Jet pump fails to hit pressure cutoff after heavy use : losing my mind

[gg113]

We bought a house with a driven point well 2 years ago, and have had flawless pressure until two weeks ago. During the use of our standby generator mid power outage, where we had a voltage spike and slight pressure surge at the sink during operation and i went down to make sure the pump was ok. When i got down there i noticed that pump was extremely hot and running without shutting off (not hitting cutoff pressure). Unfortunately the pressure gauge had failed so i have no idea what the cutoff pressure was. Around this same time i noticed i had a toilet leaking and filling constantly, that has been addressed and may have been the cause of the pump being so hot in the first place.

I had someone replace the pressure gauge and my wellxtrol (mine had a failed bladder that was leaking air). And set it to a 30/50 swing, it worked for a few days, and i found it running constantly again, now unable to hit 50 and only hitting 45psi, i dialed it back again myself. Yesterday we did the laundry (about 3 full loads through our washer) and it was running constantly again, and shut off at 42psi max. The following morning it was able to achieve 45psi again when i dialed it back up. The pump is a goulds J7S 3/4HP of unknown age. Should I just go ahead and replace the pump? I'm worried if this is an issue with the well i will end up needing a new one and may be wasting money on a pump that wouldn't work for a deeper or reloctated well. Is it normal for a failing pump to achieve variable pressure day to day or is that more likely an indicator of a failing well?

Things checked
-Check valve to well working, no pressure loss over time
- Pressure tank is brand new, and was calibrated for the 30/50 swing, has not been changed since i dialed the settings back to let pump shut off at 42psi
-The jet does not appear to be clogged, and significant water is produced all fixtures in the house fork fine.
- Even with the valve to the house plumbing closed the pump cannot build pressure when its having issues.

 

[Valveman]

You could test the pump circulating water in a bucket. Really sounds like a suction leak, not a bad pump. If the toilet was running the pump should not have gotten hot. The motor end will always feel hot, but the liquid end should not. If the liquid end got hot, you may have a pump problem.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

-The jet does not appear to be clogged, and significant water is produced all fixtures in the house fork fine.

Get a pressure gauge. Replace the current gauge, and/or get a garden hose thread gauge.

 

[gg113]

Sorry for the confusion, i did indeed replace the gauge, there is a new pressure gauge on the T fitting on the output side of the pump, and it is making pressure, just not as much as it was a few weeks ago. After resting it makes 50psi, after moderate use it made about 45 and after a day of heavy use it made about 42. There does not seem to be any air in the water, just not enough pressure to achieve shutoff unless I lower it. The day i noticed this problem for the first time the pump had been running so long the brass pipe on the input side was hot to the touch and i could hear what sounded like water boiling from the pump casing. The pump no longer gets hot during use but is still having sporadic pressure building problems.

 

[Reach4]

After resting it makes 50psi, after moderate use it made about 45 and after a day of heavy use it made about 42.

That 42 psi is the pressure that the pump can reach at that time when no water is being used?

 

[gg113]

That would be the max pressure i can achieve even with water shut off to the whole house plumbing. Like i said the pressure i can hit seems to vary day to day the last two weeks.

 

[Reach4]

Makes sense. One explanation is that the pump is drawing from deeper after long pumping. 3 psi would correspond to about 7 ft of water.

Maybe set the pressure switch to 17/37, fix the pump, or get a new pump. I don't know why your pump degraded, but it apparently has. You could try cleaning the jet. It's easy enough once you figure out how.

With a jet pump, you would initially set the air precharge 5 psi below the cut-in pressure.

 

[gg113]

Thanks so much, I just needed someone to confirm as i am somewhat new to this, and didnt want to replace the pump if it was very likely to be a well issue.

 

[Reach4]

I am not a pro. Get other opinions on whether to get a new pump, or to try to fix the old. If you look for "rebuild kit" you can find some kits. The kits don't seem to include a new nozzle or venturi.

Running a wire thru the jet nozzle is simplest. Some #12 solid copper wire might be good. https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/bad-pump.27241/#post-187628

Usually a clogged nozzle reduces the pump pressure to more like 20 psi, but it could be that a partial block could just degrade the pressure rise.