Well Cycling Question

[HayZee518]

landscaping well pump

I contrived a diagram for a well pump. I take it the pump is some distance from the house but the storage tank, breaker panelbox, and pressure switch is on the tank and in the basement or "pump house." 12/2 romex should do the trick - tape the white wire black on both ends as the pump probably is 240 volt. The two pole breaker will feed both the pump and the timer motor. T1 & T2 is the motor load out from the timer. the contacts and jumper circuitry is internal to the timer. The timer will have a manual on-off lever if you wanted to bypass the on-off tripper fingers. I used Paragon as an example, Singer, Leviton, Emerson all make timers.

[DKAudio]

Thanks for the diagram. That pretty much just replaces my current cut in/out switch. What would the benifit be? I would still have the tank pressure not last and the pump would kick in often. If I increased the time then my pressure would just drop even more.

I was also told to maybe create an air maker system so the tank doesn't become water logged once the water takes in oxygen. Here is a pic, it still seems impracticle for me to do since I would have to pull up the down pipe in my super small well room with a 5' ceiling.





I just realized something...they told my neighborhood that it was all going to be city water (like I said this was a very long time ago and my house only has well for outside water unlike my neighbors who have 100% city in and out). Therefore, I think they put concrete over my well room in place of original trap doors. This is all just a guess. I assume because I do not have a pipe or cap or anything in my yard to indicate a well. I think they go straight down into the foundation to the well right in my tiny well room. Therefore, I cannot replace my pump, the pump that is there is my only one so I need to make it last. The ceiling of my well room is my back door concrete step (big) so there is no way to pull the down pipe up even if I wanted to.

[HayZee518]

why go through all that expense for a well? you have limited access, you say that it is impossible to remove the pump when it finally dies because of no vertical headroom. also, does the well water have a high coliform bacteria count? is this why its used only for landscape watering? if this was your prime source for drinkable water I'd say yeah, go for the maintenance on the system but just for watering a lawn - nawwww. ain't worth it! but it's your call.

[DKAudio]

I agree, it is not for drinking or anything other than watering the lawn. I don't even wash the cars with it.

It comes down to making the pump last as long as possible and to limit its cycling. I am pretty sure my tank is waterlogged with no way to add more air the way it is. I have drained and refilled with no success.

[HayZee518]

I spoke with lazypup about it. why not just hitch the hose to the pump and run it like that. use a timer for certain times of the day. you really don't have to maintain a head pressure as in house use etc.

[LazyPup]

If this pump is being used solely for irrigation purposes there is absolutely no reason to power the pump at any time other than when the irrigation system is working. The simple solution is to install a manual switch or timer to turn the pump on for irrigation and turn it off when the irrigation system is not in use.

On the other hand, if the pump is short cycling while the irrigation system is being used the problem is not the pump or pressure tank, but rather it is an imbalance between the GPM deiliver rate of the pump and the discharge rate of the irrigation system. In a nutshell, if the pump is supplying water at a rate faster than what is being distributed by the irrigation system pressure will build up in the tank and the cut-in/cut-out control will shut the pump off however with the irrigation system still on the pressure would almost instantly drop below the cut-in point and the pump would restart.

[DKAudio]

hmm, so not even use a tank? Just have the pump run all the time? Interesting idea.

However I think I am going to install a schrader valve so I can add the air bladder with a bike pump every spring when I start to water my lawn. It will be simple, cheap and work like it did when it was new every year.