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Frequently Asked Questions / Shallow well losing prime
« on: May 23, 2023, 04:59:36 PM »
I'm restoring an old well here. Everything outside is brand new. Water is consistently at the pump (no leaks on the inlet) and I run the sprinklers at 45/62 with the CSV set at 58.
Sporadically (now quite often) the gauges at the pump/tank/CSV all show about 30 PSI, and it's acting as if it's trying to prime.
The pump is a heavy old cast iron F&W 1hp and there's an old galvanized tank with Merrill Float installed (not a bladder and no Schrader valve) and a threaded plug on top. I have the switch on the CSV. The CSV outlet goes down to a tee which goes to the sprinklers and the other side of the tee down to the tank. (I only get rapid cycling for a few seconds when the ball valve between the CSV and the tee is closed during initial priming.)
I can easily reprime by closing the ball valve, turning on the pump, and slowly opening the ball valve to fill the tank. Other times, assuming it's waterlogged, I have to drain the tank, unscrew the top plug to let air in, replug, and refill.
Now, before I lift that heavy pump up off the check valve (again) to tighten the spring on the check valve, I figured I'd ask the following question just in case...
Could having the sprinkler outlet between the CSV and the tank be causing this issue?
I figure eventually I will just replace the large galvanized tank with a smaller tank since I have the CSV now, but I'd like to solve this first. I notice the pump initially pulls around 60 PSI when I go to reprime with the ball valve closed. I wonder if running at 60/80 would give it more suction at cut-in vs 45 and therefore prevent it from losing prime. Of course, I'd like to figure out why this is happening, though.
Sporadically (now quite often) the gauges at the pump/tank/CSV all show about 30 PSI, and it's acting as if it's trying to prime.
The pump is a heavy old cast iron F&W 1hp and there's an old galvanized tank with Merrill Float installed (not a bladder and no Schrader valve) and a threaded plug on top. I have the switch on the CSV. The CSV outlet goes down to a tee which goes to the sprinklers and the other side of the tee down to the tank. (I only get rapid cycling for a few seconds when the ball valve between the CSV and the tee is closed during initial priming.)
I can easily reprime by closing the ball valve, turning on the pump, and slowly opening the ball valve to fill the tank. Other times, assuming it's waterlogged, I have to drain the tank, unscrew the top plug to let air in, replug, and refill.
Now, before I lift that heavy pump up off the check valve (again) to tighten the spring on the check valve, I figured I'd ask the following question just in case...
Could having the sprinkler outlet between the CSV and the tank be causing this issue?
I figure eventually I will just replace the large galvanized tank with a smaller tank since I have the CSV now, but I'd like to solve this first. I notice the pump initially pulls around 60 PSI when I go to reprime with the ball valve closed. I wonder if running at 60/80 would give it more suction at cut-in vs 45 and therefore prevent it from losing prime. Of course, I'd like to figure out why this is happening, though.