Hi all, thank you in advance for any help or advise.

My home has a well. We have 2 full br. Would anyone know the explanation to loosing all water pressure if you are only running 1 or 2 faucets, but if I have 2 or more faucets running I can then use water at another where I had wanted to without loosing pressure at all.

Something to do with the bladder tank??? Pressure switch??? So confused!

Thank you so much!!



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UNless you are leaving out some vital fact, it sounds impossible. Therefore it would need someone at the house to do an evaluation.



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Yes, it sounds absolutely impossible to me as well. That's why I am so confused. But my husband just went back to work after being off for 3 years so we are trying not to pay a plumber a few hundred $ if someone out there would have some suggestions.
What we've had to do, for example to take a shower upstairs, is run the water in the shower until it runs out of pressure. Then wait a few minutes, maybe 5-10, then the water pressure comes back on and you can jump in the shower. It will then run out of pressure again after about 10-15 minutes. If you are done, great, if not you stand there and wait for the pressure to come back on. So one morning my husband turned on the shower downstairs, as well as the br sink and kitchen sink to run the pressure out quickly so it will hurry up and restart so he could get in shower, but it wouldnt stop! It just kept going and going. So we now realize that if you run out the pressure, let it kick back on, turn on both showers and a sink, you can take as long a shower as you need to and it won't run out of pressure. Crazy as it sounds, this is how its been for a couple days now. I don't want to burn out the well pump by doing this. I want to fix it in the most cost effective manner as possible, which normally doesnt include bringing in a professional unfortunately.

could you have a system like this? if so the controller could be going bad.
[goulds.com]


P/S, i'm a city boy and know very little about wells...

---"My home has a well. We have 2 full br. Would anyone know the explanation to loosing all water pressure if you are only running 1 or 2 faucets, but if I have 2 or more faucets running I can then use water at another where I had wanted to without loosing pressure at all."---

Not a plumber - but a well shallow and deep well user for 42+ years.

1. If you are really losing ALL pressure then of course the most probable reason is the pump is not running at that moment. Apparently electrical power is lost to the pump under certain conditions. - Defective pressure switch / breaker in panel - defective pump overheating etc.

2. From description in second follow-up posting it appears the pump runs but has a problem starting back up again when it has stopped - (when and after it is allowed to reach it's normal cut off pressure). IF cut off pressure is not reached because many outlets are on - then pump apparently runs OK. - as long as it does not reach cut off pressure.

3. Is it a deep well with a 240 volt pump or a shallow well with only 120 volt pump?

4 Determine with a volt meter if power is available from the panel to the pressure switch. The first cheap attempt to resolve problem would be replace the pressure switch ($20/$25) with the desired cut in/out settings (30/50 psi -- 40/60 psi etc). Sketch original wiring before disconnecting and also use new switch instructions. Ensure breaker/s to switch are off if replacing.

5. If the pump is 240 volt it may be a problem with one of the two 120 volt electrical lines between the breaker box/pressure switch/pump controller/or pump. In that case the pump will only be receiving 120 volts power and not the required 240 volts.

6. If you do not have a Gould pump controller system as previously mentioned in the 4th post - IMO - Good.
IMO that is a complicated, expensive solution to the pump start/stop problem. ONLY AFTER your original problem has been solved you may want to check installing a "Cycle Stop" valve. This simple (cheaper) mechanical/hydraulic valve (No electric/electronics) will allow your pump to run continually as long as water is needed preventing the pump stop/start cycle. Google it. Mfr has a good web site explaining it. Bronze is best (not plastic) available on E-bay.

7. When your problem is resolved - please post solution - It will be helpful to all.

This is what you are describing. When you start using water, you are draining the storage tank until it is empty and you run out of water. But, before you reach that stage the pump should start, but yours is NOT starting, probably because the pipe between the switch and the water system is plugged. Eventually, the pressure in the switch drops and it realizes you need water so it turns the pump on. Then the cycle repeats because the pump fills the tank faster than you can use the water so it shuts off, then you drain the tank again and run out of water. IF, you open additional faucets, you can stay ahead of the pump's capacity, so it doesn't reach the stage where it has to turn off so you can keep using the water until the faucets are turned off or the pump catches up with the usage. Check and repair the pressure switch and its connection.

DITTO hj

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

Turn off the pump and drain the system. Then check the air pressure in the bladder tank. If possible verify the tank is empty by jostling/ lifting slightly without breaking the pipes! If air pressure is verified @ 30 to 45 psi then turn pump on and reset the pressure switch to turn off at air pressure setting in tank plus 15 lbs and turn on at air pressure setting plus 1 lb.
So if air pressure is 35 lbs. then pressure switch shuts off when water pressure gauge reads 50 and turns back on at 36 lbs. This all usually takes a few shots to tune in. If the bladder tank had water and needed to be replaced and nobody played with the pressure switch it usually doesn't need to be reset. It's been a while since I set a pump so I may be off on the most desirable pressure #s. If so, I'm sure someone will post their correction. There are other reasons that could be the problem (bad elect., pump going) but start there and let us know!