On Tue, 8 Jun 2021 10:24:23 -0700, Bob F wrote:
Just turn on a faucet somewhere, and it will cycle on/off as needed.
You don't have to wait for it to happen when you wander by. You could even
have a hose end near the pump and a couple 5 gallon buckets, to measure
how much water comes out of the tank after the pump stops until it
starts again. Fill a bucket, and move the hose to the other, then dump
the first while the 2nd fills. Repeat as needed and keep count. Multiply
by the bucket capacity and you know your usable tank capacity.

With water constantly running I determined that the turn on is 27psi.
The turn off is 37 psi in about a minute and a half (a bit less).

It takes about 15 minutes to cycle with water running.
Cycle time can be from hours to never (with no water running anyway).

BTW, your advice was logical and sound from the start in that I really
didn't need to loosen the upper level (side smaller bolt nut) because having
a 20 pound range is likely better than having a 10 pound range.

With 20 pounds there will be fewer cycles but to tell you the truth, the
wife and kids don't even notice the new situation versus the old one.

Thank you - your help was instrumental in diagnosing & working around the
problem which appears to be an aging water pump that can no longer reach the
previous high pressure set point which was apparently well over 52 psi.


It could be a wearing switch also. You can buy them pretty cheap online
(Not that a cheap one is best) and have it around in case the switch
does decide to fail. It is not a bad investment to be ready for what
could be a very inconvenient failure.

The only switch I would consider is an exact replacement so the price is not
meaningful in terms of what it is that I'm buying. They're about 25 bucks
give or take online which isn't a problem in the least.

I was going to replace the switch & gauge but the switch is more work to
replace than to just leave it there :-) so if it's working, I'm inclined to
leave it alone now (other than to increase the range back to 20 psi).

The gauge isn't working, but no gauge will given the passageways of the pump
housing must be clogged and I don't want to break things trying to fix a
gauge, so I'm inclined to leave that too. :-)

I did have the mechanism at the bottom of the springs on the switch on
my sprinkler system just fall apart once. I replaced it with a spare,
and spent a significant time trying to figure out how to re-assemble the
broken switch. It was quite a puzzle.

And you are indeed welcome. I am glad you got it working.

Thank you very much for your advice. Everything you suggested was sensible.

I don't think the switch is the problem because with the pump running
forever the pressure never increased over 52psi which doesn't really have
anything to do with the switch and I'm told by friends that these pumps can
do well over 52psi (and it must have been high at one point given the set
point prior to this problem).

Do you know what these pumps are capable of in terms of high pressure?

On 6/8/2021 4:22 PM, dan wrote:
On Tue, 8 Jun 2021 10:24:23 -0700, Bob F wrote:
Just turn on a faucet somewhere, and it will cycle on/off as needed.
You don't have to wait for it to happen when you wander by. You could even
have a hose end near the pump and a couple 5 gallon buckets, to measure
how much water comes out of the tank after the pump stops until it
starts again. Fill a bucket, and move the hose to the other, then dump
the first while the 2nd fills. Repeat as needed and keep count. Multiply
by the bucket capacity and you know your usable tank capacity.

With water constantly running I determined that the turn on is 27psi.
The turn off is 37 psi in about a minute and a half (a bit less).

It takes about 15 minutes to cycle with water running.
Cycle time can be from hours to never (with no water running anyway).

BTW, your advice was logical and sound from the start in that I really
didn't need to loosen the upper level (side smaller bolt nut) because having
a 20 pound range is likely better than having a 10 pound range.

With 20 pounds there will be fewer cycles but to tell you the truth, the
wife and kids don't even notice the new situation versus the old one.

Thank you - your help was instrumental in diagnosing & working around the
problem which appears to be an aging water pump that can no longer reach the
previous high pressure set point which was apparently well over 52 psi.


It could be a wearing switch also. You can buy them pretty cheap online
(Not that a cheap one is best) and have it around in case the switch
does decide to fail. It is not a bad investment to be ready for what
could be a very inconvenient failure.

