Asheville_jeff
New Member
Fingers crossed that maybe someone can point me in the right direction or provide some guidance. I believe my well pump has intermittent flow/pressure production problems. Here goes the sad story... we went on vacation and came back to to no water. A power reset got things going again and after some sleuthing - I found that pressure tank want to water logged. Also - there was huge power bill (over double our normal and weren't even there to enjoy it). I've addressed the tank issue, replaced the pressure switch - but the power bill still while better still seems to be high and correlated to water usage.
After addressing the tank/switch issues - here's the test I've run: Turn shut off valve at tank exit to prevent drainage from pipes in the house. From there I drained the water from tank until the pressure tripped switch and started the pump. I then shut off the tank drain and tracked the time to refill and re-pressurize the tank until the pressure switch tripped again (shutting off pump). It's a 40 gallon tank and is set to 50-70 psi (3 story house - so that top floor needs a bit more pressure). The tank was pre-pressurized for 40-60psi (I increased tank pressure to 48 psi). My pressure switch was initially adjusted to 40-60 psi. I adjusted both to increase the pressure to 50-70 psi (though the trip point seems a good bit lower (42 psi) based on the tests below).
I did three tests, back to back... the pump had not cycled excessively prior to my testing.
Test 1
Start Trip: Kicked on around 55 psi (given my other two readings, which I feel more confident in, maybe I missed this - lots of parallel activities - shut off water drain value, start the timer, look at the amperage pull, read pressure switch)
Amps: Pulls 11.4 - 10.9 amps
Duration: 1 min 37 seconds to get back to pressure
Stop Trip: Shut off at 70 psi
Test 2
Start Trip: Clicked on at 42 psi
Amps: Amperage ~10.9
Duration: Ran for 1:50
Stop Trip: Clicked off at 70 psi
Test 3
Start Trip: Clicked on at 42 psi
Amps: Amperage 10.9
Duration: Ran for 1:56
Stop Trip: Clicked off at 70 psi
Are those re-pressurization times reasonable? Is it possible that the pump, after running for some time, starts to lose ability to pressurize (maybe overheats?). I can add that test after some heavy usage. Any other thoughts on how to test or where my problem might be.
Other potential contributing factors:
There is some sediment in the water and I have a whole house filter - which gets changed intermittently. That can impact flow - though it not impact pressurization since that's after the pump to pressure tank section of piping.
I think I have seen the pump re-pressurize very slowly - though that wasn't replicated in the test above.
Thanks for any/all advice/thoughts/recommendations!
After addressing the tank/switch issues - here's the test I've run: Turn shut off valve at tank exit to prevent drainage from pipes in the house. From there I drained the water from tank until the pressure tripped switch and started the pump. I then shut off the tank drain and tracked the time to refill and re-pressurize the tank until the pressure switch tripped again (shutting off pump). It's a 40 gallon tank and is set to 50-70 psi (3 story house - so that top floor needs a bit more pressure). The tank was pre-pressurized for 40-60psi (I increased tank pressure to 48 psi). My pressure switch was initially adjusted to 40-60 psi. I adjusted both to increase the pressure to 50-70 psi (though the trip point seems a good bit lower (42 psi) based on the tests below).
I did three tests, back to back... the pump had not cycled excessively prior to my testing.
Test 1
Start Trip: Kicked on around 55 psi (given my other two readings, which I feel more confident in, maybe I missed this - lots of parallel activities - shut off water drain value, start the timer, look at the amperage pull, read pressure switch)
Amps: Pulls 11.4 - 10.9 amps
Duration: 1 min 37 seconds to get back to pressure
Stop Trip: Shut off at 70 psi
Test 2
Start Trip: Clicked on at 42 psi
Amps: Amperage ~10.9
Duration: Ran for 1:50
Stop Trip: Clicked off at 70 psi
Test 3
Start Trip: Clicked on at 42 psi
Amps: Amperage 10.9
Duration: Ran for 1:56
Stop Trip: Clicked off at 70 psi
Are those re-pressurization times reasonable? Is it possible that the pump, after running for some time, starts to lose ability to pressurize (maybe overheats?). I can add that test after some heavy usage. Any other thoughts on how to test or where my problem might be.
Other potential contributing factors:
There is some sediment in the water and I have a whole house filter - which gets changed intermittently. That can impact flow - though it not impact pressurization since that's after the pump to pressure tank section of piping.
I think I have seen the pump re-pressurize very slowly - though that wasn't replicated in the test above.
Thanks for any/all advice/thoughts/recommendations!