Well problem

[Radix2]

So my wife's uncle came over to help me diagnose it. We closed the valves to the house and pressure tank. Well kicked off at 46 psi like it's set to do. Then over an hour it dropped to 43 psi, he thinks it's the jet or the foot valve with a slow leak or crack. I'd rather that than the well running dry for sure. What says the hive?

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Yes, you have a slow leak somewhere.

But that does not seem to explain your original issue here. The leak back will add some cycles to your pump, but it doesn't explain you not having the flow you used to have. At this point I go with wear in the pump, if it is getting old and is a decent Gould pump, I'd rebuild it and see if you get your capacity back. Replace your topside check valve if any, and when it makes sense look to the foot valve.

You could at least order a set of seals, and open the pump up and see if there is corrosion, wear or some type of blockage that can addressed. You got to start with the easy stuff before pulling the pipe imo.

 

[jjgrappler]

Just a comment/suggestion on locating a well. Would the County Dept of Health, or whichever entity checks water quality for new wells, be able to tell you who drilled your well? Once you know who punched the hole, he might be able to tell you where it is.



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I talked to the county they would not have the records. I have a vague idea where the well is located after talking to the previous owners, unfortunately it is under my deck. So I am going to have to take some decking boards off to dig it up.

 

[jjgrappler]

Yes, you have a slow leak somewhere.

But that does not seem to explain your original issue here. The leak back will add some cycles to your pump, but it doesn't explain you not having the flow you used to have. At this point I go with wear in the pump, if it is getting old and is a decent Gould pump, I'd rebuild it and see if you get your capacity back. Replace your topside check valve if any, and when it makes sense look to the foot valve.

You could at least order a set of seals, and open the pump up and see if there is corrosion, wear or some type of blockage that can addressed. You got to start with the easy stuff before pulling the pipe imo.

I was thinking that myself, honestly. Maybe I will look into that. If you look at the pictures it possibly might be losing pressure due to that check valve being bad. If you look at it its pretty corroded and I wouldn't be surprised if it's on its way out. It's possible it's the pump when I lose pressure and shut the supply off to the house the pressure builds and sometimes it sounds like pebbles or sediment are in the pipe. I would describe it as like vacuuming up small pebbles. Should it take 4 minutes for a 1/2 hp pump to fill a 21 gallon pressure tank with 6 and half gallons or so of water?

 

[snickers muncher]

Have you examined the pump's motor? When my brother's well system couldn't build pressure it took a while for me to find that the motor housing was slap full of ants. A quick blow out with an air compressor and it has been running like a champ for a few years now.

A quick tip. If you're working with plastic pipe and barb fittings on a cold day, heat up the end of the pipe a little---I use a heat gun---and the pipe will expand slightly and pop right on.

 

[Lassen Forge]

We have a direct draw pump on our well - when it started to go dry it took the pump out bits at a time until our 60 PSI system could barely keep 20 PSI. We punched a new hole, new pump, new pressure tank, and went to a 2 stage system (well fills a tank, second pump in the tank pumps and pressurizes the water system) to drop the wear and tear on the well pump (which was expensive to pull out and expensive to replace, etc.)...

We also had to recalibrate the pressure switch to match the new tank - until then our water pressure was so so and our electric bill through the ceiling.

Also I found out there are different qualities of well pumps. The one we had originally was pretty cheap, but it wasn't expected to run full time duty cycles, as ours was a hunting cabin. When we turned it into a full time home, the old pump and well couldn't handle the new demands.