Q. We bought a house last year and this is our first dealings with well water and septic tanks. Our pump is in the basement (may be original to the 1960's house) and after the water runs for a couple minutes, it cycles on and it is CRAZY loud. Also, when it kicks on, there goes the pressure. Pray that you're the first one to take a shower in the morning. What could the problem be, and how much would it typically cost to fix this (Michigan)? We just installed our clothes washer, and the rinse cycle is taking forever and I fear with the pump on continuously our electric bill is going to go through the roof!
The tank looks original and the StaRite PumpTrol on top looks newer, model SNC-1. The water pressure in the rest of the house has dropped to literally just a trickle since I started the very first load of laundry a few minutes ago.
Answer
Depending on the type of pump you have it sounds like it definitely needs rebuilding at the very least, (like a new impellar, maybe new motor bearings, etc.), or replacement with new. As for the drop in pressure, it's most likely set to cycle on at a 20 lb. pressure and off at 40 lb. That may be ok if it has to kick on to fill the toilet tank at 20 lb., but when you're in the shower it's hardly enough water to rinse off with. I'd address the pump issue first. Have an experienced well guy come check it out, pump, well and all. They can check the well to see if the point is plugged or partially plugged or maybe drawing air, and then make their recommendations. I'm also in MI, SW lower part. If you need more help or a recommendation of people to help email me.
i need to know how to operate an old anthony smimming pool pump system?
sportyfort
Answer
You say old, so I'm assuming this will be an Anthony Apollo. The tank will be stainless steel that's painted a horrible rusty brown colour and the pump will be bronze with an AO smith motor.
It's a DE filter. Inside there are a series of vertical grids coated with DE, when the system has been charged. You don't mention which size filter this is (there are 2 sizes) so I can't tell you how much DE you need to charge a recently cleaned set of grids. The Chrome coloured handle in front is used to change the direction of water flow, through the filter from water going through the DE then into the grids...to coming from inside the grids and blowing off the DE covering. When that handle is placed in the up position (filter turned off and twisting the handle counter clockwise and pulling up) and the pump restarted, and run for a few seconds, it is what is called doing a "bump". It gets rid of some DE and contaminants it's caught and expells it via the pipe at the bottom of that valve. Give it two cycles of the pump (5 seconds each) and return the hamdle to the normal position.You do a bump whenever the pressure on the filter is about 8 PSI over your normal operating, start up pressure. Bumping is only really effective once. If your pressure climbs again, it's time to clean off the grids. For this, use the bump handle again and instead of giving it two short run cycles, run the pump until you see very little DE comming out of the discharge hose. Turn off the pump and open the pressure guage releif valve at the top of the tank. This lets the water in the tank to drain out the discharge hose quicker. There is a half inch nut on a tank band around the middle of the filter. Take it and the band off. If the water is gone from inside the filter, you should only need to give the top half of the tank a little nudge to unseat it. Remove the top and set it aside. The tank O ring will need to be cleaned with a rag after you remove it. Inspect it for cracks and how flattened it's become. You may need to replace it and now is the time, not later.
The grids come out, by disengaging the latch at the back inside of the tank and wiggling the assembly up. Use a garden hose or a small pressure washer to rinse off the grids. Clean out the inside of the tank and let it drain through the discharge. Reassemble everything and tighten the tank band by alternatively tapping around the band with a rubber mallet and tightening the nut. When it's snug, put the bump valve back in the normal position (down and locked), prime the pump with water in the pump basket and start it up. When your pump is starting to deliver water, undo the pressure releif valve at the tank top a bit, to allow the trapped air an escape. When it spits water, close it.
Head over to your skimmer with your bag of DE. If this is a small filter, it takes 8 pounds of DE, if a large one, it takes 10. Charge the system by slowly pouring the DE into the skimmer. It will get deposited on the grids you just cleaned. That's what we want. You're done, when the required amount of DE has been used.
In most cases, you won't have to do this more than once in a season. If you get a lot of very fine debris in the pool, maybe twice.
Other than that, these filters pretty well run themsleves. Replacement parts are still relatively easy to get, although you may have to dig up an Anthony dealer close to you. They seem to becoming a rare breed. In my area anyway.
You likely have a timer hooked up, make sure you're getting at least 12 hours of run time per day and that the clock is set to the correct time. If you have a polaris, this is very important, as the polaris must be synched to the filter timer and only be running when the filter is. If it runs and the filter isn't, you'll burn the shaft seal on the polaris pump. If you have any other questions, just add the details and I'll try to help you.
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