well issues... HELP!!!

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garryintn

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I have a 340 foot deep well with a 1 hp red jacket submersible pump newly installed in 300 foot down. Originally, there was 5 hp myers submersible pump placed 320 foot down, however, this was supplying several homes- this pump no longer works. This well is on my property and all that was using this pump have dug their own well. I had a well guy come out to tell me what size pump I would need to supply only my home. He said a 1 hp pump should be sufficient so I bought a red jacket 1 hp pump. This pump was set 300 foot down into the 340 foot well and new electric was run to service just my home (it was originally on a separate electric pole just for the pump). All new lines were ran through the well to the holding tank and all new electrically wire were placed.

Once electric was connected, we tested the pump to check the pressure in the house. The pressure was good. After one evening of use- the next morning we had good pressure and it gradually sloped off to almost nothing!!!! It seems to have a lot of air in lines and spit and sputters til it is to a drizzle....

I've checked the lines under the house for a leak and found nothing. The holding tank is registering 100 psi but yet I have no pressure in the house.

What can be the issue???

Thanks for in advance for any answers or solutions to my problem....
 

NHmaster3015

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First off make sure the pressure gauge is good though I bet it's not.

Then, you either have a leak between the well and the tank or the pump is pulling the well down. If you shut if off for a few hours does it come back?
 

garryintn

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I was thinking the gauge was bad. I will replace it. I can shut the water off and wait a few MINUTES and it will come back but I do get air in the lines- it spits, sputters and gurgles then good flow then spits and sputters then good flow till it run to almost a drizzle. I was thinking leak too.
 

garryintn

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First off make sure the pressure gauge is good though I bet it's not.

Then, you either have a leak between the well and the tank or the pump is pulling the well down. If you shut if off for a few hours does it come back?

If in fact we are pulling the well down....then what would be our next step??
 

NHmaster3015

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Well, you may be able to set the pump a bit deeper. You didn't say what diameter your well case is but it it's an 8" case the extra 30 or so feet you drop the pump will give you some more reserve. Ultimately though you probably want a driller out there to run some tests for static and recovery. From what you are telling us it sure sounds as though the pump is pumping the well down
 

garryintn

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Well, you may be able to set the pump a bit deeper. You didn't say what diameter your well case is but it it's an 8" case the extra 30 or so feet you drop the pump will give you some more reserve. Ultimately though you probably want a driller out there to run some tests for static and recovery. From what you are telling us it sure sounds as though the pump is pumping the well down

The diameter of the well case is 6". We have not buried the wire yet and actually have another 50ft of it so we could set it deeper and more piping just in case we needed it. It wouldn't be hard at all to drop it another 30 ft. I will definetly get ahold of the well guy too.
 

Ballvalve

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I wonder why a 5hp pump supplied seven houses and a 1hp wont keep up with 1 house?.... but set it much lower. Find out the recovery and restrict the output to match.
 

garryintn

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well issues.......help!!!

I wonder why a 5hp pump supplied seven houses and a 1hp wont keep up with 1 house?.... but set it much lower. Find out the recovery and restrict the output to match.

We know one problem in the gauge on the holding tank and possibly the pressure switch. From what I was told this is what controls the pump on and off and would explain how one minute we have pressure and the next we dont. We are going to change out the gauge and see what the accurate reading is then if we need to change out the pressure switch. If that dont solve the problem we may have to dig the line from the house to the well (only about 30 ft from house to well) to check for leaks... If thats not it than I guess we will have to get a well guy out here to check for water quantity.

I can't see that well being that low; it is on a natural spring but you never know. The reason the other pump went out was because there was a leak in the line one of the home owner neglected to fix and the pump was ran to death and eventually quit.

This is why; since the well is on our property, we installed our own pump and electricity and had them to install their own- best solution for everyone. Now we are all responsible for our own, of course, I would never have a shared well this was done prior to our purchase and we got such a good deal we didnt care if we had to eventually dig our own well.

That 5hp pump was massive and we pulled it ourself (which we were told couldn't be done) but we did it and installed and wired our own pump in.

I really think our problem is in that tank (I hope) and if we fix the gauge and pressure switch the pressure will be right. We dont run out of water- it is just high to low to no to high to low pressure (as if the pump dont know what to do). If this is not it than I will have to get a pump guy out here to help me.
 

Gary Slusser

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All the new wells there could have dropped your static water level and now you are pumping from much deeper and that gets into the pump you bought. Pumps come in two parts, motor hp and wet end gpm. So you may have an undersized pump on the gpm side and it can't pump from lower but, the switch pump etc. can't add air to the water. Air says the water is down to the pump's inlet or you have a leak that is introducing air into the water.

Do you have a check valve at the pressure tank? If so it will prevent you from seeing the effects of a leak between it and the pump.

If you have a galvanized tank it could be part of the problem or the switch nipple is blocked with rust/dirt and it is causing the pump to lag instead of seeing the actual pressure as it falls to the cut in setting. You should check the air pressure in the tank to be 1-2 psi less than the turn the pump on setting. Do all that when you replace the bad guage.
 

garryintn

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Ok- I have replaced the gauge and it shows 44 psi. I checked the air and it registers 28 psi. I don't see a pressure valve at the tank.

Water pressure in the showers and bathtubs are great- the gauge doesn't drop more than 1-2 psi when on,however, when I turn on the outside hose I have very low pressure (which is the furtherest water point from the well)- the pressure gauge drops to zero and quickly bottoms- the well recovers within 2 minutes and it is back at 44 psi.

It seems like half the house has pressure and the other half doesn't. Yet I have watched to gauge drop to 3 psi and quickly recover after spigot was turned off.

My showers don't lose pressure no matter how long running yet, I'm not getting good pressure at my kitchen sink or bathsink in one bathroom however the other bathroom which is on the same side of the house has great pressure.....

When looking under the house I noticed the pvc piping goes from 1in to 3/4in to 1/2in to 3/8 in and some parts is copper which is 3/8in and then goes back to 3/4in at a newer part of the house (I didn't do the plumbing nor did I live here when it was done).

What do you'all think could be going on??
 
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