. This happened only twice in 35 years. Living on a salt water cove means finding good water could be problematic as a deep drilled well failed to produce (one gallon per hour) and what it did produce was salty. Hence a dug well, located over 300 feet from the salt water cove, whose bottom is higher than sea level was implemented. A submersible pump was used in lieu of shallow well pump because of an elevation rise between my home, located close to the cove, and the wells location. It made priming the pump a bitch; hence I just dropped a submersible pump into the well such that the bottom of the pump (its motor) was buried two or three inches into the sandy bottom where it worked for over 35 years. I know, it sounds like I did everything wrong, but the well was always fairly clean, and I doubt if the pump's motor ever overheated because it was sunk in 50 degree water of enormous latent heat capacity. In addition, it did last over 35 years, so it is kind of hard to argue with the results.

I just had a professional well man install a replacement Franklin pump 1/2 hp, series 5, ten gallons per minute; the pump size was his choice, not mine. Being concerned that it would be unlikely for it to hold up for more than five years or so, I was thinking about installing a Franklin Pumptec Plus unit to protect it against running dry and CSV system which seems to have been sold on this form by many as the modern way to go. I just wrote to Franklin pumps to find out if installing a CSV and the Pumptec Plus unit would be compatible and work together.

Understand, this is the exact reply I received from Franklin:

"We do not recommend a CSV to be put on submersibles. There is a serious change of inadequate flow to cool motor and addition down thrust on the motor shortening the life.



Wally Neighbors

Technical Service Engineer"

I am not particularly worried about cooling or water flowing over the pump since the pump is sitting in a sea of 50 degree water, nor am I worried about the Franklin Rep’s spelling. From college, I remember water has an excellent heat of transfer so unless the pump could heat up a thousand gallons or so of 50 degree water, I just do not see where cooling for me would be a problem. However, the down thrust on the motor does have me concerned as I do not understand that answer either. Newton claims every action has a reaction so if a CSV reduces flow to maintain pressure, then why wouldn't the down thrust be less since less water is being pushed upward, thus lengthening the motor's life?

Franklin's answer did not sit well for me but unless they have an ax to grind, which I doubt, I do not understand their stated position.

In truth, I did not understand several of the items stated on this form by members either. Submersible pumps are designed to work continuously and the heat built up in them is due to electrical heat generation and internal friction. Neither one of these exist if the motor is off. True, one can understand the need for say a variable speed electric drill being used at slow RPM (high torque) to be run unloaded for a while to cool it off since the drill was never designed to be operated continuously as stated. However, a submersible pump (like in my case) stops the generation of heat and is quickly cooled once secured. Not the same thing as a submersible pump confined in a small volume of water (inside a narrow drilled well) of fairly high temperatures, and with a limited flow rate.

The next item that has me asking "why" is the statement "the stop/run cycles is what destroys pumps". I understand that cycling in a two wire pump will eventually cause the internal start switch to fail, hence a shot pump, so why not have a three wire pump where the contactor is located in a control box. The Franklin control box I have seen used a solid state contactor whose life is not even subject to mechanical wear and tear. So again, please explain why starting and stopping an electrical pump when the switching is properly done at a remote location (control box) using the most reliable solid state switching device known to mankind should be a problem?
 
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Valveman

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I am glad you quoted the crap that Franklin is telling people. I maybe able to use that, but I wish you had gotten it in writing from them.

Franklin has a big axe to grind with the CSV. The CSV is disruptive to their industry. It makes pumps last longer, use smaller tanks, and does away with the need for their most profitable items like VFD’s.

Ever once in a while there is a pump system that defies the laws of physics. A pump lasting 35 years is the first unusual thing. Being set a few inches into the mud usually burns up a motor in a matter of days. But if you never use a sprinkler or anything that runs for more than a couple of minutes at a time, I guess the heat has time to transfer into the mud instead of water.

Because of the abundant rainfall and subsequent lack of irrigation in your area, pumps usually last a long time as they are very lightly used. I can see why you are confused about the heat buildup and transfer from a submersible motor. You are right that none of that happens when the pump is off, which yours is most of the time, so I see why you think that.

