My Well Is Killing Me

[fishman463]

Hello all. My system:

55' well
23' of water
6" casing
3/4 hp (10gpm) 220v submersible pump
Flotec 35 gallon (82 gallon) pressure tank
Amtrolr electronic pump controller - Just died and replaced with standard 40/60 mechanical switch
Wellmate UT 120 retention tank
B&B Chlorination pellet chlorinator

This well has me ready to burn my house down, collec the insurance money and move to the city.  Or go to jail for arson.  Either way, I won't have to fool around with this well anymore. 

Bought the house about 2 years ago and the pressure tank promptly went bad on us. Replaced it and discovered a severe iron problem. It was so bad that the main 3/4" water supply line after the pump system was nearly closed up with iron deposits.  To fix it I stripped aLL the copper out of the house and replaced it with PEX. Installed the chlorinator to kill the iron. Installed 3 tankless water heaters close to the point of use. The flow rate is such that if the pressure in the tank is below 50 or so the tankless heater doesn't kick the burner on. Installed an Amtrol digital pressure switch so that i could kick the pressure up a bit on the high end - about 70 psi.  I also installed the Wellmate UT 120 to sort of pre-heat the water going into the tankless heaters which got me another 15 or so degrees out of the tankless heaters.

All is good in the Fishman household for about 6 or 8 months - great pressure, endless hot water and the chlorinator has helped us get the iron out and the harness down.  Then the pressure switch just craps out on me the other day.  Naturally, they don't make them any more, so I go get a regular old 40/60 and I hate it.  And my wife hates it.  And when she hates something, we are all miserable.

I have done quite a bit of reading here and other places and I am thinking that a CSV is what I am needing, but I am not ready to drop 6 or 7 bones to affirm that.  Plus, I'm not sure that I know what you guys are talking about with all that CSV jargon.

With my digital switch, I had more constant pressure, but my pump cycled more than with the old mechanical switch (which I knew I should have kept).  I have a pretty good size pressure tank, so it was a couple of minutes between cycles during a shower, but still not good, right?

If I remotely understand what I am reading, it is better for the pump to run for 8 hours straight than to cycle 5 times in the same 8 hour period, right?  A CSV will help me accomplish something similar, right?  No 8 hour showers tho......

I have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch with 12 faucets (including the one in the washtub in the basement, the tub faucet, two shower faucets, 3 lavs, 1 kitchen, 3 hose bibs, and a pot filler on the cooktop).  If someone could kindly help me figure out if a CSV is the way to go and which one is the right one, I'd much appreciate it.

DF

[Cary Austin]

Hi DF
With that pump and the depth of well you have, you should be able to turn the pressure up as high as you want.  If 70 PSI is what you want, then you need to run the pressure switch at 60/80.  The switch you have can be turned up to about 55/75 at most, which maybe all you need.  Of course upping the pressure makes the pump cycle worse, so a CSV would be a good idea.  A CSV1A will set up as high as you want, and with a 55/75 switch and a large tank, you want the CSV to be set at about 70 PSI.  Which means after the tank is empty and the pump starts, the CSV will hold 70 PSI steady, even if you were in the shower for a month or a year.  And yes it is better for the pump to stay on than to cycle.  It will even be much stronger pressure with the CSV than if the pump is cycling.

We also cound not make the Amtrol switch last very long.  So we designed our own digital pressure switch called the EPS15/99.  Your old switch will work however, and the CSV maybe all you need.

[fishman463]

Thank you for the quick response.  My next question was going to be 'what do I need'.  I would like to keep the pressure as close to 65 psi or so as possible.  That is what the other switch was giving us and we really liked it.  Can I adjust my mechanical 40/60 switch to give me the 60 - 70 psi spread?  Is that what the little nut is for - the differential?  Will adjusting that cause problems with the switch long term?

Also, my well is pretty dirty.  I clog up a 4 x 10 filter about every 3 weeks.  It'll be plum full of iron and some sand.  Will that affect the CSV?

[Cary Austin]

I use a 40/60 switch turned up to 55/75 at my house.  But that is about as far as you can go before you completely compress the spring.  Just tighten the big adjustment nut down about five full turns to get it as high as you can.  Don't mess with the little adjustment nut.

The CSV can completly clog up with iron the same way a check valve or even the pipe will do.  But the CSV1A can be easily disassembled and cleaned or chisled out if needed.  There is even a replaceable gut pack available.

[fishman463]

So, you suggest just the valve then.  What about my chlorinator?  The CSV will give me more pump run with less water so more chlorine for the same runtime.  I guess I'll just have to keep adjusting until I find the new normal.  Will the chlorine affect the CSV at all?

[Cary Austin]

Yes you can usually just back off on the chlorinator to match the average flow.  May take a litttle trial and error to get it like you want.  The CSV1A is all Stainless Steel so it works fine with chlorine.