Troubleshooting the soda ash pump not shutting off

[AndrewKR]

The soda ash pump was continuously running after the water was shut off. I found the flow switch control that activated the soda ash pump and learned to push the plunger down to manually turn the pump off when no water was flowing. The pump would correctly start when water flowed but would not shut off when water was shut off. I played with the set screw in the flow switch control but could not get it to work correctly. It would get stuck in the on position. I convinced myself the flow switch was malfunctioning and replaced the flow switch with a new one of the same model. Unfortunately, I'm getting the same symptoms with the new flow switch in place. Something else is happening here, but I am at a loss.

I'll add that this all started two weeks ago when we had a leak in our water well pump. Water was pouring out from the wire harness conduit from the well pump into our crawl space. The well service excavated 6 feet to where the harness meets the well pump and replaced the seal. He also replaced our well water tank (it was rusting and 20 years old) and said we should see slightly better water pressure, which we did. After that issue was resolved, we started having the soda ash pump issue described above.

Attached are a few pictures
- Soda ash Pump
- Flow Meter
- Softner Controls (just so you see the gear we have if it's relevant)

What next steps should I take to troubleshoot this?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[havasu]

@Valveman to the courtesy phone please!

 

[Valveman]

Lol! Thanks for the call out. I rarely look anywhere except the pump and well forum. But I maybe able to help.

Flow switches are notoriously unreliable. With a regular well pump and a 40/60 pressure switch, piggybacking the injection pump to the well pump pressure switch is more reliable. Well pump comes on, injection pump comes on. Period.

Sometimes a flow switch or pulse flow meter is needed if injection needs to be variable. If it doesn't need to be variable, tagging into the well pressure switch is an easy fix.

Having said that, if the flow switch in not malfunctioning, you may have a leak. If there is still flow, the flow switch won't shut off the injection pump. Turn off the breaker to the well pump and see if pressure drops while no water is being used. With a large pressure tank you may have to wait a while to see the pressure drop from a small leak.

 

[havasu]

Thank you for your input Cary!

 

[AndrewKR]

I turned off the well pump breaker and no water faucets/hoses are on. The gauge has stayed right at 68 for the 20 minutes. Am I waiting long enough?

There is a wet spot at one fitting.. im not sure if it’s condensation or a very small leak. it seems super small in any case ( you see the wet spot on the floor of the picture)

Attached is pic of the well water pressure tank and well switch

 

[AndrewKR]

I might wait a bit longer and watch this gauge. Maybe it is dropping… just super slowly. It should maintain the same pressure if no water is called for by the house and the well breaker is off. Right?

 

[Valveman]

With that size tank, for every 1 PSI of loss there is a gallon of water going somewhere, no matter how long it takes. Leaks are one of the things that make flow switches unreliable.

 

[AndrewKR]

After 90 minutes I see the meter in the picture down to 66. It does seem to be going down just super slow.

First, is it supposed to hold the pressure constant ( again, all water is off and the well breaker is off)

Second, if it does indicate a leak, Could a leak that small be enough to keep the soda ash flow switch engaged.

I do think this fitting near the pump switch is leaking a touch… more like oozing a bit of water. Thoughts?

 

[AndrewKR]

With that size tank, for every 1 PSI of loss there is a gallon of water going somewhere, no matter how long it takes. Leaks are one of the things that make flow switches unreliable.

My next step is to call the well guy that fixed the leak at the well pump. ( water was pouring out into our craw space from the wire harness that goes down to the well). When he finished the job he said one fitting was oozing a touch of water and he didn’t have a part with him to fix it properly. So maybe that small oozing is the leak and causing the flow switch to stay “on”. I’ll ring him up and see if he can correct the leak and see where we are at. Thanks so much for your expertise!!

 

[AndrewKR]

Lol! Thanks for the call out. I rarely look anywhere except the pump and well forum. But I maybe able to help.

Flow switches are notoriously unreliable. With a regular well pump and a 40/60 pressure switch, piggybacking the injection pump to the well pump pressure switch is more reliable. Well pump comes on, injection pump comes on. Period.

Sometimes a flow switch or pulse flow meter is needed if injection needs to be variable. If it doesn't need to be variable, tagging into the well pressure switch is an easy fix.

Having said that, if the flow switch in not malfunctioning, you may have a leak. If there is still flow, the flow switch won't shut off the injection pump. Turn off the breaker to the well pump and see if pressure drops while no water is being used. With a large pressure tank you may have to wait a while to see the pressure drop from a small leak.

So I did the test using the ball joint in front of the flow switch to control water flow. The switch and soda ash injector pump worked correctly. So im thinking the small oozing leak over by the pressure tank ( loss of 1 psi per hour when the power is off) is messing up the flow switch. The well guy that did service two weeks ago said he will stop by early this week to fix the small leak he left me at the end of his visit. I’m hopeful that will address the issue. I’ll report back then.

Attached: 15 second video of the ball joint / flow switch test. You can hear the injector turning on and off.

 

[AndrewKR]

Thank you for all the help. Once the well service guy fixed the small leak near the pressure tank my issue with the soda ash injector was solved. That small leak must have been keeping enough water moving to mess up the flow valve triggering the soda ash pump to stay on. I’m all good now. Thanks again!!