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We have a Goulds ITT Jet+ Jet Pump pumping from a shallow well.

The pump was always working fine until today when I replaced the previous hose going into the well with a new one and a new 1" galvanized steel adapter.

Now, the pump keeps switching on and off rapidly at the end of its cycle. I turned it off.

Since nothing has changed at all on the circuit except the hose and the fact that now that hose is going into a storage tank (drought around here),

I think that when I unscrewed the old and quite rusty galv. fitting, some piece of debris has fallen inside the pump. Seems like the only possible explanation?

How can I clean it out, the manual indicates a "nozzle clean-out plug" in the middle of the pump front housing, but unscrewing it just revealed a recess in the metal, with nothing behind it? There are two of those "plugs" but there is nothing behind them at all?

One smaller plug on top that spewed water out when I unscrewed it. Screwed it back.

Should I open the pump up to clean the debris?

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  • Is the storage tank sealed, or is there a way for air to escape? Did you use the same size hose (same inside diameter, same length)?
    – Tester101
    Aug 26, 2015 at 11:00

2 Answers 2

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Listed reasons for excessive cycling in J+ installation manual:

  1. Defective suction check or foot valve
  2. Water logged pressure tank
  3. Pump farther than 5 feet from tank
  4. High friction loss valves between pump and tank. (Use only fully open gate valves)

Parts breakdown list

enter image description here

I take it this is a shallow well with the jet assembly bolted to the front of the pump and not a deep well installation with two pipes coming out of the pump with the jet assembly down in the well.

Jet pumps work by blasting a high speed jet of water through a venturi to augment their suction. If your crusty fitting was in the opening (4), it could release chunks that get caught in both the jet nozzle (5) and the gap between the jet and the venturi (6). The plug (1) allows you to use a piece of brass welding rod to try chunking out anything caught in the jet nozzle.

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  • There were indeed two small holes in the center. I happened to have a brass welding rod and poke deep in the holes until water started pouring out. I thought I had it but the pump still does the same thing. Turns on for about 60 seconds then stops/starts quickly. Maybe the problem is the pressure tank then? I pressed the bicycle valve fitting and compressed air comes out, I'll try hooking up a pressure gauge to it.
    – cannotcompute
    Aug 26, 2015 at 7:10
  • You might have a waterlogged pressure tank then. Is this a bladder style tank or a free air tank? The bladder type is pre-charged, there should be an escutcheon ring around the bicycle valve on the tank that tells you the pressure it is filled to with the tank empty. It must hold this pressure with an empty tank, else the bladder has a leak. If water ever comes out of this valve, the bladder is ruptured. Free air style tanks need to be recharged every 3-6 months as the air diffuses into the water and leaves the tank.
    – Fiasco Labs
    Aug 26, 2015 at 14:37
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Fixed!

Since the new hose was going into a water storage tank, I figured it didn't need the little plastic filter thingy that normally sits at the bottom of the well. THE FOOT VALVE

Screwed back a foot valve at the end of the new hose going in the tank, and now it works!

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  • If you have parts left over after fixing something, consider that if they weren't needed the designer/installer could have saved money by leaving them out. Are you sure you're more clever and better informed than the were?
    – keshlam
    Aug 26, 2015 at 19:41
  • Umm, not saying I'm clever or better informed than anybody. Obviously there's something one doesn't know if one asks here. I didn't know the foot valve was the same thing as a check valve. Anyways
    – cannotcompute
    Aug 28, 2015 at 0:43
  • Yeah, the foot valve is a check valve so your pump inlet line doesn't empty back into the well when the pump turns off, especially if you don't have a check valve on the outlet side between the pump and the tank. Then all your hard work empties through the pump, back into the well.
    – Fiasco Labs
    Aug 28, 2015 at 2:03

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