Need some help with my 2" deep well jet pump

[Bgard]

hi all
I have a 2" well it is 2" pvc casing 100' feet deep with 5' of screen the static water level is 65' from bottom. this well was drilled in 1986 it is only used in the summer a for water source heat pump for a/c, the waste water is used to water the lawn and garden. it has had several mismatched pump and jet assemblies over the years but has always pumped around 3-5 gpm the jet had not been changed just several different pumps of varying hp. this year I replaced the pump ,jet assembly casing adapter and drop pipe. the pump is a goulds sj10 the packer jet assembly is a FP2B-50 with a #13 nozzle and AD724 venture and a AWD2 casing adapter.the drop pipe and tail piece are1 1/4" npt poly. the jet is set at 50' with a 34' tail and a 5' 1 1/4 " screen attached to the tail. the foot valve is at the jet assembly. when I first primed and started the pump it primed on the firs try and was pumping about 12 gpm. it ran like that for about 24 hours the it would hardly pump any thing at all the pump back pressure was set at 40 psi the gage would fluctuate up and down when it was not pumping much water. i then installed a globe valve in the discharge line of the pump to restrict flow and it finally started to pump again at about 4 gpm it worked like that for about a week and then quit pumping again, I pulled the drop pipe and jet to see if anything was plugged up nothing was, measured static water level still 65'. is it possible that the 1 14/ screen is getting plugged with sand and falling off when I pulled it up? or should the foot valve be at the bottom of the tail piece and not at the jet?

thank in advance for any help and advice
brian,

 

[Valveman]

Sorry for the delay. I thought someone else who works more with jet pumps would help. I don't think the foot valve or the screen on the tailpipe is the problem. Sound like the well is just not making enough water. Probably the 5' of screen on the casing is clogged. With the jet assembly set at 50' and a 34' tail pipe, you are lifting to the jet assembly. You can only lift a max of about 24' from the jet assembly. It sounds like when pumping water the pumping level is dropping to a point where the jet assembly can no longer lift water. I would extend the pipes to the jet assembly and shorten the tail pipe. Then if the pump cannot produce more water, the screen in the casing being plugged is most likely the problem.

 

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[Bgard]

Sorry for the delay. I thought someone else who works more with jet pumps would help. I don't think the foot valve or the screen on the tailpipe is the problem. Sound like the well is just not making enough water. Probably the 5' of screen on the casing is clogged. With the jet assembly set at 50' and a 34' tail pipe, you are lifting to the jet assembly. You can only lift a max of about 24' from the jet assembly. It sounds like when pumping water the pumping level is dropping to a point where the jet assembly can no longer lift water. I would extend the pipes to the jet assembly and shorten the tail pipe. Then if the pump cannot produce more water, the screen in the casing being plugged is most likely the problem.

the goulds manual that came with the pump recommends the 34' tail piece for low yield wells. I ran a hose from the city water down the well and was never able to raise the static level in the well, it seem like if the casing screen was plugged I would be able to fill the casing with water.do you think that nuwell tabs would help? the water from this well has always been clear but leaves iron stains on the side walks if I let it run on them, the inside of the casing has some iron deposits on it but not really that bad.

 

[Valveman]

You are right. A well that will take water should make water. So if the screen is not plugged 4 GPM is all the well will produce. This is why they recommend a long tail pipe because the output of the pump will just decrease to match the output of the well without actually sucking it dry.

 

[Texas Wellman]

The jet should be in the water and submerged by at least 20 ft. In a 2 inch well the tail pipe does not do anything. Because of the way a 2" well operates you can leave the tail pipe out and the suction created by the jet will always balance with how much a 2" well produces.

You do not need any kind of screen on the bottom of the jet. Just add some pipe to the suction line to get your jet down to the ~80' mark, put the footvalve directly on the jet, and set the back pressure to 45 psig. No tail pipe is necessary.

I would remove the drop pipe from the well, blow the well with a small air compressor, and see exactly how much water it produces. Run the air line down at least 100' into the well. If there is anything clogging up the well it should come out. If the well doesn't produce you may be able to acidize it to get the production back up.

