Float lever sticking & power to jet pump problem

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Well, I went in & hit a snag- the shutoff is leaking. I managed to cut stuff apart & start assembling and realized my dumb a$$ should have measured first because the hose is too long but I need it to get the right angle. I thought about getting a longer metal pipe at the inlet side, but I was barely able to turn it bc of the route of the outlet side. It got really hot & wasps were buzzing around. Heat made my brain shut down so I'm cooling off & coming up with a plan. I'm going to skip some of the parts & see if I can get it to go together. I wish I had more space to work with. If the pipe was all the same size it wouldn't be a problem, but I have to convert from 3/4" up to 1-1/4" and they didn't sell a single fitting to accomplish that so I need at least two to get there. I can stick a 3/4" coupling inside the 1-1/4" to 1" elbow. I wish I had just a straight piece. Worst case I could always go to the hardware store & get one.
I'm about to go out there & try the parts. Wish the damn wasps weren't around ,but I don't want to spray poison near the water well. One of my cats was in there with me watching me work. She got up on the pressure tank at one point and put her paws on my chest and wanted to be cuddled. Then she sat on the ground & started swatting wasps that came near her. One of the buggers landed on my sleeve for awhile. I kept saying "I'm not going near your nests, leave me the f*** alone!"

Edit: I think I've figured out a solution but I can't cut before the shutoff until the water level in the holding tank goes down more. I opened the shutoff up & it was pouring water out & flooding the pump house, so for now I have it closed & normally the water level in the holding tank goes down when the pumps are off. Now, I don't know if the water drains into the lines via gravity, or if it just goes back down from where it came. But, I'm going to have to wait & see. The entire thing did drain in the past when there was a leak. I might just call my well guy & ask him about coming out with the right fittings to convert it over to 1-1/4".
 
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Got home after dark, went out there with a headlamp flashlight. Wasps were asleep. Couldn't get the hose to bend enough to get it to fit with the shutoffs & really wanted my water back on. Pump guy is booked up for the next few days so I temporarily scabbed it. I actually found a 1-1/4" x 3/4" fitting in the store (that wasn't on the website). The pipe coming from the shutoff didn't break & I was able to cut it short enough to stick the adapter on, then I was able to put a 1-1/4" male threaded piece on it & crammed the hose on it, then I finagled the other end into place on the stainless steel elbow. It was a tight fit, but it went on. I did a dry fit before I used glue. When the pump guy comes out, I'm going to talk to him about moving stuff around- moving the pressure tank to another spot or just over enough that it's not in the way. Will require replacing some shutoffs and quite a bit of pipe, but the older pipes have gotten gunked up anyway. I'm not happy with the current setup, but it's better than nothing. Waiting the 2 hours for glue to setup now.

Update: Well, the steel pipes are not leaking & the PVC is not leaking, but the corrugated hose is leaking. I don't know if it's because it is compressed rather than stretched or if it is just defective & doesn't hold a seal well. Might have to eliminate it from the hookup. Still going to have the pump guy come put in a foot valve & install a new shutoff. It can either be a PVC or brass one, whichever he thinks would work best. Both shutoffs can be threaded directly on to the foot valve if need be. I wrapped the spot that leaked to try to reduce the leak, but I don't think it's going to have much effect. I'm disappointed but at least we have running water. It was already leaking from the pump so more leaking doesn't change too much. I also annihilated the wasps.
 
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So, the water was working last night after I flipped it back on after 2 hours. The holding tank is full, there is still a slight leak/drip from the hose, but it's not as bad. But this morning there was no water & I went out and checked to see that the primary pump is pulling water up to into the tank, tank is full, but there's a problem with the jet pump. I tugged on the electrical cable going to the little plastic box on the side of the pump & it turned on & ran. Then it started faltering & making some clicking noises- I could see blue lights flashing under the plastic-- like it's misfiring. It shut off awhile later so I tugged and it turned back on, but kept making the noise. Not sure what the problem is. Could it be that the water pressure isn't high enough to get it to work properly? The water ran fine & toilet flushed without the air-in-line sound. Could replacing the hose with more solid pipes help? I'm hoping it's not the pump that is shot. That thing is expensive.
 
