Pump won't run

[TheOldMan]

I purchased and installed a CSV1.25 50psi valve yesterday.  Packaged instructions in the box stated: When using larger tanks, set the pressure switch to its highest setting, Close off downstream use, wait 2 minutes to fill tank, then adjust pressure switch to turn off pump.
Instructions on the pressure switch indicate that the smaller adjustment nut (short screw) is hi pressure adj, an larger nut (taller screw) moves both cut in & cut out.  I adjusted the short screw.  Pump was cutting on @ 30 & off @ 50.  Domestic water service was fine all night, cooking, showers laundry etc.  This morning, turned on one bay of sprinklers, worked fine for about 1/2 hour then pump tripped the overload.
Went to this website, and under the adjustment heading, found: Turn the tall screw CW as far as possible, valve off downstream, run to fill tank and adjust CCW to shut off pump. Did I make the wrong adjustment?
At the present time, I have preformed all of the tests indicated inside the pump control cover, and nothing reads right.  The resistance of the control relay coil is high.  Both capacitors charge with ohmmeter current.  All resistances of motor coils read high, and start current indicates about 24 amps which is very high and indicates to me a locked rotor.
Any ideas?  Anybody else lose a pump to a CSV installation?

[Cary Austin]

With a 30/50 pressure switch, the pump was shutting off at 50 before the 50 PSI CSV could do anything.  The CSV wasn't doing anything except being a piece of pipe.  You have to shut the pump off higher than 50 for a 50 PSI valve to be able to work at all.

I am sorry your pump is not working, but the CSV didn't have anything to do with it.  It might have saved your pump if the CSV had been installed a long time ago, and set properly where it would have eliminated the cycling.

[TheOldMan]

Ok, I've got the well guy coming today, how about e mailing me back detailed instructions on how to set the pressures correctly.  The instructions I have found so far are a little vague.  If I'm going to have this thing, I want it to be set up right.

[Cary Austin]

2 minutes of runtime after turning off all faucets is a good way to set the pressure switch.  You never need to adjust the small adjustment screw so the difference between on and off will stay 20 PSI.  Tighten the big adjustment screw clockwise most of the way in.  Then loosen the large adjustment until the pump shuts off 2 minutes after shutting all faucets off.

Some people buy a 1.25" CSV because they have 1.25" lines.  But the CSV125 is designed for 50 GPM pumps.  You only need a CSV1 for pumps up to 25 GPM.  I am guessing since 24 amps is locked rotor, that you don't have larger than a 25 GPM pump.  The CSV125 will work on smaller pumps, but it has a 3 GPM minimum and tank fill rate instead of a 1 GPM minimum like the CSV1.  So the CSV125 will fill the tank faster and the pump will still cycle when using less than 3 GPM, like when using a 2.5 GPM shower.

[TheOldMan]

OK, Well guy sold me a new control box, said that would probably fix it, but if it didn't, they wouldn't connect a new pump to an old box, because they couldn't warranty it.  The box fixed it.  Now I just have to set the pressures. Well guy says he's a cycle stop dealer, but has never installed one on a domestic system, says he doesn't think they're necessary, only uses them on large installations like golf courses etc.  He said that because we were irrigating a large garden, it surely wouldn't hurt anything, and leave it there.

[Cary Austin]

says he doesn't think they're necessary, only uses them on large installations like golf courses etc. 

He is right.  You can get by without a CSV on a domestic system as long as you don't mind using a larger pressure tank, having 40/60 pressure fluctuations instead of a constant 50 PSI in the shower, and cycling your pump to death much sooner than it should.  If the CSV solves those problems on a big golf course system, it can easily solve those problems on small domestic size pump system.  Your pump man just hasn't figured that out yet.