The only switch I would consider is an exact replacement so the price is not
meaningful in terms of what it is that I'm buying. They're about 25 bucks
give or take online which isn't a problem in the least.

Those switches are kind of generic. There are many manufacturers that
make the same basic switches. You may not find "exactly" what your
switch is, but that should not make a difference as long as it is
similar in size.


I was going to replace the switch & gauge but the switch is more work to
replace than to just leave it there :-) so if it's working, I'm inclined to
leave it alone now (other than to increase the range back to 20 psi).

I was suggesting the spare switch, because having it handy could really
speed up a repair if it does go out. Then again, it is an old pump, so
switch might outlast that anyway.


The gauge isn't working, but no gauge will given the passageways of the pump
housing must be clogged and I don't want to break things trying to fix a
gauge, so I'm inclined to leave that too. :-)

I did have the mechanism at the bottom of the springs on the switch on
my sprinkler system just fall apart once. I replaced it with a spare,
and spent a significant time trying to figure out how to re-assemble the
broken switch. It was quite a puzzle.

And you are indeed welcome. I am glad you got it working.

Thank you very much for your advice. Everything you suggested was sensible.

I don't think the switch is the problem because with the pump running
forever the pressure never increased over 52psi which doesn't really have
anything to do with the switch and I'm told by friends that these pumps can
do well over 52psi (and it must have been high at one point given the set
point prior to this problem).

Do you know what these pumps are capable of in terms of high pressure?


If you search using the model number, you may find the specs online, but
it is an old pump so maybe not. I think 50 or 60 is the usual shutoff
they use. You have some pressure coming in to the pump, which can be
added to what the pump can do. I suspect that your pump is showing it's
age. The impeller is probably worn and so less efficient.

Or, maybe the pressure coming into the pump has gone down. It does not
look like your pump has a jet installed, so that pump itself might have
limited pressure increase compared to the standard shallow well pump.
That might not be the case - anything could be hidden inside that case.

If I had that system, I would have gauges on both the input and output
of the pump. It would give you significant info about developing
problems because you could quickly see if things are changing.

You said earlier that you have one pump and tanks feeding this pump as a
booster. Is there another pressure tank following it? I've been assuming
there is, but may be wrong, or, I misunderstood the system ahead of it.

On Tue, 8 Jun 2021 18:38:13 -0700, Bob F wrote:
You said earlier that you have one pump and tanks feeding this pump as a
booster. Is there another pressure tank following it? I've been assuming
there is, but may be wrong, or, I misunderstood the system ahead of it.

Water comes in from the tank to the pump to the one and only blue bladder.
Then it goes to the house.

I don't know what it's called so if I call it a "pressure pump" or a
"booster pump" it means the same thing to me.

But those words may have different meaning to you.
There is only one of each item.

On 6/8/2021 8:56 PM, dan wrote:
On Tue, 8 Jun 2021 18:38:13 -0700, Bob F wrote:
You said earlier that you have one pump and tanks feeding this pump as a
booster. Is there another pressure tank following it? I've been assuming
there is, but may be wrong, or, I misunderstood the system ahead of it.

Water comes in from the tank to the pump to the one and only blue bladder.
Then it goes to the house.

I don't know what it's called so if I call it a "pressure pump" or a
"booster pump" it means the same thing to me.

But those words may have different meaning to you.
There is only one of each item.


In your situation, since you have pressure coming in to the pump,
booster pump would be appropriate.

So is "the tank" a storage tank higher than your house? IIRC, you did
say it has pressure coming in from it to the pump we have been discussing.

On Tue, 8 Jun 2021 21:51:29 -0700, Bob F wrote:
In your situation, since you have pressure coming in to the pump,
booster pump would be appropriate.

So is "the tank" a storage tank higher than your house? IIRC, you did
say it has pressure coming in from it to the pump we have been discussing.

The storage tank is about fifteen feet tall and on the same concrete
platform as the pressure pump which is about fifteen feet above the house on
a hill.

That fifteen feet isn't enough to make the water run all that much inside
the house with the pump off (just a dribble).

Too bad as it would be nice to dispense altogether with the pressure pump.