Cistern pump acting up

[journey11]

Hi there! I've come over from TEG/BYC with a question I hope someone here can help me with....

I have an electric pump on my cistern and since it was here when we bought the house I don't know much about it. It's housed in the barn, so we turn it off and unhook the water pipes in the winter so it won't freeze.

This spring since we hooked it back up, it is acting funny. You can hear it running for a few seconds then kicking back off, over and over for some time after the water has been used. Now the other day, when I open the spigot to water my animals, it will blast out water really hard for a few seconds, then pressure drops off completely--no water. Whether you leave the spigot open or not, it will eventually come back on, same thing, gushing, then losing pressure. If you have a waterhose and spray nozzle on it, reducing flow, it will keep pressure and run pretty consistently.

I've gone in and looked at the gauge for the psi, and it will go from zero and quickly shoot up to 60, only to drop quickly back to zero if the water is used for a few seconds.

I don't have any specs on it, have no idea where to get a manual or who to call around here who could come fix it. Anyone have an idea what's wrong with it? I depend very heavily on my cistern to water my garden and animals and gotta get this thing working again...

 

[patandchickens]

a) is there a pressure tank in the system (it would be between the cistern [large water-holding tank] itself and the pump, it would probably be somewhere between the size of a BBQ propane cylinder and the size of a 55 gal drum). If there is, could be that the pressure tank has lost its pressure -- either the bladder has ruptured if it's the more modern type, or if it's the older non-bladder type then it may simply need to be pumped back up with an air pump.

b) if not, my guess would be that you have a bad pressure switch -- perhaps some guck has stuck in it -- so that it is not triggering at the right pressures, but only under very high and very low pressure. The pressure switch can be replaced as an individual item, although I have never actually done it myself.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[journey11]

Thanks Pat, I didn't even know where to start looking! It is the older type, I believe, and closer to the size of a drum. I am not sure how any of it works. So you are saying that the big metal drum is the pressure tank... I will have to take a closer look at it and see if I can figure out more. Where should I look for the pressure switch?

 

[patandchickens]

Thanks Pat, I didn't even know where to start looking! It is the older type, I believe, and closer to the size of a drum. I am not sure how any of it works. So you are saying that the big metal drum is the pressure tank... I will have to take a closer look at it and see if I can figure out more.

Big metal container between water storage (or input, if this is not an actual cistern per se) and pump probably IS a pressure tank, yes. Look on it to see if you can find something that looks like an inflation valve, like you could hook an air compressor to. If so, try that, and pump it up some -- I believe that 40 psi is a typical pressure to have the pressure tank sitting at, but dunno bout yours specifically. If there is no valve like that, especially if this is a fairly new-looking tank, it may be one of the bladder type. I have no clue how to tell for certain whether the bladder is busted, you may need someone with plumbing knowledge for that. I don't think a ruptured bladder is fixable, I think it pretty much requires a new tank (?)

Where should I look for the pressure switch?

The pressure switch should be the thingie that the pressure gauge (on the pump) is stickin' out of. It is, like, sort of a thing screwed to the side of the pump, on ours at least. (Sorry, I am SO not a plumber ) I do not know how to tell whether it is working right, sorry, but I know that ours has had to be replaced on account of not kicking on til pressure dropped very very low (the pressure tube in it got gunked up).

Sorry not to be more help, maybe someone else can guide you as to which of these two is the likeliest problem, but I am guessing that it probably *is* one or the other or possibly both.

Good luck,

Pat