floats in a well? Holding tank is septic…well pump draws with use from a pressure tank, septic is nasty to drink.
You need more than a book, you need to get a phraseology that we can use.
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Damm, I miss that stuff
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Replies
Does that tank have an actuater that triggers the pump ( float)?
I'll shut up, I am outta my realm..I have a well ( deep), a spring, and city water...
What I do know is that you describe a sump type signal..when the level is low a float triggers the pump to get a pumping, when it hits full it stops.
I don't reckon a controller is needed.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Damm, I miss that stuff
I am sorry, I can't be of much help, if the deep well is not drilled yet and you have a shallowell jet pump..I am confused.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Damm, I miss that stuff
The friend I know who had the type of system you seem to be speaking about had the 2 float switches you are asking about as well as a TIMER. (perhaps the controller you were thinking of?)
Wired from the float switches was a timer which was to prevent the pump from cycling too long at any one time. It would run through its cycles, turning on & off whenever the float switches were both closed, regardless of where the tank level was. If the tank needed filling, the deep well pump would come on and run until the next timer cycle came to shut it off, (or the upper float switch was satisfied). If the tank was still low (the float switches were both closed) the pump couldn't come on again until the timer had cycled to an on time again.
As I understand it, if you were to drain the holding tank faster than the deep well could fill it, the deep well could go dry without satisfying the upper float switch. You wouldn't know this right away in the house because the holding tank would still have water in it and be satisfying the house demand.
The float switches would be calling for the pump which would then be running dry.
Running the pump dry for a long time would destroy the internal seals, and also allow the motor to overheat which relies on water for cooling.
Thats where the timer comes in, it would shut the deep well pump down before it was damaged, even though the holding tank level was still low. Hopefully the well would recover before the timer turned on again, but if it was still dry, the timer would again shut it down before it was damaged even though it may not have pumped any water at all during the next timer cycle.
The shallow-well pump system (to supply the house pressure) was a totally separate one from the deep well pump and operated on a pressure switch. It only had to pump from the holding tank to the house as was demanded by the pressure switch.
I hope this explanation helps, I'm sorry I can't suggest any books or printed stuff, all I've seen deal with the more common single pump arrangement that I have, ie: no holding tank. (We also call the holding tank a cistern)
I have never seen such a controller/timer at any store, either. I would think your best bet would be a local well driller. They should know what you will need as well as where to get it.
Good luck.
The timer that your friend is talking about is not just a regular timer, it is one that is specifically designed for well pumps to prevent them burning up. One such company's device is called "WELLTECH" I believe they are in the $400-$700 range. It's been 10+ years since I paid for one. I think $400 is more in line.
Basically, they measure the current going to the pump through induction. If the pump is pushing water the amp draw will be at one a certain level. If their is no water being pushed, the amp draw will be less and the controller will shut off the pump and wait for a set amount of time and then restart. This lest the well recharge/refill. If it does it a gain, then it will rest for a longer period of time. And then a longer period of time. After that, it will just not restart. You won't have water and you will call for well service..
If you have a slow producing well or you are in the need of a storage tank, then the well company that we used highly recommends that you purchase a "welltech" pump controller. That money can easily save you $3,000 if you ever have to have you pump pulled and replaced. Of course, this price depends on the pump size, depth and other factors.
My neighbor had this happen. When he burned up his pump, he melted the pump and motor to the plastic casing and had to have the whole thing removed. Casing and all replaced. 700' deep
He is the same guy that didn't pay to have the well recased. Nor did he pay the $300 for the extended warrantee that covers the labor if the pump fails for ANY reason, even sucking sand. 9 months later, his pump failed again due to sand. pump under warrantee, but not the labor.
Hi Migraine, Felicitations!
What you describe is much better than what my friend was using. His system was 20 plus yrs. old. One of the problems he had was to get the timer settings correct. (Lots of trial & err .... strike that ......I meant to say successive approximation !)
What you describe sounds to be just the ticket for any well system in danger of running dry. I was going to suggest the mechanical pressure switch I am currently using to the BT poster with a pressurized bladder tank but your timer/control and his control are both far superior.
My system pressure switch is wholly mechanical & has a special lever attached to the snap switch mechanism which is used to reset the pressure switch whenever the output pressure drops below my minimum pressure setting.
The thinking goes something like this:
Should the well go dry, continuing to draw water from the pressure tank will eventually drop the pressure to below the cut-in pressure that you set for normal cycling. Once that happens, the snap switch opens to shut off the pump. It will not reset automatically and must have the lever held down manually to restart the pump until the system pressure comes up to the minimum setting. This is supposed to prevent your pump from running when the well goes dry. The motor current sensing function you described, however, is much better than my pressure switch control as it should react almost instantly to a dry situation, my switch takes much more time to react.
Although much cheaper than the control you described (less than $50.00 CAD) I will now probably look for a control like yours to replace mine. I think mine came from a local hardware store. I put it in more than 8 yrs. ago .
Unfortunately for anyone with a float controlled cistern to fill, the pressure switch I use is not even an option for controlling their deep well pump; filling a holding tank requires almost no pressure so an off-the-shelf pressure switch would not work at all.
Thank you for the edification.
Best book, Groundwater and Wells. Expensive,,,,, worth every penny.
http://www.goulds.com/pdf/TTECHWP.pdf
Look at page 41. It shows the components for a low yield well system with a holding tank. It actaully show extra stuff (motor minder, for example) that you don't need. What you'll need are two float switches in your holding tank, a low (to turn the pump on) and a high (to turn the pump off). This will keep your holding tank full. You will just need a slightly different pump controller - instead of using high and low pressure to turn the well pump on and off, you use a high and low level switch, so the controller needs to have on and off contacts instead of a pressure switch.
From there, the jet pump/booster pump feeds a normal pressure tank with a pressure switch as usual.
I have a similar setup as I understand yours to be and I get by with the illustrations as shown in the Gould catalog, pages 33 and 38.
The pressure switch is mounted on my pump and the pressure tank simply expands and contracts as the pump cycles which is determined by that pressure switch.
Migraine has it - your answer I mean. We have a low flow well and the emergency shutoff was literally just popped into the on/off subpanel for the pump. The brandname is Pumptech, iIrc. The function as described is to instantly detect the amp change and shut off the pump. Your well company will know if this and if not find another one. Cost to install was about $200 CAD, done by same company that originally dug the well before we bought our house, which is why the sub-panel allowed the sensor to be popped in place.
With that emergency shotoff, the well system is standard with a pressure tank having an electonic pressure sensor to engage/turn off the pump. No floats, just a baldder in the tank. The emergency shutoff just kills the electricity if it senses an amp change, turning the juice back on after preset time period (15 mins for us).