Messages

1

Pumps, Wells, Tanks, Controls / Re: Strong vacuum at well head? What does it mean?

« on: June 19, 2021, 08:17:31 AM »

The turtle cap is vented but the vacuum was so strong it still slammed the cover down. After discussing with my well guy, he said it is rare to have such strong vacuum but called it a barometric well. We happened to have a storm front moving in on the day I opened the well head and the vacuum was really strong. The next day when I called him he said because a new high pressure weather system was arriving it would probably be less vacuum and maybe even become a blower. I checked it and he was right, the vacuum had decreased to a slight vacuum.

2

Pumps, Wells, Tanks, Controls / Strong vacuum at well head? What does it mean?

« on: June 15, 2021, 09:38:34 PM »

First some background... planted a new lawn and added sprinklers this spring. Worked great for about 2 weeks and then I started to run the well dry. So I stopped watering for a week to let the well recover.

In the mean time I bought a sonic well level tester and I was going to install it today to see how much water I could safely use. When I pulled the well cover (turtle) off to install the sonic tester, I noticed a super strong vacuum at the well head. I turned off the pump (I did not think it was running but to confirm) and the vacuum is just as strong. I do not know if the vacuum existed before I ran the well dry but I don't think it did when I originally had the well installed 6 years ago.

I did a search on the internet to see what this means and did not find any info. Hoping you know what it means. Is my well toast and an air channel is running through where water use to be? I have not checked the water level yet, I am getting water for household use at an acceptable quantity so far.

Well is about 6 years old but we have been using it for about 2 years when we built the house. 253' deep 8" casing, 5-6 gpm. Originally the static head was 160'. I will try to get the sonic tester working anyways to see if I can figure out the current static level.

thanks.

3

Irrigation / Re: Is this just another case of ‘pump too small’?

« on: August 11, 2020, 06:39:36 PM »

Right on! When I adjusted the pressure tank air pressure and pressure switch range per you suggestion, the issue with the 'rapid cycle' went away and I was able to adjust up the CSV valve to hit my goal.

Thanks again!

4

Irrigation / Is this just another case of ‘pump too small’?

« on: August 10, 2020, 02:49:34 PM »

What am I trying to accomplish:

Trying to achieve 20-25 GPM at a constant pressure of 50 so I can design a sprinkler system layout with confidence that I have the right amount of heads and pressure.

What is happening:

I am testing with a frost free hydrant as I am trying to understand my optimal GPM/PSI settings as part of the design for the sprinkler system.

-if I open the frost free full open, I get 30 GPM @ 40 PSI after much adjusting of the system.
 if I crank down the adjusting bolt on the CSV1A, I can get to 42 PSI max but the rapid recycle is occurring when I turn the water off with less than 5 seconds on the Cycle Sensor setting so I have to ease back on the bolt to resolve this. Seems strange since I understood that only 1 GPM was supposed to fill the pressure tank, but maybe I don’t understand the relationship between the adjustment bolt and how the pressure tank is filled.

- if I reduce the flow from the frost free (partially close the handle) to 20 GPM I can be around 48 PSI.

- if I reduce the flow from the frost free to 15 GPM, I can maintain 55 PSI which I think I have the valve adjusted to currently.

Here is my setup:

- 2100 gallon cistern with Goulds 25GS15422C 230V 1 1/2HP 25GPM pump
- CSV1A
- CS1PH1-2HP230V CYCLE SENSOR
- 4 gallon pressure tank set to 35 PSI
- Pressure switch Set to 45/65 (changed this from 40/60 trying to work around rapid recycle issue)
- no elevation change but test frost-free hydrant is about 125’ away. 1 ¼” poly line to ¾” hydrant.


Questions:

-   Do you have a sense of what this pump should be able to produce GPM/PSI wise given no elevation change? Is this just another case of the pump being too small to provide the needed pressure? It is close at 20 GPM but I bought this pump a long time ago when I understood even less and just installed it now.
-   I am wondering if this issue with the rapid recycle is expected as I tighten the adjustment bolt? Or is there a problem with the valve or the pressure tank causing this?
-   Are there any additional setup recommendations to optimize this setup?

Thanks for any advice!