Grundfus system

[Paul Peavey]

I am neeeding help, last august my wife had the well pump replaced while i was on active duty well the problem is we have been fighting the pressure was really high in the showers and hard to control the hot water before we went on vacation and on the controller it was set to 60psi.
Came back from vacation now the pressure seems really low out of the faucets and having to turn the hot water really high to get warm water.
I put a pressure gauge on the outside faucets yesterday and it shows 55psi with the controller at 60psi .There is no pressure gauge in the system and only a very small blue tank with a sensor, what could be my problem i cant afford to have someone come out and start diagnosising the system any help would be greatly appreaciated.

 

[Reach4]

Look for a cartridge filter that is clogged up. Replace the filter cartridge. If you don't see a cartridge filter housing, what do you see? Softener or something?

You could put your pressure gauge on a laundry spigot or the WH drain to quantify the pressure drop, if you like.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Paul Peavey]

Look for a cartridge filter that is clogged up. Replace the filter cartridge. If you don't see a cartridge filter housing, what do you see? Softener or something?

You could put your pressure gauge on a laundry spigot or the WH drain to quantify the pressure drop, if you like.[/
thank you for replying i did replace the single handle cartridge in both showers last year as well and still had the same problem, so you say check the pressure at the water heater? How would that affect my overall pressure in the entire house? I am a dyi guy but this has got me really baffled, there is no softner or anything just the well controller CU301 i believe and flexco tank PJR6

 

[Jadnashua]

In a typical system, the pressure will go up to the pressure switch limit, then turn off. As you then use water, it will drop gradually until it gets to the low pressure point on the pressure switch. Depending on the flow of the pump and well, and how much water you're using, the pump may or may not turn off if you are using it faster than it can build up until you turn the valve off (say the shower or tub, etc.).

There's usually about a 20# difference between the turn on and off settings of the pressure switch. The switch is adjustable somewhat. What can affect the switch is if the pipe going to it gets clogged up...then, it can't quickly and reliably sense the pressure. If they used galvanized pipe, that may be the case. Ideally, it would be brass or copper rather than galvanized steel.

FWIW, you can use an air pressure gauge on your storage tank's air fill valve. While you check that, ensure that the tank is not full of water. If you get any water out of the air fill valve when you check, the storage tank is shot. The precharge on the storage tank should be 1-2# lower than the turn-on pressure of the pump pressure switch. That little buffer gives the pump a moment to build up pressure once it drops before there's no water left in the tank.

To check the precharge on the storage tank, you must turn the pump off, open a water valve until there's no water coming out...leave it open, then check the pressure. Add some if it needs, then close that valve and turn the pump back on. Then, the air pressure in the tank will equal the water pressure in the rest of the system. Say 55# is your high point, the pump would typically turn on when the pressure dropped to 35#, so you'd put 33-34# of air pressure in the tank.

 

[Paul Peavey]

In a typical system, the pressure will go up to the pressure switch limit, then turn off. As you then use water, it will drop gradually until it gets to the low pressure point on the pressure switch. Depending on the flow of the pump and well, and how much water you're using, the pump may or may not turn off if you are using it faster than it can build up until you turn the valve off (say the shower or tub, etc.).

There's usually about a 20# difference between the turn on and off settings of the pressure switch. The switch is adjustable somewhat. What can affect the switch is if the pipe going to it gets clogged up...then, it can't quickly and reliably sense the pressure. If they used galvanized pipe, that may be the case. Ideally, it would be brass or copper rather than galvanized steel.

FWIW, you can use an air pressure gauge on your storage tank's air fill valve. While you check that, ensure that the tank is not full of water. If you get any water out of the air fill valve when you check, the storage tank is shot. The precharge on the storage tank should be 1-2# lower than the turn-on pressure of the pump pressure switch. That little buffer gives the pump a moment to build up pressure once it drops before there's no water left in the tank.

To check the precharge on the storage tank, you must turn the pump off, open a water valve until there's no water coming out...leave it open, then check the pressure. Add some if it needs, then close that valve and turn the pump back on. Then, the air pressure in the tank will equal the water pressure in the rest of the system. Say 55# is your high point, the pump would typically turn on when the pressure dropped to 35#, so you'd put 33-34# of air pressure in the tank.

thank you for replying, there is no type of pressure switch its all controlled by the CPU it just has a sensor in the line, the pressure tank has no fill access it is a flex con PJR6 2.1 GAL

 

[Jadnashua]

There IS a valve to check and adjust the tank. https://www.flexconind.com/flexcon steel well tanks iom lr 8-29-18.pdf

It cannot be done with the pump on, and you need to relieve the water pressure before you can check and adjust the precharge otherwise, all you're measuring is the water pressure.