I'm curious how you're using poly pipe with a jet? Are you using some kind of special adapter? I always recommend using sch 80 PVC threaded with sch 80 couplings. You need a special adapter to size up to the jet/well head (1-1/4" threads). If you use 1.25" pipe you need special thin collars which is why I use 1" pipe and then adapt up at the top and bottom.

 

[LLigetfa]

This is why they recommend a long tail pipe because the output of the pump will just decrease to match the output of the well without actually sucking it dry.

Texas Wellman is right. The long tailpipe can only self-regulate on an open well, not on a packer.

 

[Bgard]

thanks for the information! I am just using 1 1/4 hose barb fittings with stainless pinch type clamps, the poly has to be heated well in order to get the stainless hose barbs in the poly. I don't think that the barbs could be pulled out even without any clamps. I also have turned 1 1/4 couplings to make the connections at the packer. will just put a barbed coupling where the packer is at now and put the packer at the end which will put the packer at about 84 feet and 50 feet below static water level. I have ordered some nuwell tabs to put in to try and clean it up a some.

 

[Bgard]

will just blowing air in the well from the bottom force all the water out of the casing or will it also make the well produce water?

 

[Texas Wellman]

It will force water out of the casing. As the water leaves water will rush in from the screen to replace what's leaving. In the process any gunk or minerals that have built up may be expelled as well.

Our pvc wells here have pvc screens and do not clog as the old steel stainless screens did from years back. It's possible that the well is just a slow producer.

Get an 11/16 socket and make sure that nozzle is seated tight when you have the jet out. Also I wonder if the poly pipe is being deformed and causing the pump not to operate correctly.

 

[Bgard]

It will force water out of the casing. As the water leaves water will rush in from the screen to replace what's leaving. In the process any gunk or minerals that have built up may be expelled as well.

Our pvc wells here have pvc screens and do not clog as the old steel stainless screens did from years back. It's possible that the well is just a slow producer.

Get an 11/16 socket and make sure that nozzle is seated tight when you have the jet out. Also I wonder if the poly pipe is being deformed and causing the pump not to operate correctly.

The poly pipe that I am using I 160 psi rated , I don't think it is deforming

 

[Texas Wellman]

Just know that the inside of the pipe is under vacuum and the outside is under pressure. Makes me wonder...

 

[Bgard]

I pulled the drop pipe and packer out again (6th time buy myself no hoist but my knees) dropped air hose to bottom of casing 150 psi nothing happed until I pulled it up a ways and then lowered it back down to the bottom blew up lots of sand and water, 5 gallons every 13 seconds for fifteen minutes it slowed a little but I think that was due to my air compressor not being able to keep up, pressure had dropped to 75psi. I changed the packer nozzle to a #14 and put the packer down to 84 feet. seem to be working good at this point but have not run it for very long yet was doing about 12gpm but it got dark and had to stop for the night.

 

[Texas Wellman]

Sounds like you're making progress. If you've got any pictures of how you tie the jet into the poly (and casing adapter as well) I'd like to see them. I've always wondered if poly would work on jet lines.

 

[Bgard]

thanks for all your help! the well is now producing 8gpm with no problem, I can run two sprinklers at the same time now and I had to install the cycle stop valve be cause it was filling the pressure tank and stopping the pump repeatedly. all seems good at this time. sorry I did not take any pictures of the drop pipe and packer assembly but I already had it back down the well when I saw your request for pictures. what I did though is install a 1 1/4" x 3" brass nipple into the casing adapter then an 1 1/4" machined coupling then a 1 1/4" stainless steel extra long barb fitting, I heated the poly pipe with a heat gun and pushed the poly onto the barb I then used stainless steel pinch type clamps while the poly pipe was still hot so that the barbs would bite into the poly better when the clamps were compressed, at the packer I used the same type barbed fitting and machined coupling and pinch clamps. McMaster Carr # 52545K86