LLigetfa
DIYer, not in the trades
My take is the air was a one time event due to the system being taken down and dismantled.
OP stated PEX pipe goes down 40 feet. My take is well was jack hammered down sand point used as open top casing.
Gould J5S - Pressure Build Problems + Noises
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OP stated PEX pipe goes down 40 feet. My take is well was jack hammered down sand point used as open top casing.
Yep. That fits too. So you are picturing a hammered sand point (2 inch) driven into the ground maybe 40 ft or more, and a piece of pex inserted into the open galvanized pipe but no foot valve or other check valve?
I guess some clarification is in order.
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LLigetfa
DIYer, not in the trades
OP claims foot valve is installed.
40' of pex with a foot valve will only work until the water level gets deeper than about 24'. Deeper than 24' you are just pulling air right out of the water, as a jet pump cannot lift higher than 24'. Water level deeper than 24' needs a packer system with a deep well jet pump set up.
Pr0t0c01
New Member
Sorry, I've been troubleshooting and thought things may have gotten better, but now it's progressively got worse. I actually manually shut the pump off after it's ran for a long time and failed to make progress in building pressure. If using the washers it won't be able to finish filling typically for a wash cycle, so we turn it off, give it an hour and then turn it back on to finish filling.
Valve, let me throw out the specs and I'll try to give more details.
2" Casing that is 41' from my garage slab, it's only 2-3 inches higher than the garage slab, there is a cut out in the slab for the well, which is inside a utility room in my garage/house.
The 1" PEX is 36' long, but only about 30' inside the casing. So I'd suspect I'm 30' down my casing, 10' or so off the bottom. The water level last I checked is 12' down, meaning I've got about 28-29' of water at it's highest point.
If I'm pulling air, I really can't imagine it being a leak as every last part of the system has been checked. It would have to be the water level dropping below my pickup pipe, correct? Which means that the J5S is pulling from lower than it should be able to, it's pulling from almost 30'.
I can't seem to be able to push the pex deeper, I can't tell if I'm hitting a build up of sand, which is what I figured, that or hitting a seam in my casing or some sort of bend? PEX doesn't like to be straight, especially when it's in cold 37*F water like we have here. So the foot valve scraps up against the casing wall the whole way down.
Short of those nuwell tablets, I wonder if it's possible to use compressed air to clean the screen out. I'm not sure why I just feel like that bottom of this well has said in it and the screen is too tightly packed to let enough water in. How would one clean a well inside with walls and electricals nearby? If so compressed and bubbled the bottom of the Sandpoint, I'd have water, silt and other debris shooting and bubbling out of the top, right?
I called a local well driller and they said they don't even waste time with 2" wells, said I should just have them punch in a 6" diameter well. At $55 a foot, he said it would be a much better investment then screwing around with this well.
Unfortunately I'm a gluten for punishment and it's not in my nature to just buy something new before I have exhausted all possibilities within reason.
Any more advice? I think the wife is just done with this, as am I.
Valve, let me throw out the specs and I'll try to give more details.
2" Casing that is 41' from my garage slab, it's only 2-3 inches higher than the garage slab, there is a cut out in the slab for the well, which is inside a utility room in my garage/house.
The 1" PEX is 36' long, but only about 30' inside the casing. So I'd suspect I'm 30' down my casing, 10' or so off the bottom. The water level last I checked is 12' down, meaning I've got about 28-29' of water at it's highest point.
If I'm pulling air, I really can't imagine it being a leak as every last part of the system has been checked. It would have to be the water level dropping below my pickup pipe, correct? Which means that the J5S is pulling from lower than it should be able to, it's pulling from almost 30'.
I can't seem to be able to push the pex deeper, I can't tell if I'm hitting a build up of sand, which is what I figured, that or hitting a seam in my casing or some sort of bend? PEX doesn't like to be straight, especially when it's in cold 37*F water like we have here. So the foot valve scraps up against the casing wall the whole way down.
Short of those nuwell tablets, I wonder if it's possible to use compressed air to clean the screen out. I'm not sure why I just feel like that bottom of this well has said in it and the screen is too tightly packed to let enough water in. How would one clean a well inside with walls and electricals nearby? If so compressed and bubbled the bottom of the Sandpoint, I'd have water, silt and other debris shooting and bubbling out of the top, right?
I called a local well driller and they said they don't even waste time with 2" wells, said I should just have them punch in a 6" diameter well. At $55 a foot, he said it would be a much better investment then screwing around with this well.
Unfortunately I'm a gluten for punishment and it's not in my nature to just buy something new before I have exhausted all possibilities within reason.
Any more advice? I think the wife is just done with this, as am I.
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A jet pump can't lift more than about 24'. If you can see the water level in the well, check it while the pump is running. A suction leak is so small it won't leak out water, but air can still get in. Drop the foot valve over in a bucket or barrel and test the pump. Putting the hose back in the bucket circulates the water and a bucket is big enough to test the pump.
Pr0t0c01
New Member
Still really think I have an air leak? Ok, I'll revisit this possibility. When I brought the pump to a local and very experienced shop, they said it was working great. The had it hooked up to a pressure tank and bucket like they are talking about and showed it fill a 5gal tank flawlessly and in a matter of 20 seconds or so. Granted this was a small amount for water so I thought it wasn't a good stress test for it. But they did say all of the internals were great.
I'll have to see if I can see the water level with the pickup tube in the casing. It's a tight fit being a 2" casing with a 1" pex.
I'd imagine, that the water level going lower might make the pump work hard and create more pressure/suction as it has to pull water from further down. Is it possible that it's only sucking a little bit of air when the water level is high, and then it sucks more and more air as the water level gets lower? Is this sound logic?
I'll check for a leak again, any idea where on these J5S units I should be looking? The entire pex was replaced, as we're the top fittings and with new sealant on fittings after the threads were cleaned off.
With 30' of pipe down the well the pump cannot suck air. It will just quit pumping if the water level gets below 25' or so. If you had the pump checked and it is good, the only other possibility is it is not getting the water it needs.
Pr0t0c01
New Member
The pump is doing much better today. We have had lots of snow melting and it's been raining for 2 days, so I believe the water level is raising and recovering a bit quicker.
That being said, I noticed one single fitting that I didn't redo the sealant on. I'm going to take that one off tonight and redo it. It is the main inlet, but it was done up with a very generous amount of "green stuff" sealant and I don't see any signs of cracks/leaks.
Can the pump leak from anything else like the main seal or the one behind the impeller?
If the seal or case gasket was leaking water would be seen. A leak on the suction line will be so small water won't leak out but air can leak in. Water level in the well makes a big difference with jet pumps.
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