Water Well Question

[STex]

My water well seems to be working poorly and I'm hoping the Green Screen brethren can help me trouble shoot it. I have a 3/4 hp downhole pump, 42 gal tank, rated at 75psi. I have a 100 ft water hose running from the well to my trailer. The problem is that the water just trickles out of the shower.

Is there a problem with this set up? What can I do to increase the flow of water in the trailer?

Thanks!!

[webstertroy]

check you water hose for cracks.... Might be getting air...

[doghouse]

Do you have good pressure at the end of the hose?

[STex]

I don't think there is a crack in the hose. There is a tiny drip at the well coming from an old hose bib. The pressure at the hose end is not very impressive. Not enough to make a lawn sprinkler operate.

[doghouse]

With all faucets turned off will the well build up pressure and turn off? Is there a pressure gauge by the pressure tank? Hard to answer without more info.

[fishanhunt]

Do you have a pressure guage on you tank ? Did it just start having low pressure?
I've only had a pump work or not work. Never seen one pump just a little. Not saying it couldn't happen.
Does your pressure tank have a bladder? It may need to be re inflated. They have to have a certain amount of air in the bladder for them to work ( i think. i could be wrong on that too).
100' feet of water hose can rob a bunch of flow also. Might need to move your trailer ( i assume camping trailer ???) closer and get a shorter hose.

Does other faucets in the trailer seem to have enough pressure?

[STex]

There is a pressure gauge at the well. I hear the pump turn on and the pressure seems to improve. When I was closing the manifold off to the trailer before I left, the gauge was on 0 psi, but it was right after the trickle shower I took before driving home. The pump was on but I didn't stick around to see if it would pressure up.

Is the 42 gallon tank small? Must be for what I want to do ... Which is to wash dishes then take a shower. Or be able to have two people take showers one after the other.

[doghouse]

You don't need a very big pressure tank for your trailer. Could be lots of things causing your problem.

[STex]

Doghouse, thanks..... What are some of the common problems that I could be looking at?

Guess it could be corroded pipes in the trailer too.

[Stephenska]

It sounds like one of two things. You have either water logged your pressure tank (no air bladder providing the pressure for the system) or the pump motor winding is going bad and it is not pushing the volume of water like it was. The pressure tank is the likely culprit. The pressure tank needs to have about 40% air and 60% water in it to work properly. The reason you had 0 psi without the pump on is because the compressed air is not providing pressure or head in the system. The pressure at the ground level without compressed air providing the head should be 0 psi. When no compressed air is present in the system the pump won't work properly either (slides over on the pump curve to a point that is technically outside it's operating condition). This can be bad on the motor. Pressure it back up and let me know if that fixed the problem. It doesn't, it might be time for a new pump and motor.

[STex]

Good feedback all. Much appreciated.

[El Paisano]

Check a few simple things first, like a plugged up screen at the shower head or a filter. Is it just the shower with poor flow, or does it affect the kitchen too?

[Corn Sack]

The older style tanks should have a valve stem, should be located near the pressure gauge. ***MAKE SURE GAUGE WORKS!!!*** if gauge works put about 40 psi in it, and see if that doesn't fix your problem. What you are describing sounds exactly like a water logged tank(deflated bladder). Is your pressure tank blue or grey/silver?

[STex]

My pressure tank has a galvanized look to it. Might be a galvanized cover over the bladder.

I'll be going back in December and can trouble shoot these possible problems.

[STex]

I finally got this resolved. Had a water well company come out and trouble shoot the problem and it ended up being the pump down hole. The impellers were bad and it was not building up enough pressure to work properly. Now it holds 40 to 50 PSI and it get great pressure in my trailer.