Water Pump or Pressure Tank issue

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Hello:

Just bought a house in the country with a well system. I currently have a 1/3HP Shallow Well jet Pump with a Amtrol WX-203 - 32 Gallon Pressure Tank. When I'm water the yard the pump seems to kick on right away and will not shut off the whole entire time I'm watering the lawn. When I'm taking a shower this also occurs. I can fill the sink up to do the dishes and it usually will take a little bit to turn on but then it will run for a while just to fill the pressure tank up. I decided to test it and filled up a bucket of water to see how many gallons it would take before the pressure tank turned on and then timed it to see how long it would take before it turned off. I got 7.3125 gallons of water before it turned on and it took about 4.25 minutes to before the tank was full and the pump to shut off.

Can someone please give me some advice as this is all new. Its very frustrating because the pump seems to run all the time. I check the air pressure in the tank and that was about 35PSI when drained. there is a pressure gauge on the pump that goes to 50PSI and shuts off and runs down to about 32 or so and turn on.

Also the water pressure could be better. Kitchen water runs very slow, its adequate but could be better. When I'm running the sprinkler it only goes about half the capacity that it could put out. Might spray 6 feet in the air when the sprinkler can do 12 with the right pressure.


Any advice would be great.

Thanks.

Nate

 

[Valveman]

There is only so much a 1/3HP pump can do, and that is if it is in good shape. It is good for a pump to run all the time when the sprinkler is on. It is the cycling on and off that wears things out.

How deep is the well? What size casing do you have? If you want good pressure you will need to run at least 40/60 on the pressure switch, and you will need a pump than can do that. Submersibles are much better if they will fit in the size casing you have.

 

[speedbump]

I installed a few 1/3hp jet pumps back in the 60's. Then 1/2hp was the smallest we could buy. Your's must be a relic. I wouldn't expect good pressure from anything less than a 1hp and 1.5 hp is about the biggest jet pump made. Sounds like your tank is working like it should. Keep in mind that max pressure on most jet pumps regardless of horsepower is around 60 psi. The horsepower just pushes more water and keeps the pressure higher while water is being used.