Pressure gauge goes to zero after pump shuts off

[Pmurphy]

Hello. So I’m in a bit of a bind with my well. Thursday night my water pressure slowed to a dribble. I went to my well and it was running nonstop and the pressure gauge was reading 30 psi. I turned the pump off via the breaker and the pressure gauge went to zero. I then tried to prime the pump was unsuccessful. I ended up hooking a garden hose from my neighbor to my line so I would have water. The next morning I began troubleshooting. I finally got the pump to prime after pouring water for close to an hour. But it was the same results as the previous night. Gauge read 30 psi while pump was running buy immediately went to zero when it was shut off. Also the tank was reading zero psi. I repressurised the tank but struggled with getting it right as I didn’t know what to set it at since my gauge wasn’t showing a reading and my pressure switch wasn’t at factory setting. Also I changed the pressure switch as the points were burnt and replaced it with another I had. I managed to waterlog my tank a couple of times and eventually changed out the whole pump with an extra I had. Eventually things seemed to go back to normal and I thought I had fixed it. Well I wake up this morning to the same thing. Again it takes me FOREVER to prime the pump. Like an hour. So I’m thinking maybe my foot valve is bad and that is what is causing my problem. I’m pretty sure I have an air leak in my tank. It is very slow though but that wouldn’t be causing my gauge to fall to zero after the pump shuts off? Sorry for the lengthy post but I wanted to be very detailed. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Valveman]

If the gauges goes to zero when you turn off the pump, water is going somewhere. A bad foot valve will make it hard to prime but will not cause the low pressure once working. You probably have a hole in the pipe somewhere. BTW bad foot valve, broken tank bladder, burned pressure switch, and other things are sure sign the pump is cycling on and off too much. Once you get the hole in the pipe fixed you can solve all the other problems by adding a Cycle Stop Valve.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Pmurphy]

If the gauges goes to zero when you turn off the pump, water is going somewhere. A bad foot valve will make it hard to prime but will not cause the low pressure once working. You probably have a hole in the pipe somewhere. BTW bad foot valve, broken tank bladder, burned pressure switch, and other things are sure sign the pump is cycling on and off too much. Once you get the hole in the pipe fixed you can solve all the other problems by adding a Cycle Stop Valve.

 

[Pmurphy]

When you say hole in the pipe you mean in the drop pipe? And before I start pulling my drop pipe this morning in theory shouldn’t I be able to remove my pump and fill the drop pipe with water and it stay full as long as everything was working properly? Also when I first prime the pump I have great pressure. If I turn it off for too long it starts to loose prime and drops down. I think this is what happen the night it went out. I don’t think the bladder busted in the tank because no water came out of the valve when I was adjusting air. But I do think it has a small air leak. I’m about to check pressure and see how it dropped over night. And I have a CSV attached to the pump. I did t realize that is what that was until I watched your video.

 

[Pmurphy]

Update on the tank. The pressure has held at a constant 26 from yesterday morning til now which is 24 hrs.

 

[Valveman]

Can you post a picture? You may have a clogged jet nozzle or a suction leak. Holding 26 depends on where your check valve is?

 

[Pmurphy]

Maybe I spoke too soon. The water I saw coming out was from the jet. The foot valve seems to be working just fine. But the leathers were in horrible condition. So could just the leathers have been causing my pressure to fall to zero as soon as my pump cut off and also be why it was taking forever to prime?

 

[Pmurphy]

Here is the leathers and a pic of the jet and foot valve

 

[Valveman]

Maybe I spoke too soon. The water I saw coming out was from the jet. The foot valve seems to be working just fine. But the leathers were in horrible condition. So could just the leathers have been causing my pressure to fall to zero as soon as my pump cut off and also be why it was taking forever to prime?

Yes.

 

[Pmurphy]

Thanks for the help. The leathers were the issue. Problem fixed.