[bssford460]

we had a man drill a well for us and install a 5.0 HP single phase submersible pump, the well is 210 feet and I think the pump is around 130-150 feet, not really sure.
i am pretty sure that they hit water at or around 50 feet. the driller told me 2 things,
there is more water down there than you'll ever pump out, and you need to realease at 55 gpm. there are now 3 zones, 1 for pop ups, one for rotors and one going into his lake to try and manage the level,
(about a 15 acre lake)
he told me the "optimum" pressure to run it at is 50-55 PSI.
so for the zone going to the lake i regulated the valve and the pressure at the well seal is right at 50 PSI.
i can not install any more sprinkler heads, there is literally no where to put any.
both of the Irr. zones run directly at 75 PSI.
the pump ended up malfunctioning and the man had to pull it, he said initially he thought it was hit by lightning, and sent it to the manufacturer to "be looked at"
he is sorta looking for a way out and tried to say that the pump ran with out a valve opening and that burnt it up , but i know that is not what happended, becuase everything i put in worked perfectly b4 and works perfectly now with a new pump.
my delima is.... my boss told me to hook it up and let it run. so here is the schedule
starts at 5:30 am
rotors for 30 min. @ 75 PSI
popups for 20 min. @ 75 PSI
lake for 6 hours @ 50 PSI
2 hour break
lake for 6 more hours
2 hour break
pop ups for 20 min @ 75 PSI
lake for 6 more hours
and this happens everyday.

is the hour and a half of 75 PSI what caused the pump to "burn up"
i dont want the same thing to happen and the fingers be pointed at me or my company.
what are any suggestions on what to do to bleed off some pressure, or just not worry about it.
is the 75 psi too much, i honestly dont think it is but i'm no expert.
i've talked with another contractor and he said he had plenty of pumps running at 75 psi and he has been in the business a long time and said he sees no problem with any of this, but I still see cause for concearn becuase the bottom line is, that even though acorrding to figures i am releasing the "appropriate" amount of water according to the well guy, that maybe i'm not releasing enough water (making the PSI to high) and ruined the pump motor.
what do yall think?

[Turtle]

We have alot of wells around here and I have to say ive never seen a 5 hp that had a running pressure of 75 psi I think the spray heads would be misters

since the sytem is in already Is there a reason why you cant wire the spray zone to come on with the rotor zone

Not sure what size piping you used or how many rotors or spray heads etc.

Also put a pressure relief valve on it to be safe

Hope that helps

[bssford460]

there are soo many pop ups and rotor that i can not run both zones at the same time
there are 14 or 15 rotors with #4 nozzles mostly, with a few #6 nozzels
there are around 20 or so popups with 18 van nozzles.
that is too much to run all at one time

and as far as the misting goes, there are only 3 of the popups that mist. and they dont really mist all that bad,
i forgot to include that from the pump to where the irr is is about 900 feet,
400 or so down a hill and then 350 over and then about 150 or so up another hill.
i am measuring the pressure at the well only,
are you of the opinion that the 75 PSI is to much for the pump to try to pump for 45 or so min in the mourning and another 15 or so at night??

[Turtle]

You have plenty of GPM out of that then. If the well guy thinks the well kicked on and a valve didnt open up then i would install the pressure relief valve this way you can eliminate that possible cause.

Good Luck

[bssford460]

thanks for the replies, here is a nifty little reply i got from a rep. from franklin electric motor. which i'm pretty sure the motor is one of thier, because the control box the well driller gave me was F.E.M.

Bradley,



The actual load on the motor is less at 75 PSI than at 50 PSI since the load on the motor is proportional to the amount of water that is being pumped. The more water pumped the more load on the motor. I would suggest checking the amp load on the motor and if it is between 23 and 27.5 amps the motor is not overloaded and should not be hurt to run at this load.