Air in pipes, struggle to build pressure

[jkust]

Hi all, I've got a shallow well and suddenly there is a lot of air intermittently coming out of the faucets and the pump takes at least 10 minutes to hit the cut off, once it cuts on where it used to take just a few. Sometimes there is a lot of air and other times there is just a little bit of intermittent air from faucets. It will get to 3/4 pressure then struggle to get the last 10lbs to get to cut off according to the pressure gauge. I can hear air bubbling in the pressure tank every time a faucet is used or toilet is flushed which hadn't been the case prior. I emptied and tested the pressure tank with a tire gauge and it has the proper 28lb charge for a 30lb cut on and no water comes out of the tank at the pressure test chuck. The tank is 10 years old. This is a seasonal cabin and gets only light weekend summer use three months of the year. The pump is not short cycling at all. Closing the system with the valve after the pressure tank which is before the whole house filter makes no difference. This leads me to believe it is one of three things causing the problem.

-The pump has worn out though it sounds the same as before this started (I estimate it to be 15 years old)
-The check valve has gone bad, I estimate it to be decades old. (do brass valves really go out?)
-the well is drying out though no neighbors are complaining of a dry well.

Does this sound logical? I'm making these assumptions based on what i've read but am looking for any suggestions or things I might me overlooking. The cabin is far away and I need to collect any replacement parts and bring them with.

Thank you.

 

[Valveman]

Sounds more like a leak in the suction line somewhere. Use foamy shaving cream on the pipe joints and fittings while the pump is running. You can see a hole suck in the foam where the leak is. But the leak won't be big enough to let water out. Can't check by looking for a water leak. Air leaks in easier than water can leak out.

 

[jkust]

So I finally got the chance to check things out. I did the shave cream and didn't locate any air leaks.
The only irregularity I noticed was that one of the toilets has an old Sloan Flushmate in it. I happened to hear it hissing one time and I could see the main water inlet tube where the water supply pipe connects to the plastic tube inside the toilet that then feeds the flushmate was letting a little bit of air out directly into the toilet tank as though the clamp was letting air by. The question then is, does this little air leak also pull air into the whole water system? I don't quite understand the flushmate and this one is old and doesn't look anything like the modern version.

 

[Valveman]

I wouldn't think there is anyway a toilet could be sending air back into the water system. Post a picture of your system. You may just be pumping more than the well can supply and picking up air that way. But check valves in the wrong place can also cause air in the system.

 

[RS]

Your well is either going dry or you have a leak in the suction line. This has nothing to do with the toilet, that's just where you hear the air escaping.

 

[jkust]

I swapped out the pump for a new half hp pump same hp as the old one and the two feet of steel pipe and the check valve that attaches to the plastic tube that feed to the well. (I presumed that maybe the pump was getting week or that the old check valve was leaking.) The new pump never primed after a hundred tries and a lot of frustration. I called the well guy who said he can't service a sand point well as they are not legal any longer so would likely have to put in a deep well but requires a variance that needs to go through the state and could take up to three month to get approved and is a major expense to install. That is going to be a big problem so I thought, OK I'll reinstall the old pump as the well guy suggested the old pump is far more robust than the cheap quality hardware store model I tried replacing it with. My thinking was that some water is better than no water. I got it all replumbed for the old pump using all of the new steel pipe and new check valve, and just like the new pump I had tried, the old pump now won't prime so now we have no water at all. I don't understand what happened suddenly that now the old pump that at least provided some water, isn't priming at all either.

I'm thinking I will have to locate the sand point well underground and somehow try to clear whatever obstruction must be clogging it from producing no water at all now. When I prime the pump, the water just sits in the priming chamber and builds up pressure but doesn't pressure the pressure tank at all. The manifold gauge doesn't even blip. When I open the prime chamber after priming it and letting it run for a minute, the water I used to prime the pump will shoot out out the prime plug hole when I open it.

I'm open to any suggestions as I am beyond frustrated at this point.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Is city water available ?

 

[jkust]

Is city water available ?

No, it is rural.

 

[Twowaxhack]

No, it is rural.

I was trying to solve your problem permanently.

 

[Valveman]

Probably not a blockage but a leak in the suction somewhere before the check valve. Probably just need to drive a new sand point.