I also see why people would think a submersible would stay cooler in a large body of water as compared to “narrow casing”, but just the opposite is true. The motor is a foot or two below the intake of the pump. So without a current in the lake or well, the water around the motor can boil, while a few inches above the motor, cool water is going in the intake and getting pumped to the surface.

With a flow inducer sleeve or small diameter casing fed from below, a flow of water goes past the motor before entering the pump, which is what keeps the motor cool. Franklin motor cooling charts do not list a large body of cold water as acceptable. It states the required flow past the motor in feet per second. If there is no flow going past the motor, the heat from the motor can boil the water and destroy the motor quickly.

Most 2 wire submersible motors have a Biac switch, not a centrifugal start switch as in above ground type motors. It is not just the switch that is destroyed from cycling, but many other things as well. Shafts can be broken, splined couplings and impeller hubs can be stripped out, on top of burned pressure switches, start relays and capacitors. However, it is the “canned stator” design of a submersible motor that takes the most abuse from cycling. “Canned stator” means the windings are encased in solid epoxy. When the motor heats up the “canned stator” swells up. When the motor cools down the stator contracts. When the pump is cycling on/off rapidly, the stator doesn’t have time to cool down and contract before the motor is restarted. The stator is swelled up enough that the rotor shaves off a little meat when it starts turning. The shaved off debris gums up the motor and gets into the thrust bearing, which begins a quick death march for the motor.

Also Kingbury type thrust bearings have a film of water hydroplaning between the plates when spinning at least 50% of full speed. This film of water makes this type of bearing completely frictionless. As long as the motor is spinning at least 50% of full speed, there is actually no wear at all on a Kingsbury type bearing. However, each time the pump starts, the bearing runs dry until the pump gets to 50% of full speed. This grinds off a little of the bearing at each start, and is greatly exacerbated if the motor starts before it has time to completely cool down. So the fewer starts, the longer a pump/motor will last.

When a CSV restricts the flow rate, it just makes the pump think it is in a deeper well. Restricting the flow or putting a pump in a deeper well will increase the K factor and cause more down thrust on the bearing. So if “addition down thrust shortens the life of a motor” then they should only be installed in shallow wells, and any restrictor like a Dole valve, (which are very common on pump systems) should be strictly forbidden. Of course this is ridiculous, as submersibles will work fine in very deep wells. And the restricted flow from a CSV is not “inadequate to cool the motor”. Franklin should feel very foolish saying this as hundreds of thousands of successful CSV systems over more than 20 years proves that to be incorrect.

Oh and people who have installed thousands of pump systems would not call the “solid state switches the most reliable know to mankind”, we call them a piece of junk.

I wish you would contact Franklin again and get them to send that to you in writing. I am sure they won’t do it, but that fact would also be telling. Pumps are confusing enough without them spreading false accusations. But keeping things confusing is kind of their goal. If everybody understood what it took to make pumps last a long time, Franklin would go out of business.

Many things about pumps/motors are counter-intuitive, so it common for someone of your education to be confused on some issues. I teach classes to many pump engineers. Most of them are also confused. The counter-intuitive part of pumps and motors means the stuff they learned in school doesn’t apply in the real world. Don’t let Franklin confuse you even further. They will say anything to try and keep your new motor from lasting another 35 years.

And if I am wrong after saying these things for so many years, why hasn’t Franklin sent lawyers after me, or at least put someone on this forum to argue with me? I know they hate what I say, but they can’t argue with the facts. I would love a chance to argue with them in court or at least on a public forum, but they are not likely to let that happen. Wonder why??
 
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LLigetfa

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Ever once in a while there is a pump system that defies the laws of physics. A pump lasting 35 years is the first unusual thing. Being set a few inches into the mud usually burns up a motor in a matter of days.

Too bad they don't make them like they did 35 years ago. I don't see the 35 years of longevity as anecdotal evidence of having done everything right. Rather, I see it as amazing despite having done it wrong. I don't think a motor built today would be as forgiving.
 

Valveman

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I see it as amazing despite having done it wrong.

