Water Supply in the Provinces

[Snowy79]

23 hours ago, jimeve said:

Plumber turned up, checked the tank, that's okay, put a new switch on, only goes up to 32 psi can't reach 40. they say the pump needs to be bigger, this one is only half HP needs to be 1 HP.

I'm smelling White nose tax here.  That said maybe the Chinese pump is at fault but I doubt it.  Common faults are the large capacitor failing inside the box that's usually mounted close to the switch.  The other main fault is a signal pressure not getting to the low pressure switch setting.  This is required to ensure the pump doesn't run dry.  Usually 20psi is the minimum pressure for a pump to kick in and the outlet setting is 40psi plus to feed the water faucets, showers etc. A blockage to the inlet will prevent the pump kicking in and a faulty capacitor may prevent it starting or once started it will run constantly.

[jimeve]

2 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

I'm smelling White nose tax here.  That said maybe the Chinese pump is at fault but I doubt it.  Common faults are the large capacitor failing inside the box that's usually mounted close to the switch.  The other main fault is a signal pressure not getting to the low pressure switch setting.  This is required to ensure the pump doesn't run dry.  Usually 20psi is the minimum pressure for a pump to kick in and the outlet setting is 40psi plus to feed the water faucets, showers etc. A blockage to the inlet will prevent the pump kicking in and a faulty capacitor may prevent it starting or once started it will run constantly.

It works fine. cut's off at 32psi. Got plenty enough presser. Not going to get another pump unless this one stops working

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by jimeve

[Mike J]

18 hours ago, jimeve said:

It works fine. cut's off at 32psi. Got plenty enough presser. Not going to get another pump unless this one stops working

 

Agree.  And you definitely would not need a one horse pump.  Our rental has a 1/4 and pressure is good.  Our house has a 1/3 pump and pressure is fine.   I did just have to replace the one horse pump for the pool when the brass impellor in the pump went TU, even though the motor still worked fine.  The replacement is one horse high capacity (same as the last), but that is because it can move and filter up to 600 liters of water per minute. 

[Mike J]

Just had a thought about what you have described.  Keep and eye on your water color.  If you start seeing rust, the bladder in the tank could be ruptured.  You probably would not notice any rust or color change unless you had been absent for a week or so and not used any water.  If the bladder is ruptured it would allow water to come into contact with the interior of tank, eventually causing it to rust.  

Found this on the internet:

It is a type of tank containing pressurized air and water separated by a membrane (bladder) and pre-charged with air at the factory. On average, a bladder pressure tank lasts 5–7 years.

[Tommy T.]

44 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Just had a thought about what you have described.  Keep and eye on your water color.  If you start seeing rust, the bladder in the tank could be ruptured.  You probably would not notice any rust or color change unless you had been absent for a week or so and not used any water.  If the bladder is ruptured it would allow water to come into contact with the interior of tank, eventually causing it to rust.  

Found this on the internet:

It is a type of tank containing pressurized air and water separated by a membrane (bladder) and pre-charged with air at the factory. On average, a bladder pressure tank lasts 5–7 years.

That was the exact problem with the pressure tank on the yacht a number of years ago. However it had lasted over 20 years, so no problem getting my money's worth. Of course, this was "marine quality" and not ordinary household and also did not see nearly as much use as any household unit either.

The pump at the apartment would run okay initially for close to a year, then would slowly start to short cycle until it was a continuous thing. I called the landlord and they promptly fixed it, but I did not observe the fix. Over time the interval between normal and short cycling shortened to only 3 months or so. I am convinced it was a leaking pressure bladder.

[jimeve]

7 hours ago, Mike J said:

It is a type of tank containing pressurized air and water separated by a membrane (bladder) and pre-charged with air at the factory. On average, a bladder pressure tank lasts 5–7 years.

The bladder tank is 6 years old. He tested the bladder tank by taking the valve out and putting something in so it made a hissing noise. He said it's okay!!!, I'd of thought he would have used a gauge to see what the real pressure is, but what do I know.

2 days after the plumber installed the switch, the pump won't cut off, max presser is 32 psi same as before. So I'v turned the power off at the breaker.

 Got this plumber from a recommendation. Master plumber. lol. There's no one else apart from the guy who installed the full system, and he's too busy waited 4 weeks for him to show up.

[Snowy79]

15 minutes ago, jimeve said:

The bladder tank is 6 years old. He tested the bladder tank by taking the valve out and putting something in so it made a hissing noise. He said it's okay!!!, I'd of thought he would have used a gauge to see what the real pressure is, but what do I know.

2 days after the plumber installed the switch, the pump won't cut off, max presser is 32 psi same as before. So I'v turned the power off at the breaker.

 Got this plumber from a recommendation. Master plumber. lol. There's no one else apart from the guy who installed the full system, and he's too busy waited 4 weeks for him to show up.

I'd be opting for the large capacitor being faulty.  If the pump is hitting 32psi and the points are set to open then I'd hazard a guess the points are welded together so not opening. With a good capacitor when the points open you'd barely see a spark,  with a faulty capacitor the points opening is like an arc welder, it wouldn't take many operations for them to weld in the closed position resulting in the pump running continuously.  The capacitors are less than 1k peso on Shopee.  

[jimeve]

6 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

I'd be opting for the large capacitor being faulty.  If the pump is hitting 32psi and the points are set to open then I'd hazard a guess the points are welded together so not opening. With a good capacitor when the points open you'd barely see a spark,  with a faulty capacitor the points opening is like an arc welder, it wouldn't take many operations for them to weld in the closed position resulting in the pump running continuously.  The capacitors are less than 1k peso on Shopee.  

You've probably guessed I'm not technically qualified in this. Where is the capacitor? in the pump or switch.

Sorry for the dumb question.

[Joey G]

there are two capacitors... a start capacitor and a run capacitor... if it was the start capacitor, it literally wouldn't start.... the run capacitor is usually located in a small housing attached to the motor, but pumps vary. you might ask the the next plumber to check it... assuming he knows a little more more than just changing parts. When a run capacitor starts to go bad they expand a little (like a balloon overfilling) and can sometimes smell burnt. Again, I'd be aware of just playing the "lets change all the parts till it works".  

This site is good.... if you feel the gumption to dive in head first :)

https://inspectapedia.com/water/Water_Pressure_Table_2.php

[Snowy79]

10 hours ago, jimeve said:

You've probably guessed I'm not technically qualified in this. Where is the capacitor? in the pump or switch.

Sorry for the dumb question.

I'll link two videos.  The first one is how he should have changed the original switch, I'm taking it yours is the bladder type system. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DmCoc4e2gyI

The second one I'll post separately with the capacitor.