Frozen Line? Or something else

[Chef D]

Hi all...here is my situation..my home was built in 2000 and is all copper supply lines in the house. I installed a new well pump 6 months ago..its 300 feet deep...discharge pipe is about 4 feet deep (safe estimation i think it may be more like 4 and a half feet). The line from the well to the house is 10 feet then pokes through the subwall. I was away for 6 days and when i returned home had no water..frozen pipes i thought. i heated the pipe at the subwall in the basement and got some flow going. Now i have moderate flow in the kitchen but still slow in the bathroom (same level) and almost no flow upstais. All the pipes to the first level are not frozen (i accesed all them and heated them all up for hours with a electric heater). My next step was i changed the pressure switch...still no change in what im getting into the house. Im not sure if the booster tank is not filling but it seems the well pump cant keep up with the very minimal demand (its a 3/4 pump). I would say my skill set is above novice for this type of work buti just dont know what the problem could be. My next step was going to disconnect the discharge line with a t-wrench and pull it up and turn the pump on to make sure i have good flow from the pump i figured if the underground pipe was frozen all the flow would have at least gained due to the water running and thawing the line? Im at a point of total confusion with this!!

 

[Craigpump]

You might find that the pressure dropped in the house, the pressure switch closed, the pump came on and deadheaded against the frozen pipe which either melted the pump off the drop pipe or wiped out the pump.

 

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[Reach4]

What does the pressure gauge say?

When you say booster tank, I suspect that you mean the pressure tank.

Can you tell when the pump is running?

 

[Chef D]

its the blue tank in the basement its like a holding tank to keep the pump from short cycling i assume ( this is my first time with a well system) the pressure was around 22psi if i remember correctly (im not home right now to check) and i can hear when the pump kicks on..and hear water flow into the house but idk how much flow is actually coming in...

 

[Chef D]

im hopeing thats not the case..but the impellers are plastic..but im still getting some flow to the house and the pump is like 280 feet below the discharge line

 

[Reach4]

its the blue tank in the basement its like a holding tank to keep the pump from short cycling i assume ( this is my first time with a well system) the pressure was around 22psi if i remember correctly (im not home right now to check) and i can hear when the pump kicks on..and hear water flow into the house but idk how much flow is actually coming in...

The pressure on your gauge, which is near the pressure switch and the blue pressure tank is 25 PSI. In that case, I would expect the pressure switch to turn the pump on. The the pressure indicated on that gauge change, or is it pretty consistent at 25 PSI?

You can hear the pump. Has it been going on and off recently, or is it on solid? When it comes on, how long does it stay on?

It is possible that there is a blockage between the pressure switch and the gauge.

 

[Chef D]

The line between the switch and guage is only a few inches..i had flow at the switch when i changed it and at the pressure guage(i threaded it out to make sure it was getting flow and reinstalled) ..i only glanced at the guage after i changed the switch before i got called into work..ill have to check if the pump is pressurizing the tank like it should...i dident think to do that thats way better than pulling the discharge line up in the cold...the pump is running when i have the faucets running (trying to possible thaw the line with flow) but its not short cycling or running constantly. im just not sure why i have at least moderate flow in the first level but almost none upstairs thats why i changed the pressure switch i assumed it wasent working to get the tank pressurized..the switch is a 40-60 psi switch ( thats what was reccomended for my pump and house size/well depth by the guy when i got it months ago with my new pump)

 

[Reach4]

im just not sure why i have at least moderate flow in the first level but almost none upstairs thats why i changed the pressure switch i assumed it wasent working to get the tank pressurized..the switch is a 40-60 psi switch ( thats what was reccomended for my pump and house size/well depth by the guy when i got it months ago with my new pump)

Two things come to mind: you only have 10 PSI, so the pressure drop due to gravity is significant, or you still have some inside frozen lines.

You lose 0.434 PSI for every foot of rise. So if your second floor faucets are 23 feet higher than your gauge, you lose 10 PSI of static pressure with no blockage.

If it is handy, you might buy a gauge that you could thread onto your laundry tub faucet etc. That way you could compare pressures and gauges.

 

[Chef D]

i just assumed i dident have any inside frozen lines but i will try and do some more heating with the electric heater..the house is warm enough i dident think id have inside frozen lines....i dident even consider the static drop due to the rise...i will try the pressure comparisson as well at the first level..

 

[Valveman]

If you have a clip around amp meter, the 3/4 motor will be drawing 7 amps if you have a break in the line. It will only be drawing about 4 or 5 amps if the line is frozen.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

If the water pressure at the tank is only in the 20-30 psi range, your pressure upstairs is going to be dismal. With a 40-60 switch, the pressure should never drop much below 40 if the pump and control is working properly.