elamessa Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Hi all and hope you had a good Christmas and looking forward to the New Year?Our water supply is from a well which is served by a submersible pump. I have a feeling that this pump is on its last legs as the water pressure is fluctuating with the pump kicking in and out continually when we open a tap.I have spoken to our French plumber who cannot help as he doesn't deal with pumps so i am looking for anyone that can deal with this problem and if any of the forum members can make any suggestions it would be appreciated.Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louloulaloopski Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Sounds more like problems with your "bladder".[:D]http://goo.gl/DVa3c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elamessa Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 I always knew that I would have a "bladder" problem the older I got!!!!!!!!Thanks for the link.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I have a submersible pump in our well which serves an outside tap for use in the garden etc. I've had this "cycling" problem and the cause turned out to be the pressure vessel; I assume you have something like that, in our case a red steel cylinder? The vessel contains a diaphragm and the top half of the vessel should contain air pressurised to about 2bar I think I'll try and find the link I used. What happens is that the vessel can become waterlogged, and it will need to be emptied and re-pressurised (there's a schrader valve on the top usually). The worse scenario is that the diaphragm has punctured in which case you will probably need to replace the whole thing.I'll post the link when I find it. for now check the pressure; you may find that just putting some air in will fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louloulaloopski Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Interesting to learn that your "bladder" gave similar problems.When they get old they can give problems and a bit of cold weather can exacerbate the problem even causing rupture causing a veritable poosie down the well problem.[;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 The strange thing is that it hasn't gone wrong since I drained it and pumped it up again and that was about 4 years ago.I can't find the original link which I've posted previously but there's quite a bit online if you Google for it.http://www.watertechonline.com/articles/troubleshooting-a-bladder-pressure-tankhttp://www.privatewatersupplies.org.uk/pages/pressure_vessels.htmThere's a couple of links.The important thing is to correct the problem ASAP because the continual cycling can damage the pump, and that's expensive!I'd try simply adding some air with a bicycle pump if you have one with a schrader connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louloulaloopski Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Is this the one you were looking for?http://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/331-342.pdfA helpful "washington not district" publication.[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 It wasn't that article, but it fits the bill ! It looks as though this well system is common in N America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elamessa Posted January 1, 2013 Author Share Posted January 1, 2013 Thanks both for your links and help.Happy New Year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Happy New Year to you too.Let us know how you get on with the well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elamessa Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Have followed instructions to check pressure in ballon have emptied water from ballon and pumped up to 2 bar (wasn't sure how much pressure was required) refilled ballon and I now have a constant supply of water at a much better pressure with no pulsing.So thanks once again to Sid and louloulaloopski for their help and supplying the links.Lets hope that it lasts a month or two as i'm in the process of connecting to mains water.Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Result! Brilliant. Thanks for letting us know; so often we never find out whether a problem gets sorted. [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 That's what friends are for [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 [quote user="elamessa"]Have followed instructions to check pressure in ballon have emptied water from ballon and pumped up to 2 bar (wasn't sure how much pressure was required) refilled ballon and I now have a constant supply of water at a much better pressure with no pulsing. So thanks once again to Sid and louloulaloopski for their help and supplying the links. Lets hope that it lasts a month or two as i'm in the process of connecting to mains water. Cheers[/quote] The pressure in the ballon should be adjusted to that of the cut-in pressure of the pump, plus or minus 2psi, with the bladder empty. This will give the maximum possible delay time between cut in and out.This is mentioned in the first of the articles to which Sid gave links earlier.The "cut-in" pressure is the pressure at which the pump starts as the water pressure falls.If the ballon air pressure is too high the pump will start and stop more frequently, if it is above the cut-out pressure, the pump will short cycle as it does when there is no air in the ballon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louloulaloopski Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Ahh! Such a relief to learn that your bladder problem has been resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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