Jeramie Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 and no I dont mean an Orca. I have a well at the house. I actually have city water at the front of my 12 acres but the well is 100 times better. Moving on..... My well has worked fine for the last year plus, that ive owned the house. Lately its been losing its prime. Say I run the garden hose for a while (frost proof hydrant) it will lose its prime and I have to prime the well again to get the water back on. Restricted water, such as the shower and washing machine, will not turn off the well. The hose of course isnt nearly as restricted. I actually put a sprayer on the hose to restrict the water flow and it worked for a while. It helps too but if you run the water for very long it will again lose its prime. Dad seems to think its the foot valve. I guess he would be right but I know little (at best) about wells. This is a 110v unit with the motor on top of a tank. It is not the submerssable. Im not even sure where the foot valve is on this thing. Im assuming its at the base of the pipe but....... anyway, anyone have any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roadkill10 Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Jeramie, The foot valve is on the end of the pipe .It also coould be low air psi on the tank ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntinsonovagun Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? You're running out of water!!! That happens to us whenever we use a lot of water (such as watering the yard, etc.) Only way to stop it is go deeper, or don't use as much water. Our pump is 5 feet from the bottom, so not a whole lot more we can do.....just use less water. I would rather have city water.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Well....that's a pretty deep subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntinsonovagun Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? [ QUOTE ] Well....that's a pretty deep subject. [/ QUOTE ] My MORON detector just went off......thought I better check the forums..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowtechTurkeyHunter Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? [ QUOTE ] Well....that's a pretty deep subject. [/ QUOTE ] LOL the expert on deep! lol and not water =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archerjg Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Sounds like you may be running out of water as huntin sonofagun stated. It could also be the pressure switch getting bad. Archerjg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birddog Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? I am with the guys suggesting it may be running out of water? How deep is your well #1? You can call and get the boring records: I am not familiar with OK's water table: I actually work in the drinking water protection and will give this question to the hydrologist in the morning: A pressure switch would also cause this, as would a faulty pump: Does your pressure gauge work? Do you have water around you? I'll be back with more tomorrow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Have to agree with birddog and others. Could be a few things like he suggests. Think I would start by checking the pressure if the gauge works, watch it while running some water and see if it holds pretty good, then shut off the water and watch and see what it does for a few minutes. While the pump cycles on and off you might be able to tell if the valve is letting the water bleed back down causing you to lose your prime in your pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? I need to replace the gauge on top of the pump. It doesnt work anymore. There is a nipple on the holding tank and it says I have plenty? As far as Low water, I know that could be a culprit but I have valley land with a serious water table. I was afraid of that but my place stays wet all year. My grass never even dies. Also roughly 50' from my well is an old hand dug well. Its pretty cool and I would say it has to be 100+years old. I checked the depth of its water. Its holding about 12-15' of water. I figured if I was meerly sucking water out of the water table id see a difference there too. It has never dropped so much as a foot from what I can tell. Im afraid its either pressure at the pump or the foot valve..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? [ QUOTE ] I need to replace the gauge on top of the pump. It doesnt work anymore. There is a nipple on the holding tank and it says I have plenty? [/ QUOTE ] Is that an elevated holding tank or a ground level PRESSURE tank? If it's at ground level, does the pump have to run for you to have water pressure, or do you have pressure even with the pump off? If you do, then it's a pressure tank. Here's how a pressure tank works. There's a rubber bladder in the tank that has compressed air behind it. On the other side is the water. When you use water from the tank, the bladder expands to force more water out. When you pump water in, the bladder compresses. If the bladder leaks, the tank "drowns", meaning it loses a lot of capacity and pressure. Sometimes the air will leak out and that causes the same problems. Does it have an air fitting on it somewhere? You may just need to add air from a compressor. BTW - I don't want to hear any lame bladder jokes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Nope, not elevated. Its about 3' from the Pump on the same little pad. The pump will run, then stop. If you keep using water it will kick back on again. Running or not I never see a difference in water pressure. It does have an air fitting but ive checked it with a tire guage and it had more then enough (according to dad and he's pretty sharp). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Same thing happened to me once, except the water never completely quit, it would just trickle. Turns out the gauge was bad and it never registered low pressure the the pump wouldn't kick on. New gauge did the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billkay Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? May be a water logged tank. Turn off the electric and see what you get when you drain the tank. Chances are, that's the problem. Had the same thing here till we switched to a bladdered tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Easy way to check your water level is to simply pull your line and head out. As long as the pipe is wet at least half way up your line, your not running outta water. Your pump could simply be worn out and need to be replaced. It's rather easy to do. Fixed our water problems here this summer. The re-wiring is the hardest part. We used a 4-wheeler to pull the line and pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? So it never runs out of water or low on pressure while you are running it. Being that it is a 110 non submersible pump, I would think another pump would be rather inexpensive if that is the problem, but you say you dont lose pressure, makes me think nothing is wrong with the pump or the tank, but maybe with the well itself or back to the valve that should be holding the water supply to the pump. To "reprime" the pump I assume you run water from your city water into the pump similarly to a swimming pool pump that needs primed? Sounds to me like seals in the valve or in the pump are letting the water seep out and then you end up having to prime it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted September 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Nope, to reprime there is a handle where the power comes in. I simply lift it (causing the pump to run) until the water pumps up again. Once it hit the tank you can let off the handle and youre good to go again..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntinsonovagun Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? [ QUOTE ] Nope, to reprime there is a handle where the power comes in. I simply lift it (causing the pump to run) until the water pumps up again. Once it hit the tank you can let off the handle and youre good to go again..... [/ QUOTE ] Hmm....maybe our well isn't running out of water. That sounds exactly like the problems we're having. Good luck! Let us know what you did once it's fixed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? [ QUOTE ] Well....that's a pretty deep subject. [/ QUOTE ] DARN! That's what I was going to say Ranger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggs Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? John Wells? Yeah, I know 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambuscher Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? I have seen the pipe itself rust and start to get pin holes in it. It would loose it's prime when it was allowed to sit for a period of time. Just my $0.02 worth. Later Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted September 28, 2005 Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? is it true folks like you don't get sick because they drink well water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambuscher Posted September 28, 2005 Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 Re: Who knows about wells? Very true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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