Need a little advice on troubleshooting a water pump which is running erratically.
This is a “secondary” pump whose purpose is to repressurize the whole household water supply after the water runs through a radon aerator system. In other words, the water gets pumped from the well to a pressure tank, which is connected to the aerator (where the water becomes depressurized). A second pump takes the water out of the aerator holding tank and pumps it into another pressure tank, which is what feeds the house.
Anyway, it’s this secondary pump that’s acting up. Basically it just kicks on all the time, even when no water is being used, so I checked the pressure settings and did a little troubleshooting. You can actually watch the needle in the pressure gauge slowly drop after the pump reaches the cutoff pressure (currently 60psi).
If I bypass the treatment system and just run the house off the primary pressure tank, the problem disappears.
So how do I go about finding the source of the pressure loss? There doesn’t appear to be a pressure relief valve anywhere that’s stuck, so I’m guessing perhaps the pump itself is leaking. Is there a way to test this? Are there other likely culprits I should be looking at?
Thanks–I’m not much of a plumber, as you can probably tell from this post!
Replies
Monsieur Ed.
A second pump takes the water out of the aerator holding tank and pumps it into another pressure tank, which is what feeds the house.
If I bypass the treatment system and just run the house off the primary pressure tank, the problem disappears.
If you have carefully checked for leaks on your secondary system between where your primary pump bypasses into the house system and the atmospheric pressure tank and found no evidence of leaks, then I suggest you look for a check valve that is leaking. The valve should be somewhere between the suction of the second pump and the outlet of the atmospheric tank. Are you able to observe the water level in the atmospheric tank? After the secondary pump reaches shutoff pressure, open the breaker to the primary pump so that it will not start. Now if there an overflow outlet in the atmospheric tank or some other way to watch for rise in water level, observe for a rise which indicates a leaking check valve in your secondary system. When you locate your check valve, put your ear to it and you would hear water running through it in reverse if it is leaking.
I would like to hear from you on what you found for my own edification.
Good luck,
Virginbuild
If the pressure drops when no water's being used you either have a leak (eg leaky toilet) somewhere or the check valve is leaking back into the holding tank.
This can be compounded (the cycling will occur more frequently) if you also have a waterlogged pressure tank -- either an old-style tank with a malfunctioning air volume control, or a bladder-style tank with a "holey" bladder.
Another oddball possiblity is that the valve that you open to bypass the second pump isn't closing all the way when you go off of bypass.
Thanks for good leads everyone.I think my first step will be to replace the check valve located at the outlet of the radon aerator tank. Seems like the most likely culprit. I'll keep you posted.