Low Water Pressure

[Moose151]

The water pressure in my house was never spectacular, we have lived here since 2019, but it seems to have gotten worse over the past 6 months or so. We have a standard deep well dug in 2000. The issue is causing my dishwasher on the first floor and washing machine on the second floor to not function properly and also the second floor showers and exterior hose pressures are very weak.

I first noticed that the pressure gauge wasn't properly registering PSI so I adjusted the 40/60 pressure switch to increase the pressure in the system. This made a huge improvement for 24 hours until I replaced the pressure gauge and pressure release valve and the pressure gauge was up over 80 psi which obviously is bad for the system. I adjusted the switch back to the proper 40/60 range and the water pressure went back to being poor.

Then I replaced the pressure switch thinking that perhaps that was the issue. I installed a new 40/60 pressure switch but nothing about the water pressure has changed. I then thought perhaps the bladder in my tank was blown so I checked to see if water would come out of the valve at the top of the tank but it did not. I then checked the pressure of the bladder and found it to be 40 psi with the system at rest.

I've run out of ideas here and apart from calling a professional I'm not sure what is left to do. It doesn't seem like theres anything wrong with the tank and I replaced all of the other parts as well as regularly changing my water filter.

Any idea's what my issue might be would be greatly appreciated.

Moose

 

[GReynolds929]

Do you have any filtration/treatment? Somewhere between the well system and the house your losing pressure or restricting flow. There could be a leak, if nothing is being used in the house does the pressure gauge drop, or the pump turn on?

 

[Moose151]

Do you have any filtration/treatment? Somewhere between the well system and the house your losing pressure or restricting flow. There could be a leak, if nothing is being used in the house does the pressure gauge drop, or the pump turn on?

There is a whole house water filter which I change regularly (and just changed), no treatment system. The pump does not cycle if no water is being used in the home and the gauge holds steady pressure.

 

[Valveman]

If the pump is coming on at 40 and going off at 60 it is doing exactly what you set it up to do. However, 40/60 is pretty low for a multi-story house. I would do 50/70 by tightening the large adjustment in the pressure switch 3 full turns to the right. Don't mess with the small adjustment. Even 60/80 won't hurt the pump. But even with a 50/70 switch you will be on the low side close to 50 a lot of the time. Adding a CSV1A Cycle Stop Valve before the tank will deliver a strong constant 65 PSI for as long as the water is being used. 65 PSI constant would seem so much stronger than the 40/60 over and over that you would no longer even need soap in the shower.

https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/csv1a

 

[Moose151]

Thank you so much, I will definitely start by adjusting up the pressure switch and see where that gets me.

 

[Valveman]

Thank you so much, I will definitely start by adjusting up the pressure switch and see where that gets me.

If adjusting the pressure up to 50/70 will make a noticeable difference. But adding the Cycle Stop Valve will seem to double even that.

 

[Moose151]

This might seem like an obvious one but if I am increasing the switch range to 50/70 or 60/80 I would also need to add more air pressure to my tank correct? 2 PSI below the cut-off? The large adjuster doesn't seem to have made a huge diffference.

 

[Valveman]

Don't mess with the small adjustment. It is set for 20 PSI differential and will stay the same no matter where you set the larger adjustment. If tightening down on the large adjustment doesn't increase pressure about 3 PSI for every full turn, something is not right. You may have a pressure switch with a weak adjustment spring. There still needs to be space between the coils in the spring. Tightening it down to what they call solid height is not good. Also need to make sure your pump can easily build up to 70 and shut off. If not, back it down again.

And yes, after you get the switch set make the air charge in the tank 2-5 PSI less than pump start.