The seller for the pump says the flashing lights (which are now green) means there's an electrical short. Still waiting to get ahold of the pump guy.
 
Goulds J10 shallow water tank. Not sure what sort of controller. It has a plastic box on the side with wires going into it. In the past when it had electrical problems, I had to push the wires down toward the box to make it work. I do suspect there might be a water pressure issue though. I think it has some sort of pressure switch so if it isn't detecting water it or enough water it shuts off.

I believe it has lights on the switch under the box-- I'll have to see if I can get a photo later. Still can't get in touch with the pump guy bc my landline is out & my cellphone signal keeps getting weaker out here. Right now the holding tank is low on water bc I shut the power off to the pumps hoping that the guy would be coming by & not wanting him to have problems with needing to drain the tank before he can work on it.
 
I was going to get a picture but while I was setting up my mother's computer, the pump guy arrived & honked the horn out back so I didn't hear him. My mother heard it & asked my brother to check but he refused & she couldn't check. I found out about it much later when the guy knocked on the front door while I was going to check after my brother made some comment about Mom hearing things that weren't there.
He'd already completed the job without using any of my fittings. He didn't put in the foot valve, didn't put in a new shutoff-- looks like he just used the existing pieces I had on (an adapter going from the 3/4" coming out of the pump to a 1-1/4". So there is no shutoff before the pump. He had to remove the corrugated hose bc it leaked, & ran the PVC pretty much the way it was before (going up above the pump). He also put a check valve in on the suction side of the pump (the valve cost $125). I wish I'd gotten to talk to him before he did it all, but he was overheated & exhausted when he was done & I'd been cleaning & moving stuff so I was too. Didn't feel like arguing about it since it was already done & the water works.
He also replaced the pressure switch bc he said it was burnt.
 
Pressure switch and the wires to it got fried in a power surge. Fortunately, Tractor Supply carries it so my friend replaced it for me. Now the lift pump is no longer working. After the power finally came back (was out 3+ weeks after the hurricane) a bunch of breakers tripped and had red. Friend reset them & they seem to be working. Jet pump was humming bc there was no water in the cistern. Think the motor burned out in that piston pump. Trying to find a suitable replacement that can work with the current setup.
Any suggestions? Need something soon that will be reliable.
The current piston pump is 1HP.
I wonder if it's possible to get just the motor... My friend said he can replace it for me.
liftpump1.jpg
 
I took more pics from inside the shed (well, screenshots from a video).
wellshed2-2021-1.jpgwellshed2-2021-2.jpgwellshed2-2021-3.jpg

1613945023652.png

My plan is to cut the PVC pipe where I marked it (going to the pressure tank), raise the tank up higher so I can rotate the lower stainless steel street elbow clockwise and down more. That will make it so the suction/inlet end of the line will be below the tank instead of above it.
I would really like to add an emergency shut-off on that line somewhere in case of future bad leaks that need repairs when the power is turned off.
Then I want to cut out all those elbows on the outlet side going to the pressure tank and try to streamline it more. Instead of multiple 90s I want to see if I can get a couple 45s and slope the pipe down. Should all be 1" line. Worst case, I can cut all the way to the galvanized steel and replace that whole bit. Maybe see if I can find a long sweep instead of the abrupt 90. Maybe it would improve pressure. I'm not sure.

Can 1" PEX be used between the jet pump outlet and the pressure tank?

It would make things a lot easier for setting it up instead of messing with PVC.

How do I check my pressure tank again to figure out if it's gone bad? Take the cap off and look for water?

Do I need that large of a pressure tank? Old one was smaller (but was metal). Not sure what pressure tank I need with that pump, but I'm researching. Will have to take a better look at the existing one and see if Goulds has one in metal that isn't too expensive.
 
I just noticed that my pressure tank doesn't seem to be connected properly. And I need to find out what pressure tank I have to find out what the drawdown gpm is. Old goulds tank was 12gpm drawdown. Pump's optimal is 17gpm drawdown (I think). I'm trying to find specs that say the gpm of the pump.