I agree. I also don’t think the new pump will be stuck a few inches down in the sand. That is because motors are much shorter than they were 35 years ago. They made them shorter because too many of them were accidentally lasting 35 years. I’ll bet the new motor is a foot shorter than the old one.
 

LLigetfa

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Scup

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Valveman,

Appreciate the time you spent on providing such a detailed explanation. Actually my old pump was used to back flush a PH tank at 4 gallons per minute for 12 minutes every day. After doing this for years, I backed off and found by trial and error that once a week was fine.

I do have the email sent to me by Franklin, and would have no problem in forwarding it to you?

Now I am concerned as to just how long my Franklin 1/2 HP series V pump is going to hold out. It is a smaller pump than my old one and the same drop pipe was used to place it in the well. I suspect the bottom of the pump is just an inch or two off the bottom since the motor part of the pump is a couple of inches shorter than the old motor.

No flow inducer sleeve was installed with the replacement pump. Understand that I am not arguing with you, but I really do not believe I could boil the water at the bottom of my well at a localized point using a propane weed burner no matter how long I played the flame on the surface. Probably, I would pass out from oxygen starvation before I would see anything boil. This 1/2 HP pump only draws 6 amps which even if all the energy went into waste heat, that is still only 240 times 6 or 1440 watts. My 50 gallon water heater has a heater element working at 4800 watts and it takes over an hour to bring up the 50 degree well water to 120 degrees. Nevertheless, the next time a pump goes down my well, it is going to have flow inducer sleeve.

Valveman, now I requesting a recommendation as what type of SCV would be suitable? I noted that the PK1A PSIDE- KICK Kit is advertised all over the place and since the installation instructions and videos are out there, it was convenient to read up on this model as is seems like a cinch to install it. I like the idea of stainless fittings since the unit will be before my PH tank. Our acid New England water seems to eat through many metals that have not been treated including a few of my Zurn PEX brass fittings.

Since tables were supplied on the net for this SCV system concerning the pump's horsepower/GPM versus the minimum and maximum depth of well water for the allowable operable SCV range, they have gotten me confused once again. For example, a 10 GPM, 1/2 HP pump, requires a Depth to water minimum level of 0', and a Depth to water Maximum level of 40'. What in the world does minimum depth to the water level of 0' mean? Even when Sandy went by us, the water level in my well never came up to the surface, and the maximum depth of anything more than 18 feet would be impossible since my well is only 18 feet deep! Am I understanding these tables correctly, i.e., I should be fine with an 18 foot deep shallow well and a SCV system?

While I am not sure why well men consider solid state switches to be junk, since I spent a lifetime in living with them as they worked flawlessly in high powered Naval sonar systems; the ones I have seen in action were not junk. I suspect what could be, and what is supplied, are two very different items. True, even the finest and the most reliable pieces of hardware, can be reduced to junk by so-so manufacturers.

Let me know if you wish to have me forward the Franklin email to you and in particular let me know how I can go about doing it (i.e. sending a personal email to you). Thank you very much for allowing me to pick your brains!
I am already very glad I joined up!
 
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Valveman

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. I do have the email sent to me by Franklin, and would have no problem in forwarding it to you?

Please, Please send me that email as soon as possible. I have been waiting decades for someone to get that in writing.

email is caustin@cyclestopvalves.com

And thank you very much for sending it to me. I will answer your other questions on a later post.
 

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Actually my old pump was used to back flush a PH tank at 4 gallons per minute for 12 minutes every day. After doing this for years, I backed off and found by trial and error that once a week was fine.

Even guessing you used the pump 12 minutes everyday for the first 20 years, then 12 minutes a week for 15 more years, that only adds up to about 67 days of actual use. 35 years sounds impressive until you realize the pump only lasted 67 days of actual usage. The typical pump for a house without extra amenities only gets about 7 days worth of usage in a 365 day year. When you look at it that way lasting 20 years is a relative term.


Now I am concerned as to just how long my Franklin 1/2 HP series V pump is going to hold out. It is a smaller pump than my old one and the same drop pipe was used to place it in the well. I suspect the bottom of the pump is just an inch or two off the bottom since the motor part of the pump is a couple of inches shorter than the old motor.

