Losing Water Pressure - Roughly Once Per Day

Users who are viewing this thread

pezman

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
New York
Hi Folks. I've been investigating a 6-week-old problem at my house and need some advice.

Once a day (or so, sometimes more, sometimes less) we lose water pressure in the house. It typically either happens first thing in the morning after sitting all night, or around mid-morning (after brushing teeth, maybe a load of dishes).

When we bought the house, there were a number of issues with the installation. There was a metal mesh sediment filter in front of pressure switch, both were installed about 30 linear feet from the 20 gallon pressure tank. There was some pressure switch hammering since we moved in. Once this water loss issue started, I buckled down and relocated the pressure switch (bought a new Square D 30/50 with Low Pressure Cutoff, adjusted to 40/60) over to the pressure tank where it's supposed to be. The old pressure switch also had a low-pressure cutoff. I also upgraded the tank from a 20 to 32 gallon (the old one didn't drain completely when I tried to drain it).

While all of this fixed the switch hammering, it did not fix the water loss problem.

I have observed, once or twice while testing, that if I leave a drain line open, when water pressure meets the cut in pressure of the switch, the water pressure just bottoms out in the house and the pump does not come on. Also, each and every time I manually turn the pump back on (lever on side of pressure switch) it jumps right up to 40PSI and doesn't seem to struggle getting water in whatsoever.

I don't know the depth of the well (though the old owner said he vaguely remembered it being 280-380', and never had low water issues included when he re-seeded the yard and watered it daily). The pump is a submersible Grundfos. There are no check valves in the house and nothing had changed in the system when we first started experiencing these issues.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
 

Reach4

Well-Known Member
Messages
38,798
Reaction score
4,412
Points
113
Location
IL
There should not be a mesh filter before the pressure switch.

Set your air precharge to 2 PSI lower than the the cut-on pressure (38 in your case). If it is already that, try 3 PSI below (37).

Are you concerned about the well running dry? Most people have the pressure switch without the lever.

One more possibility... if you have a control box, maybe the start capacitor is going bad.
 

pezman

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
New York
Thanks for the reply!

So I removed that sediment filter entirely-- that was my latest attempt to fix the issue, thinking maybe it was clogged and messing with the diaphragm in the switch. No dice.

Yes, the pressure tank was pre-charged at 38 but I can go try 37. Will report back.
 

pezman

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
New York
Also, not really concerned about well running dry but don't know much about it...

There is no control box, it's a direct wire as far as I can tell.
 

pezman

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
New York
Just went down to drop the tank pressure to 37 and found it was incorrectly set at the factory to 52 (or so). Dropped it to 38 and will see how it goes. Thanks again.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks