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Jet Pump Question - Rick_B - 10-04-2015
When we moved into the house 17 years ago we had a shallow well with a pump in the basement. Since then we have converted to public water and I have used the pump and attached pressure tank to pump water from a river for occasional use (couple of times a year to pressure wash the dock and clean the boat).
This has worked well until recently. Now when I turn the pump on the pressure jumps to its max (roughly 60 psi)and then immediately drops to 25 psi or so causing it to kick on. The pressure then immediately jumps back to the max and falls and the pump kicks back on - over and over.
This doesn't sound like a loss of prime? Do I potentially have a pressure switch problem or is this indicative of something else.
I'm not sure how much time/effort/expense I want to put into this old pump set up. Its a lot of contraption to move around every spring and winter. I've been thinking of an alternative - something I can easily store and take to the river the few times a year I need it
Appreciate any thoughts on either the pump problem or an alternative
Re: Jet Pump Question - fredhargis - 10-04-2015
It sounds very much like your pressure tank is "air locked" (water logged). The diaphragm has failed, which doesn't leave enough room for air in the tank. So the small volume of air in there causes the cycling you see. I've been told there is no repair to these tanks...replacement is the only solution.
Re: Jet Pump Question - theeviltwinn - 10-04-2015
What Fred said.
A cheap submersible pump hooked to a garden hose may do what you want.
Twinn
Re: Jet Pump Question - Robert Adams - 10-04-2015
theeviltwinn said:
What Fred said.
A cheap submersible pump hooked to a garden hose may do what you want.
Twinn
Yup what they said. And a seccond to the submersible pump as its cheaper to run than the jet pump.
The capacitor on my jet pump puked in the heat while watering the grass.. Odd one and hard to find so no yard watering till its replaced.
Re: Jet Pump Question - TDKPE - 10-04-2015
If it's the bladder, then perhaps you can pump air into it. Like we used to do with a bicycle pump when I was a kid, in the old galvanized tanks before bladder tanks were common. Man, that was a lot of work.
Re: Jet Pump Question - fixtureman - 10-04-2015
Or it could be the foot valve is bad
Re: Jet Pump Question - Rick_B - 10-04-2015
So some additional information - I went down today to pull the pump/tank in for the winter and decided to give it a try. It worked fine-except I noticed it was dropping pressure. I noticed that I had left the valve on and water was leaking out of the hose nozzle. While that seemed to make sense I thought the pressure was dropping pretty fast for a small nozzle leak. I decided to move on and when I was ready to put it on the garden cart for transport - I couldn't even lift it - now I know I'm getting older but I had never had this problem before. Seems the tank was full of water and it wouldn't drain out. I ended up disconnecting the pump from the tank and turning it over but had to actually let the air out of it to get it to drain. I also noticed some significant rust on the outside of the tank. Given these symptoms I think the tank is going to be problem sooner rather than later.
As I was working on this I was wondering why I need a tank anyway? When I use the pump it is pretty much continuous for and hour or more (pressure washing the dock and pontoons). While probably not good for the pump - its what I do. So why couldn't I cap off the pump outlet that was going to the tank and simply hook up the garden hose to the outlet side of the pump? Currently I'm using PVC on the inlet side to the river but may want to replace that with a rubber hose. Ultimately I'm looking for a solution that is somewhat portable and easier to manage than my current set up.
I'm still considering a submersible type pump but not sure what specs I should be considering. The lift from the river is only 6 feet or so but I need enough fkow (pressure?) for a pressure washer and boat motor start up in the spring (using ear muffs of course).
Re: Jet Pump Question - Robert Adams - 10-04-2015
If the pump is running 100% of the time then you can do without a pressure tank. Kind of like a sprinkler system that's properly sized to the pump.
Re: Jet Pump Question - blackhat - 10-04-2015
I would still use a small tank. While technically not necessary it will protect the pump and piping in the event it gets powered up with a valve closed.
Re: Jet Pump Question - Rick_B - 10-04-2015
blackhat said:
I would still use a small tank. While technically not necessary it will protect the pump and piping in the event it gets powered up with a valve closed.
I was thinking the pressure switch would still work? For example - the pump is running but the hose valve is closed - wouldn't the pressure switch still shut the pump down? Granted the 60 psi max pressure setting may be excessive for the hose and piping.