No longer being stuck in the sand will probably make up for the lack of heat sink available in the shorter motor. I wouldn’t think you will get another 35 years but, as lightly used as your pump is, you should be able to count on a fairly long pump/motor life.

No flow inducer sleeve was installed with the replacement pump. Understand that I am not arguing with you, but I really do not believe I could boil the water at the bottom of my well at a localized point using a propane weed burner no matter how long I played the flame on the surface. Probably, I would pass out from oxygen starvation before I would see anything boil. This 1/2 HP pump only draws 6 amps which even if all the energy went into waste heat, that is still only 240 times 6 or 1440 watts. My 50 gallon water heater has a heater element working at 4800 watts and it takes over an hour to bring up the 50 degree well water to 120 degrees. Nevertheless, the next time a pump goes down my well, it is going to have flow inducer sleeve.

Ironically the shorter motor actually helps make up for the lack of a flow inducer sleeve. The thrust bearing at the very bottom of the motor is now just a little closer to the water intake. With any current at all, the bottom of the motor will see some circulation because it is so close. It still doesn’t make up for a sleeve, but it helps.

You would be surprised how much heat 1440 watts can put out when running 24/7. I once had a customer whose complaint was hot water coming out of her cold water faucets. After verifying it wasn’t a plumbing mix up, we determined she had a hole in her drop pipe. Water had been circulating in the well for no telling how long. After we fixed the hole in the pipe she still had hot water for days. It must have heated up a very large area of the aquifer down there.

It takes a lot of energy to heat up 50 gallons of water. But there is only about 1.5 gallons per foot in most cased wells. So for the 2’ area around the motor, there are only about 3 gallons that are being heated. If the flow into the well is from above, the water around the motor does not get circulated and it doesn’t take long to heat up that 3 gallons of water.

In more modern wells that doesn’t happen because there is too much plastic in the well components. When the well head freezes or well pumps dry, the pump heats up the water until the PVC pipe melts and drops the pump in the well. You are then just lucky if the pump stops running before the PVC casing also melts and collapses the well.

Valveman, now I requesting a recommendation as what type of CSV would be suitable? I noted that the PK1A PSIDE- KICK Kit is advertised all over the place and since the installation instructions and videos are out there, it was convenient to read up on this model as is seems like a cinch to install it. I like the idea of stainless fittings since the unit will be before my PH tank. Our acid New England water seems to eat through many metals that have not been treated including a few of my Zurn PEX brass fittings.

The CSV1A is Stainless and would be best for your acidic water. Conveniently that is the valve that comes with the PK1A Pside-Kick with the other Stainless fittings.

Since tables were supplied on the net for this CSV system concerning the pump's horsepower/GPM versus the minimum and maximum depth of well water for the allowable operable SCV range, they have gotten me confused once again. For example, a 10 GPM, 1/2 HP pump, requires a Depth to water minimum level of 0', and a Depth to water Maximum level of 40'. What in the world does minimum depth to the water level of 0' mean? Even when Sandy went by us, the water level in my well never came up to the surface, and the maximum depth of anything more than 18 feet would be impossible since my well is only 18 feet deep! Am I understanding these tables correctly, i.e., I should be fine with an 18 foot deep shallow well and a CSV system?

First problem is you said you were sold a series 5 pump. That means 5 GPM not 10 GPM as you may have been told. It may still pump 10 GPM from a shallow well running wide open with no pressure in the system, but it is designed for 5 GPM at depth and pressure. If it does pump 10 GPM you don’t have enough head on it and it could be damaged from upthrust.

Whichever pump you have, the chart shows the minimum water level that won’t cause the pump to upthrust or put too much backpressure on the CSV. The maximum water level shows how deep the water in your well can be, and that particular pump still be able to build up to 60 PSI so the pressure switch can shut it off. 0’ just means the water can be all the way up to surface, or that you could even put that pump in a cistern or storage tank.

While I am not sure why well men consider solid state switches to be junk, since I spent a lifetime in living with them as they worked flawlessly in high powered Naval sonar systems; the ones I have seen in action were not junk. I suspect what could be, and what is supplied, are two very different items. True, even the finest and the most reliable pieces of hardware, can be reduced to junk by so-so manufacturers.

