Residential Submersible Well Pump Problem

[asphaltgambler]

My home is @20 years old, has submersible well pump. It has 3 bathrooms- 1 with a very large soaking tub with jets and sits large enough for 2 people. In the past 4- 5 weeks I've noticed a gradual drop in flow / pressure when taking a shower. Last Sat night wife had washer going, I took a shower and suddenly the flow went to "0" for a moment then slowly resumed.

We have a large accumulator tank in the laundry room, but I need to move some stuff to see the pressure gauge. I do not think the well is going dry, we've not had any dry spells and my neighbors all seem OK.

I think the well pump is failing. I have not had time to check all the obvious things, but seeking knowledge hopefully buying time. I want to do it myself, seems fairly straightforward. So here are my questions:

1) Anyway to tell how deep the pump is? Is it possible that info was written on underside of well cap?
2) How to tell what HP / GPM pump I have w/o pulling it up out of the casing?
3) What are good brands to buy? I want it to last another 20 years
4) Where do I go buy the good brands?

For now that's all the info I have, pretty sure there are no leaks in the supply line or I would have seen soft water soaked ground. The well casing is @50' from the house.

Thanks!

[Arizona_928]

The well should be registered with the state. Should be an online portal to pull up the drillers paperwork.

Find the depth and you can calculate from gpm and horse power.

Best motors are going to be Franklin electric. Full stainless steel.

Best place to buy them is online. However out here no pump guy is going to install your own pumps or motors. More money to be made on inferior products.... At 400 % markup. Warrenty lol most are a year, and wil fail right outside that.

[asphaltgambler]

Interesting ^^^^ How to get to Virginia's web site for that information?

[Arizona_928]

Department of water resources, well record search?

[plumb4u2]

The nipple under the pressure switch is clogged. You will need to unwire switch and just by a new one with new nipple
You could just clean it out but they’re cheap just replace

[plumb4u2]

Very common service call for me. The nipple delivers water to bottom of pressure switch which triggers diaphragm to open or close. When it gets clogged and pressure drops as you’re using water it can’t sense the pressure so the tank will empty for a few seconds and then the switch will finally realize there’s no pressure and kick on

You want to replace it NOW! Soon it will stop sensing the high pressure kick off and you will blow your relief valve, which means lots of water on the floor!

[Evans, Marv]

Justin. You always seem to have the right answer instantly. We're lucky to have your input.

[asphaltgambler]

Man, this place ROCKS!

[asphaltgambler]

Here are a couple of pics. The vertical pipe that the switch assy is mounted on looks like 1/4" pipe. So are you talking about replacing the whole switch which includes the nipple? I know basically you turn power off, bleed pressure down by the nearest faucet. Advice please.




It looks like there is a gland nut to loosen, comes off. Can I get this at home depot?

[plumb4u2]

Yes it is just a simple 1/4” brass nipple (the nipple itself is what’s clogged)

Go to hd and buy new switch and new nipple 1/4” x 4”

Take cover off of switch and take a pic of the wiring so you put it back same way. Kill breaker to pump, unwire, open faucets in house until water stops to drain tank. Use channel locks or something and grab nipple itself and unscrew nipple and switch as one unit.

Please remember when screwing in new switch that you are going into brass with is soft, DO NOT over tighten it or you will crack the tank cross. What I do is, screw in hand tight then one revolution to square everything up

[plumb4u2]

Move your beer hoard to give you some working room!!

[plumb4u2]

The tiny nut on top of grey box, unscrew it and the cover just pulls off
Flip cover upside down and you will see a white sticker that tells you factory pressure settings

It will be either

30psi on
50psi off

Or

40psi on
60psi off

Make sure to buy switch that matches those settings

[plumb4u2]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Justin. You always seem to have the right answer instantly. We're lucky to have your input.

Always happy to help

[plumb4u2]

Pm me if you have issues I’ll give you my cell

Don’t overthink it trust me it’s pretty simple

[cabmandone]

Your bladder tank might be water logged. Before you make that run to the store, drain the tank and check your air pressure in the tank. It should be set at 2# below your cut in pressure. I had a similar problem and it ended up being my tank had bled air pressure which allowed the pressure to drop way down before the pump picked up and took over.

[Bugsinrugs]

Both things happened to me. Bad pressure switch. Easy to replace. Bad pressure tank. The bladder deteriorates from my acidic well water. Also easy to replace. Good luck.

[plumb4u2]

A blown bladder in his tank would cause the pump to “short cycle” constantly on/off when faucets are running giving a “fluctuating” pressure

He did not mention this so I’m assuming his bladder is fine. HOWEVER if the tank is 20yrs old replacing it would be best option but I can’t assume his plumbing skills so I wouldn’t just recommend any diy’er handling that if they’re not confident

A pressure tank installed wrong can do some serious damage to your home, just saying!

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by plumb4u2

A blown bladder in his tank would cause the pump to “short cycle” constantly on/off when faucets are running giving a “fluctuating” pressure

He did not mention this so I’m assuming his bladder is fine. HOWEVER if the tank is 20yrs old replacing it would be best option but I can’t assume his plumbing skills so I wouldn’t just recommend any diy’er handling that if they’re not confident

A pressure tank installed wrong can do some serious damage to your home, just saying!

The only reason I suggested checking is primarily due to this "In the past 4- 5 weeks I've noticed a gradual drop in flow / pressure when taking a shower." from the OP. I'm not a plumber so I'll definitely defer to you. It just seems like a drop in pressure would relate to a tank issue. When I had my problem I could watch the tank briefly drop to zero before the pressure switch cut in. Wouldn't hurt to check the air charge in the tank while it's empty just to be sure.

Not questioning your diagnosis btw, it's solid. Odds are it's a blockage in the pressure switch. There's a very small hole inside that the water passes through. It doesn't take much to plug that small hole. It's just that with a 20 year old tank he could be on the downhill side of its life expectancy. Might be worth checking the air charge while the tank is dry.

[asphaltgambler]

^^^^ No the water flow / pressure is not doing this^^^^

Also, can you explain a little further on testing bladder tank PSI? So with this am I to relieve all
water pressure like I am ready to replace the switch and nipple and the air pressure should read 2 pounds below the low water pressure cut-in on the pump switch?

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

^^^^ No the water flow / pressure is not doing this^^^^

Also, can you explain a little further on testing bladder tank PSI? So with this am I to relieve all
water pressure like I am ready to replace the switch and nipple and the air pressure should read 2 pounds below the low water pressure cut-in on the pump switch?

You're going to shut the water off and empty the tank to replace your pressure switch. There is a boiler drain valve on your tank "T". Attach a hose to that run the hose to a drain, if you have a shutoff after the tank on the outlet side, turn it off, Empty your tank completely of water using the boiler drain valve. On top of the tank there's an air valve stem. Take the cap off and check the pressure in the tank. You want your air pressure to be 2# below cut in. So if you have a 30/50 you want 28# or a 40/60 38#

Not a hard process and like I said you'll be draining your tank anyhow to replace the pressure switch.