electricalplumbingwell-pump
I bought a shallow well pump (WAYNE SWS100 1 HP) and I have my sprinkler system installed in ground and hooked to valves inside valvebox.
Since this is my first time doing this I wanna make sure I get it right. I am unclear on how this well pump will actually work.
Am I supposed to have it hooked to the power all the time? And then when valves are opened(by my controler) the pump is going to turn itself on?
OR I need to hook the pump to my controller as well?
If the lever you are referring to is on the side of your pressure switch:
Then I unfortunately have not very good news for you. As the name implies, this cuts off the switch entirely when the pressure drops to about 10psi below the cut-in point (eg, most well pumps are set up to turn on at 40 and off at 60psi, so the low-pressure point is about 30psi). It's there to prevent the pump from running dry.
Without any other information, my best guess would be your well is not producing enough water to keep up with demand. This seems to be consistent with your statement that it only happens after 30-45 minutes: there is enough reserve capacity in the well itself to supply you for a while, but ultimately, the rate of water entering the well is lower than the rate you're using water.
The ultimate fix for this is to install a cistern or holding tank that the well pump supplies, and have a second pump in that that actually supplies the house. The cistern is controlled via float (instead of pressure switch) and the well pump is protected by a load-monitoring device (eg: Pumptec by Franklin-Electric) that turns off the pump electronically if it senses no-load. The size of the tank largely depends on how much capacity you want, what the actual yield of the well is, and logically where the tank will go and how big you can fit. Commonly, the cistern is a large cylindrical PVC tank installed in the basement.
The other main cause would be an undersized or under-performing pump that is unable to keep up with demand. The symptom of this would be that the pump runs constantly during use, rather than cycling on and off, and that you generally have a consistently low pressure for that time prior to the low-pressure switch cutting out.
Replacing the pump in this case may help, but if you have a low-yield well then it's a waste of money. Considering it's been happening for 14 years, it seems unlikely this would be something mechanically wrong (I'd expect the condition to worsen over time, or for the pump to have failed by now) and more likely that the pump was undersized, IF you also have the symptoms I described.
If you can determine the pump is undersized, then replacing it with a larger pump would be one way to remedy the problem (assuming there is no yield problem also).
The next best course of action would probably be be to test the yield of the well. You may be able to do this yourself, but a professional will bring in a much larger pump and test the flow right at the well, bypassing all the pressure controls and inside piping that would interfere with the results.
Of course, seeing as you're selling the house, you'll have to make your on judgement call on what you do or disclose -- advice on that is beyond the scope of this site.
I am guessing that is a small pressure tank (blue thing top of photo). The answer is yes yo can hook up a garden hose. I would add a valve so if the hose springs a leak you can turn it off. The next bit of good news it looks like you have 2 ports on the pressure side (top pipe right) if they unscrew add a hose bib and you can water all you want.
Best Answer
There are two different methods to choose between.
Method 1: pressure switch turns the pump on an off. This method is most often used when the pump supplies water to more than just your irrigation system, or if you want to have a standard water faucet that always has water on demand.
With this method you need a small storage tank (20-30 gallon, perhaps more depending on the flow rate (how fast the irrigation system can use water) to stabilize pressure and give the system water to use while the pump starts up. When water use starts, the drop in pressure triggers a pressure switch which starts the pump at min pressure, and the same pressure switch shuts the pump off when pressure reaches a max. Googling your pump it has a pressure switch attached to the side of the pump.
Method 2: Pump start relay controls the pump. In this case case your pump will be controlled by the irrigation controller. Bypass the built on pressure switch on the pump, and use a pump start relay compatible with your irrigation controller instead. The low voltage side of the relay connects to the master valve/pump start relay terminals on your irrigation controller. The irrigation controller starts and stops the pump when it runs. Typically no storage tank is used in this setup.
Method 2 is simpler to install but doesn't allow for on-demand use of water (turning on a faucet).
Hint: Your pump is a dual voltage pump, 120/240. Wire it up at 240V, it will run cooler, last longer and cost half as much to operate.