I shouldn’t have made such a general statement. I have solid state switches in some machines on the factory floor that are very reliable. But the consumer grade solid state switches they use in pump control boxes have caused me many a free service call, which is why I don’t like them.

Thank you very much for allowing me to pick your brains!
I am already very glad I joined up!

Sorry about all the fussing on this thread. I hope you are still happy you joined. I am happy you joined as I like answering intelligent questions. Happy New Year!
 

Craigpump

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Scup, i dont think your pump guy gave you a great deal. I install Franklin pumps and motors and my supplier warranties them 100% right out of the box for one year, I personally add another 4 years.

As for a pump heating up a well.....I suppose it's possible, but here in Ct the water is 54 degrees, so it would take a hell of a lot of energy to not only heat the water but to also heat up that big mass of rock we call Mother Earth. But the last time we had this discussion I took a piece of 6" 17lb casing, welded a cap on it filled it with water and put a 1hp motor into it and turned it on. Yep, eventually the water and casing got hot, but when it got too hot the motor shut itself down, after it cooled off, it ran again for a while and then quit........ Kind of reminds me of the outfit called Aqua Freeze in New York. Their claim was that they could inject a few bottles of co2 onto a well freezing the rock which would create fractures and improve the wells yield. Can you say BS?

I hate to say it, but we are in the pump business and although we take steps to do good installations, we rely on pump replacements to make our living. Are we any worse than the oil change places that promote oil changes every 3000 miles? How about car companies who could make cars last 500,000 miles? Or the tire companies that make tires that give up at 40,000 miles? If we stop and run the numbers, the average pump here in Ct lasts 15 yrs. it moves on average 300 gallons a day for a total of 1,642,500 gallons. Divide your pump replacement cost by that number and you have how much that water cost per gallon. In my minds eye, that is absolutely the best bargain going. So good it's damn near free!
 

Scup

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Scup, i dont think your pump guy gave you a great deal. I install Franklin pumps and motors and my supplier warranties them 100% right out of the box for one year, I personally add another 4 years.

As for a pump heating up a well.....I suppose it's possible, but here in Ct the water is 54 degrees, so it would take a hell of a lot of energy to not only heat the water but to also heat up that big mass of rock we call Mother Earth. But the last time we had this discussion I took a piece of 6" 17lb casing, welded a cap on it filled it with water and put a 1hp motor into it and turned it on. Yep, eventually the water and casing got hot, but when it got too hot the motor shut itself down, after it cooled off, it ran again for a while and then quit........ Kind of reminds me of the outfit called Aqua Freeze in New York. Their claim was that they could inject a few bottles of co2 onto a well freezing the rock which would create fractures and improve the wells yield. Can you say BS?

I hate to say it, but we are in the pump business and although we take steps to do good installations, we rely on pump replacements to make our living. Are we any worse than the oil change places that promote oil changes every 3000 miles? How about car companies who could make cars last 500,000 miles? Or the tire companies that make tires that give up at 40,000 miles? If we stop and run the numbers, the average pump here in Ct lasts 15 yrs. it moves on average 300 gallons a day for a total of 1,642,500 gallons. Divide your pump replacement cost by that number and you have how much that water cost per gallon. In my minds eye, that is absolutely the best bargain going. So good it's damn near free!

I agree with everything you stated. I know I could have install the pump myself, but I would have had to go down into the dug well myself with a propane torch to free up the barbed drop pipe connection five feet below grade. Being 75 years old, my family just would not let me do what I wanted to do. Believe me; it was easier to spend/waste the money, than to argue with family. However, if the pump should fail prematurely, I doubt if there will be any more future arguments.

Just look at the mess I unintentionally stirred up between Tom and Valveman. Could not help but note Tom is from Maine and Valveman from Texas. Not to change the subject, but both places, Maine and Texas, did bring back very fond memories for me considering the large amount of time I had spent at Bath Iron works, not to mention visiting Eastport Maine via a destroyer. When the USS SAN JACINTO had to pull into Houston for Commissioning, we were treated like royalty, everything was opened up for us. I am definitely extremely fond of both places, although I would have to give an edge to those Texas girls for looks!
 

