Jet pump Water well wont pressure up

[Alice businelle]

Hey guys, glad I found this forum. The only problem is when I search the problem I am having, the other posts will be slightly different bc building presure is the only problem.... like the posts I find are people whose pump was working fine and then started losing pressure, or not reaching the cutoff pressure. Mine is doing that now but its potentially a problem we created.
Let me explain. We have a Goulds Jet water pump. The old style, 1" line running down 2"casing. The well was there 30 years ago when my parents bought the land. Have replaced the pump twice that I remember. Most recently was 2 years ago, the day my father died. He was the fix-it guy of the family so now I have no one to help or ask.
We started losing prime often. Anytime power went off, even for a minute, but also at random times. And it was REALLY hard to prime. Took a lot of water. So, we realized that the foot valve was probably bad, as far as I know it was never changed in 30 years.
So a few days ago we pulled the pipe and changed the foot valve. Replaced the pvc while we were at it, ran pipe back down and started priming the pump.
Now the pump will not build pressure to prime. Let me add here that we bought a new pressure gauge, too, the one that was on it was broken/frozen so as long as I have been dealing with the pump without Pop here I dont know the cutoff pressure bc the gauge never worked. At first pressure would literally bounce around. Slowly build to 20psi, then to 30, then down to 20, to zero, back to 30 etc.....would bounce all over the place. Someone told us to try again, and this time when the pressure built, just when it started to drop to turn the pump off and add water and power it back up. To continue doing that and after 7 tries or so it would lock in the pressure.
Well, that helped.....but still did not get it where it needed to be. Doing that method we could get and stay about 40psi, but the gauge would still shake and bounce around 40. Once we got to 45psi, but mainly we cant get over 40.

Any ideas? We have checked under the casing and looked at the points, etc. Everything looks new and shiny, no burned tips or wasps nests or debris.

I am learning some from the forum here, but as I said, this is a problem since we took it off and pulled the pipe. Before it was hard to prime, but it did t act like this. Once we had enough water it would pressure up and run fine, so perhaps this is something related to us. Maybe mud or debris got sucked up? Any suggestions i will try.

 

[shane21]

Just to verify, there is just a single line coming out the front of the pump and going down the well correct? You mentioned it was a Goulds, hopefully it is a J5SH?

If so then I suspect either the foot valve is sucking up debris when the pump runs (usually can be corrected by lifting the the 1" suction line maybe a foot or two higher in the well) or the jet and/or impeller inside the pump is plugged. If you have the J5SH you are in luck as every part to rebuild that pump is available from a Goulds distributor or dealer, even if they have to order some of the parts, and that pump is one of the most rugged pumps I have ever seen.

One way to troubleshoot a plugged jet is to turn on water somewhere when the pump is running, even though it is only building 40-45 PSI, and see what happens. If it is a clogged jet in the pump you may find the that the pump will flow water, maybe even a good flow rate of water, but just won't build the pressure you want - this is a very common symptom of a plugged jet.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Valveman]

I don't think the jet nozzle is clogged or you would only be getting about 20 PSI. I think you have a suction leak. Usually right where PVC pipe is screwed into the pump an air leak will happen, especially if the pump got warm or hot.

 

[Reach4]

To read about one way to detect a suction leak, enter

into the search box, above.

 

[shane21]

Usually a minimally clogged jet will allow the pump to build about 50 PSI, a more severely clogged jet will reduce that pressure all the way down to basically zero depending on the severity of the clog. I just had this issue with a Goulds J5SH pump on a job where the pump wouldn't build over 40 PSI and it was indeed a clogged jet. Also, if it is a Goulds J5SH pump, they are one of the, if not the, best air handling jet pumps in production. Unless the leak is on the suction line is substantial, the J5SH will pump up to working pressure even if it is sucking in a measurable amount of air through a leak.

 

[Valveman]

Good to know about the partially clogged jet. I usually either see them completely clogged or not. Flow rate has a lot to do with how easy an air leak can happen. As long as the pump is producing max flow, like when filling a pressure tank, a small air leak is usually not noticeable. But if the pressure is high enough or the pump is restricted to say 1 GPM, a small air leak can cause a loss of prime. The pressure gauge bouncing around makes me think it is an air leak.

 

[shane21]

Depending on the model and manufacturer of the pump it may well be an air leak on the suction side causing the problem. The only reason I am inclined to think that is less likely in this specific case is because the OP stated the pump was Goulds and if it is a JS+ series pump they are fantastic at building pressure even when air is present in the suction line. Depending on the location of the pressure gauge it may always bounce around a few pounds while the pump is running even if the pump is functioning perfectly.