Water pump going on and off

Hello everyone,

I have a problem with my water pump that I installed last year, from the day I installed it, the pump keeps going on and off whenever I run the water from a faucet in the house.

More details about the setup:


I saw in this video ([ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynUWWqrK0Jo[/ame]) that this user installed a check valve and said if you don't install one your pump will go on and off.

Another problem is, when the pump goes on, its' sound is heard loudly as it is directly above my house, The pump is almost directly connected to the water tank, and I think this contributes in the loud sound, is it possible to connect it maybe 1 meter away from the tank? This way I can put an insulator material below the pump.

Can you please shed some light into this issue?

Thanks,

If the pump is going on and off while no water is being used, you have a check valve problem. If the pump is going on/off every couple seconds while you are using water, the pressure tank is bad. If the pump is going on/off every couple of minutes while using water, the pressure tank is probably too small.

If the noise is a water hammer type "thunk" when the pump starts, the check valve is the problem. If the noise is from the vibration of the pump, a rubber mat or rubber feet on the pump will help.

Where does the water in this tank come from? Is the tank a reservoir? Are you boosting the pressure with this pump into the house from another source?

Thanks valveman and speedbump for shedding some light on this issue, much appreciated.

1st. The pump goes on/off only when I turn on a faucet, it goes like this on a rate related to how many water I'm drawing with the faucets, for example, if I open 2 faucets, the rate at which the pump turns on and off increases.

2. I actually thought the pressure tank was the culprit but when I replaced it the same problem occurred. Might the issue be that the pressure tank is small? Though this is the size I see on most pumps and I even had a mini pump on my electric water heater and it never did this on/off thing, it had a check valve installed ahead of it.

3. The sound is a thump when it goes on (not once, but repeatedly). It's currently directly installed by the tank, nothing is under it, it's kept up by it's proximity with the tank and the fact that the piping connecting it to the tank is made of steel, it's just too close and I think the sound travels through the tank and its' feet, then through the ceiling, so my question is can I move it farther away from the tank so I can be able to use rubber feet and it won't be so close that sound can travel through the tank? Would it affect the performance if it was installed maybe 1 meter away from the tank?

4.speedbump: The tank is filled by water coming from the city pipes, I live on the floor below the tank so the natural pressure is a bit low, which is the reason that I installed this pump, it boosts the water coming from the tank into the house's piping.

Valveman: I don't have a check valve installed at all (unless it is inside the pump and I'm not aware of it).

Thank you kind sirs.

If you did not have a check valve the pump would be cycling on and off when you are not using any water.

It sounds like a pressure tank problem. Either the tank is bad or just too small. How large of a tank is it?

The noise will travel through the pipe no matter how far the tank is from the pump. A short piece of rubber hose instead of hard pipe to the tank will cut out most of the noise.

Can you post some pictures of this?

First of all thank you valveman, much appreciated, I guess I will start shopping for a new pump and point out the issue to the vendors, I will try to find a rubber house that has a large diameter though wouldn't it cause leakage problems? So I guess hard PVC pipe will not solve the noise issue right?

Here's video of the pump running on/off, a faucet is opened at the house.
I apologize for the bad craftsmanship, and in this country and especially in the old building I live in piping is a complete disaster.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EpEdjmcq0w&feature=youtu.be[/ame]


I forgot to mention a detail in the piping, maybe it's contributing to the problem. I illustrated it in the image and you can see the connection in the video.

Thank you!

I don't see a tank anywhere except your cistern. That must be the problem. You need a bladder tank of some sort.
You could try turning the pressure switch up until the pump keeps running while your using water, but a tank is still a must have.

speedbump said:

I don't see a tank anywhere except your cistern. That must be the problem. You need a bladder tank of some sort.
You could try turning the pressure switch up until the pump keeps running while your using water, but a tank is still a must have.

Click to expand...