 

[Valveman]

That variable speed pump (SQE) with the CU301 controller doesn't work like a regular well pump. It only drops a couple pounds before the pump comes on. The biggest problem with those is they lose connection between the CU301 brain box to the other electronics in the bottom of the motor. When they lose connection, it reverts into cycling on and off with a 15 PSI bandwidth like it did not have a variable speed controller. This is very hard on the pump and will make the pressure low and weak. We fix so many of these by replacing the CU301 with a Cycle Stop Valve and regular pressure switch that we have instructions for how to repair a VFD 2 wire pump this way.

 

[Paul Peavey]

In a typical system, the pressure will go up to the pressure switch limit, then turn off. As you then use water, it will drop gradually until it gets to the low pressure point on the pressure switch. Depending on the flow of the pump and well, and how much water you're using, the pump may or may not turn off if you are using it faster than it can build up until you turn the valve off (say the shower or tub, etc.).

There's usually about a 20# difference between the turn on and off settings of the pressure switch. The switch is adjustable somewhat. What can affect the switch is if the pipe going to it gets clogged up...then, it can't quickly and reliably sense the pressure. If they used galvanized pipe, that may be the case. Ideally, it would be brass or copper rather than galvanized steel.

FWIW, you can use an air pressure gauge on your storage tank's air fill valve. While you check that, ensure that the tank is not full of water. If you get any water out of the air fill valve when you check, the storage tank is shot. The precharge on the storage tank should be 1-2# lower than the turn-on pressure of the pump pressure switch. That little buffer gives the pump a moment to build up pressure once it drops before there's no water left in the tank.

To check the precharge on the storage tank, you must turn the pump off, open a water valve until there's no water coming out...leave it open, then check the pressure. Add some if it needs, then close that valve and turn the pump back on. Then, the air pressure in the tank will equal the water pressure in the rest of the system. Say 55# is your high point, the pump would typically turn on when the pressure dropped to 35#, so you'd put 33-34# of air pressure in the tank.

thank you for replying how do i know what the cut in pressure and cut out pressure is? when i checked the pressure at the tank it was at 72 so i shut it down drained the water and set to 50 i dont know what the tank should be set at but the controller is at 60psi and you can hear the pressure go up and down while running the water.

 

[Valveman]

I will say again.......

That variable speed pump (SQE) with the CU301 controller doesn't work like a regular well pump. It only drops a couple pounds before the pump comes on. The biggest problem with those is they lose connection between the CU301 brain box to the other electronics in the bottom of the motor. When they lose connection, it reverts into cycling on and off with a 15 PSI bandwidth like it did not have a variable speed controller. This is very hard on the pump and will make the pressure low and weak. We fix so many of these by replacing the CU301 with a Cycle Stop Valve and regular pressure switch that we have instructions for how to repair a VFD 2 wire pump this way.

That pump does not have a 20 PSI bandwidth between on and off. The fact that it is working that way means the CU301 box has failed. You can either get a new CU301 every time this happens, or you can switch to a CSV instead.

See this link;
https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/replacing-sqe-or-cu301-with-csv

 

[Paul Peavey]

I will say again.......



That pump does not have a 20 PSI bandwidth between on and off. The fact that it is working that way means the CU301 box has failed. You can either get a new CU301 every time this happens, or you can switch to a CSV instead.

See this link;
https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/replacing-sqe-or-cu301-with-csv

I finally understand what your saying the damn controller is bad since its fluctuating that way. LOL do you do service calls in Amarillo to do the suggested work?

 

[Valveman]

I don't install anymore. But any plumber or pump man can do it if you don't want to DIY. I do have people run down from Amarillo and pick up what they need sometimes. But as long as you still have water, although at fluctuating pressure, you can wait a day for me to ship it if you like.

 

[Reach4]

Adjust the precharge to 42 psi. If you cannot do that, replace the pressure tank. https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/fixing-a-grundfos-cu301.57546/