Hi Brad;
I've seen a lot of leaks with barb fittings on poly pipe. I just replace
most of the poly plumbing at my place, because I just couldn't get it to
stop leaking. Black poly pipe is the lowest cost per foot, but not quite
bomb proof. Barb fittings are really more suited for irrigation under
40 psi, where leaks are just part of the irrigation system. Also, if
the pipe is exposed to sunlight, it can degrade and split open. Your
described setup would have sections above 100 psi, and that will really
drive leaks. There are compression fittings for the poly pipe, which
are better. Here are some examples:
PE pipe compression fitting for drinking water? Choose Blueseal16 - SAB
spaJentro Fittings sdr11 klem draadstuk
Barb fittings would probably be fine towards the top at the storage
tanks, where the pressure is much lower, but at the pump, and top of the
well, where the pressure is over 100 psi, I'd be using something better.
Good Luck,
Ray Walters
Remote Solar
On 5/26/2024 10:12 AM, Bradley Bassett via RE-wrenches wrote:
Yes, lots of possibilities for leaks. I will be exploring them today.
Thanks for the tips for finding the location. This setup uses 300psi
1" black poly pipe on a 25 ft drop, and then about 1200 ft run of the
same pipe up 220ft elevation to the tanks up the hill with the house
about 36ft below the tanks with only gravity feed (16 psi). All
connections on the poly pipe are made with long stainless barb
fittings with T-bolt clamps, pretty bomb proof stuff. There is a
pitless adapter into the well casing, I will check that for sure under
pressure. I'll also fix the check valve in the pump house. I seem to
have a lot of issues with check valves, do they really fail so often?
We do_not_ have high mineral water. I've especially had issues with
spring check valves and no longer use them. The one in my pump house
is a swing check valve which I thought was pretty reliable. If I
remember correctly, the check valve in these pumps is not replaceable.
Fortunately, we actually have two wells, each with a 3SQF-2 pump that
we can alternate for supply. I'll let you know what I find.
Way back in the '90's we had a customer with a solar pump that just
would not perform. Even with a new pump, new control, check this and
that, it just would not pump much water. It pumped fine when out of
the well. The drop pipe did not have any obstruction. They finally ran
the pump while it was out of the well with the drop pipe connected and
under pressure, and discovered a crack in the PVC pipe that did not
show up except under pressure. So leaks can indeed be hard to find.
Brad
On Sun, May 26, 2024 at 8:17 AM Jay via RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
Hi all
Yes the pump won’t go backwards but it’s possible there could be
some leakage through the helical coil.
But both check valves have to fail which is a low probability.
I’ve seen pipe broken due to someone closing a valve and not
having a pressure relief valve. Not knowing what kind of
pipe/fittings are being used it could be corrosion has made a hole.
Not knowing the layout it might be possible to split the plumbing
and see if the leakage is above or in the well.
Lots of fun possibilities
Jay
On May 26, 2024, at 9:03 AM, Roy Butler via RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
Brad,
Windy might chime in at some point to back me up on this but I
see no way for that pump to turn backwards.
Reverse flow is likely a leak at the pump, the down well piping
or at the pitless adapter if there is one.
Roy....
Another old time solar and wind guy, hoping to be retired someday
:-).
Roy Butler
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when
you don’t.
“The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it.”
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 5/26/2024 10:10 AM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar via
RE-wrenches wrote:
Hey Brad,
Sometimes shooting is best if you tell more on what you have
done so far like using the SQF shooting guide, especially on a
holiday weekend😉
Assume there is a CU200 controller and pump is in ground still,
must be with 100ft head, sorry
No high amps? It runs, How old?
--Dave
*Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar "we go where powerlines don't"
<http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/>https://offgridsolar1.com/
<https://offgridsolar1.com/><http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/>
e-mail offgridso...@sti.net text 209 813 0060*
On 2024-05-26 4:26 am, Jay via RE-wrenches wrote:
Hi Brad
With 2 check valves leaking I’d look for a broken pipe or a
corroded fitting.
If there is anyway to isolate between the 2 check valves then
you could measure the pressure drop on both sides which should
point to the direction of the leak.
Jay
On May 25, 2024, at 7:41 PM, Bradley Bassett via RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
I have a water system with a Grundfos SQFlex SQF3-2 pump. I'm
getting water flow in reverse either through the pump or a
leak up to the pump. My question is if the check valve on the
top of the pump is not sealing, will the progressive cavity
pump allow water to flow through the pump in reverse? I'd
think that with a positive displacement pump it would not,
except very slowly or if it turned the motor backwards which I
think would be very unlikely. There is about 100 psi head on
the pump.
I think it's most likely I have a leak somewhere in the
plumbing, and of course another failed check valve farther up
in the plumbing. It's possible to get failures even with
redundant protection if you have two concurrent failures,
which I must have here.
Brad Bassett
Old time solar guy who used to do solar pumping back in the
'80's and '90's. Mostly retired now.
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