Scup

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Valveman,

I do not know how to read everything on the label of the box my pump came out of. It is a Franklin Electric, model 10FV05P4-2W230, 10GMP, 6SGT, PLASTIC, 1/2HP, 2-WIRE, 230V Date Code 12J22 along with some coded #s i.e. 9540 1010 and 11 00222 A, FPS Series V, and of course Product Of Mexico.

What I do understand, is its rating and the notation "PLASTIC" as the pump has quite a bit of plastic used in its construction for which I am not sure if that is good or bad since here in CT everyone has acid water and even stainless can run into trouble depending on its grade. I am guessing that 6STG may mean six stages but it is only a guess on my part and I am really not sure if the pump is suitable for a shallow well application. I cannot read the date code, but it is of little concern to me unless someone tells me otherwise.

The old pump was 1HP and I believe it was a TAIT (very hard to remember what went down the hole 35 years ago) and probably way too large for its application. I still have the old pump, but when we pulled it up, I would not have known it was a pump if I did not put it down there. It was covered with a tough brownish material that I could chip away at (I was trying to find its label) which my well guy told me was an Iron compound. The intake screen was better than 95% covered and I was surprised that the pump could have still kept working with so much crap on it. Have no idea of how many stages it had, but its flow rate I remember was 10 GPM. I am guessing it might have had as many as 12 stages in it and probably totally unsuited for its intended use. Talk about cycle time, I did time it when first put in and it took only 12 seconds to fill the undersized tank I had. Before it failed it was taking three times longer to fill the tank. I had thought the pump was just getting tired but with its input just about covered, the motor was more or less unloaded and only putting out a fraction of its rated horsepower.

I do now understand, I hope, and that my water use needs were far minimal compared to what others might need. My biggest water demand I can think of is back flushing my PH tank for 12 minutes at 4 GPM once a week, and once in the blue moon use of a pressure washer (also needs 4GPM) to clean my deck or fish pots. Either way, no other fixture would be on when back flushing or pressure washing. I would doubt my shower heads put out 2 GPM @ 50PSI, if that, probably because of some governmental mandate.

After reading this thread, I am glad that my pressure switch never got stuck in the on position because either the safety valve (hopefully) or something else would have had to bust or explode.

I would like thank everyone that sent me private emails about the use of a pressure switch that incorporates a reset lever in the event the pressure ever drops below 20 PSI. Not only would it provide some protection in the event the well goes dry, should a catastrophic failure occur like a blown tank, the pump would be shut down instead of making my home a swimming pool.

Thanks again guys for setting me straight; I am a bit slow, but sooner or later I will come up to speed.
 

Valveman

Cary Austin
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I tried to reply to your email and I was blocked. So here is the content of my email to you.

Thanks for forwarding the email. I will see what I can do with that. Also to answer the question you sent to Franklin, no a Pumptec will not work with a CSV. They see a 25% drop in amps and think the well is dry when it is only the CSV making the amps drop. That is why we designed the Cycle Sensor. See this link. http://www.cyclestopvalves.com/prod_sensor.html

It does the same thing as a Pumtec, but is infinitely adjustable so it will work with a CSV. We also believe it works better than a Pumtec as it has fewer nuisance faults.


Tait pumps used to be a couple blocks over from my shop when they were still in business back in the 70’s. I am sure it had plastic impellers as well, as that is about when they started using plastic instead of brass.

Your new 10FV05 means it is a 10 GPM, ½ HP. You don’t have any choice about the plastic impellers anymore. Your only other option is REALLY thin Stainless Steel, which won’t last any longer than the plastic.

A little $8 pressure relief valve is the best protection against a pressure switch sticking closed. The low-pressure cut-off pressure switches work well for a break in the line, but they usually have to be manually reset after each power outage, which can be a nuisance.

The Cycle Sensor I mentioned is more reliable for protecting the pump against dry run because it looks at amps instead of pressure. And it will reset itself automatically when the power comes back on. But it will not shut off the pump if there is a broken line, unless the broken line causes the well to run dry.
 
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