I really need to fix a lot on this mess.
1613971188263.png

There doesn't appear to be a well tee with plug on mine though. I forgot to x that out. It comes straight out of the cistern.

This is a diagram I found of how it should be set up
1613970489033.png

More pics:
well-plumbing-from-cistern.jpgwell-plumbingfromcistern2.jpgwell-plumbingtopressuretank.jpg
 
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That Goulds pump is a one horse and should be capable of roughly 18 gpm at 30 psi. I'm getting a headache looking at all those tee's, elbows and ball valves. If you want a reliable quality bladder tank for that pump. Get a WX 202 Well X Trol or larger.
 
Now would be a good time to rip all that stuff out and upgrade to a PK1A kit. You would have much more room, strong constant pressure in the house, and it would work and look much better. It would look something like this.
Jet pump and PK1A.jpeg

And it would work like this.
 
So I would need a horizontal tank? My concern with that setup is that something might break and the tank would fall-- so I'm guessing it needs some sort of support?

Would this work similar to the CSV? Amazon.com

The PK1 kit was discontinued on amazon from what I saw but there is a CSV for sale for $200. Is there a way to set up a CSV with the tank tee type setup?
 
You can get the CSV1A on our site for $179 and the complete PK1A kit for $395. We do not sell on Amazon anymore as they have screwed us for the last time. Bezos adds at least 22% to anything you purchase on Amazon. It is always much better to deal with the factory direct instead of Amazon.

The 4.5 gallon size tank only holds 1 gallon of water, so it doesn't weigh much and can be mounted in any position you want.
 
Thanks. I think I'd rather go with one of the CSV125 kits if possible. Trying to figure out which one to get.

My layout isn't really right to have the PK1A kit. I don't have wood framing to hang anything on and there's not enough space around it to really move much. I do plan to change my layout and get a smaller tank (if the one I have is toast). I will get a smaller one when it craps out if it hasn't already. Right now I have to worry about replacing all of my hot water lines in the house bc the entire run of CPVC split down the middle lengthwise. It was installed in the 80s so it got brittle with age.

The CSV125 looks like the simplest to set up and can work with my existing tank. I'll have to draw a diagram of how I plan to change things. Eventually I hope to build a whole new shed and get rid of the metal p.o.s. but for now I'm stuck with it.
 
Thanks, I'm trying to figure out the best and most economical configuration. My plumbing is such a mess right now. I really wish I could get into the tank and swap out to a foot valve and have an emergency shut-off outside of the cistern and maybe have the check valve further down the line.

I'm still debating which of the CSVs would work best. I think the cheapest combo would be to get an actual tank tee and then use the CSV125 but it would take up more space.

I was looking through the photos. I also saw pics on Amazon.

I saw this one in particular but wonder if there is room for a pressure relief valve and what the best location would be for it. 1614207098934.png
I suppose I could have a little T off of the part going in to the tank and have the relief valve on it.

Still trying to figure out pipe sizes. I need to measure my pipes to make sure they don't reduce to 3/4" after they come out of the 1" outlet on the pump.

I had a thought but I lost it when I was typing mid-sentence. LOL.

If I knew which 125 version I needed I could put one on the pipes coming out of the jet pump then switch to PEX to turn to a tank tee.

I'm also still trying to figure out whether I need a 2nd pressure switch on the tank tee after I have one on the pump or if I could eliminate the one on the pump if I add one to a tank tee. I need to get pics of the pressure switch on the pump and how it hooks up.
 
That just shows there are lots of ways to install a CSV. You will like the CSV1A better than the CSV125 if installing indoors or if you have any sediment or iron in the water. The CSV1A can handle much more abuse. There is an additional 1/2" port on the other side of the CSV1A where you can install a pressure relief valve. But the relief valve can also go anywhere after the CSV. You only need one pressure switch but it must sense pressure after the CSV as well. You can either extend the tube from the existing pressure switch to the CSV1A or after, or you can add a new pressure switch to the CSV1A and just wire around the existing pressure switch as shown in the wiring diagram for "jet pumps".

wiring diagram.jpg
 
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