I think the pressure tank is too small, one of my friends has a pump installed at his house with the same setup, he has a larger pressure tank on his, and this issue never occurred with him, so a solution might be to just get one with a bigger tank.

To be honest I haven't seen any case in this country where they used a bladder tank so I think just a bigger pressure tank might solve the issue.

Thanks a whole lot, really you are great people for doing this. Hope life treats you with the same kindness.

I must not be aware of where this tank that you say is too small is. This means that if you do have a tank somewhere out of view of the picture you sent; the tank is too far away from the pressure switch. You would either have to move the tank to near the switch or move the switch to the tank. Or you could just add a small tank near the switch to prevent the cycling your seeing now. You could use a tank like this: http://www.pumpsandtanks.com/shop/b...5-2-1-gallon-in-line-tank-w-3-4-male-threads/

I have never seen a pump like that. Apparently that is some kind of a pressure tank attached to the top of the pump? But you can tell from the sound that tank is doing nothing, probably waterlogged. Is there a Schrader valve like to air up a car tire on that tank?

Valveman said:

I have never seen a pump like that. Apparently that is some kind of a pressure tank attached to the top of the pump? But you can tell from the sound that tank is doing nothing, probably waterlogged. Is there a Schrader valve like to air up a car tire on that tank?

Click to expand...

Yes, they're pretty common around here, water tanks are put on the top of buildings, and usually the floor below the roof always has low water pressure so these small pumps are used to boost it. I linked to a photo of a similar one below.

And yes there is a schrader valve, I tried deflating and inflating it, it only affected the frequency of the on/off cycle and the pressure of the water, but it didn't get to a point where it stays on as long as a faucet is opened.

I'm now convinced this pump is faulty. I'm going to replace it soon, there are ones with bigger pressure tanks, I think that will solve the issue.

Thank you very much.

Just like adding air to the little tank affected the frequency of the on/off cycles, a larger tank will just reduce the frequency a little more. But the pump will always cycle on and off when using a pressure tank of any size. If you want the pump to stay running when any tap is open, you will need to use a Cycle Stop Valve or some other constant pressure pump control system.

The pump is not faulty. The fact that it is cycling on and off means it is still producing more water than you are using.

Valveman said:

Just like adding air to the little tank affected the frequency of the on/off cycles, a larger tank will just reduce the frequency a little more. But the pump will always cycle on and off when using a pressure tank of any size. If you want the pump to stay running when any tap is open, you will need to use a Cycle Stop Valve or some other constant pressure pump control system.

The pump is not faulty. The fact that it is cycling on and off means it is still producing more water than you are using.

Click to expand...

I never made the connection that the cycle-stop mentioned in your website name and product is about stopping the on/off cycle! I have looked at the animations on your website (really good by the way), I think I understand how it works now. If I was in the states or canada you would have seen my purchase order already Good job, much respect.

I'm going to look for similar systems here.

Thanks valveman, and good luck with your business.

We ship CSV's all over the world.

Valveman said:

We ship CSV's all over the world.

Click to expand...

You don't seem to know my notorious country who taxes the hell out of anything they can get their hands on. I once ordered a small musical instrument for 15 dollars on ebay and I ended up paying 120 dollars on taxes and customs. I sure don't want to pay them 700 dollars for this The government mafia country of Jordan.

Thanks for the offer though

inneedofhelp said:

You don't seem to know my notorious country who taxes the hell out of anything they can get their hands on. I once ordered a small musical instrument for 15 dollars on ebay and I ended up paying 120 dollars on taxes and customs. I sure don't want to pay them 700 dollars for this The government mafia country of Jordan.

Thanks for the offer though

Click to expand...

Oh My Cow! Never shipped to Jordan. Now I know why. Maybe you could make a donation to a charity for me, then I could just send you one with a no charge invoice, like a sample? Just thinking out loud.

Hmm maybe can work but I'm not very familiar with the system, I will ask around, but if I have no clear answer I'd rather be cautious than have to pay for it twice (cost and tax)