private well flood preventer

I checked out their website, and their applications all look as if they're made for plumbing over which you have no control of the water pressure - so they incorporate shut-off valves to stop the flow instead. In your case, you want to cut off the pump, not close a valve necessarily. But I have another idea...

Even with the pump suddenly disabled, you're gonna have pressure in the tank that will have to be vented to stop the flow out the busted pipe. After all, isn't there a check valve that keeps the pressure from bleeding back through the pump when the pump is off? If so, it doesn't make sense to put a valve in the inlet side of the tank, because your tank will be pressurized in either case. You'll need instead to vent the tank pressure, which is done just as easily from the outlet side. What's your plumbing like there? Is it in good shape? And would it be feasible to install a vent valve on the outlet side which, unlike Flood Stop valves that close to stop the flow, opens to vent the tank pressure?

In summary, I'd say cut off the pump (if Flood Stop's controllers energize a valve to close it, they can energize a relay to kill power to the pump), and open a vent valve to relieve the tank pressure to the outside or to a drain. Having not seen your setup, I've just guessing here. By the way, a relay to kill the pump could have a second set of contacts to operate a valve.

I'm a little stump, How will venting the air cause any water flow when the pump is disable? wouldn't the pressure drop and the pressure tank is pre-charge to about I m guessing around 38psi . so what you are telling me is to vent out the air that is pre-charged.I like your idea about using the control only to use is as a relay but if I power up the relay how do I break the circuit. by the way the house is about 4 years old and thanks for writing back.

The pressure tank accumulates the water pumped into it and keeps it under pressure so that the pump will not need to run continuously to maintain the system pressure. In my post I'm suggesting that you both shut off the pump and relieve the pressure in the tank so that any residual pressure won't aid the leak. You can use a cutoff valve on the outlet side of the tank and allow the tank to remain pressurized, but as the tank itself could be the source of a leak you can kill two birds with one stone by venting the tank to de-pressurize the entire system.

In this arrangement, the relay has SPDT (single-pole double throw) contacts. The pump is connected to the normally-closed side of the contacts so that the relay need be energized only to turn off the pump. The vent valve, which should be closed when not energized, is connected to the normally-open side of the relay contacts. In this way, when the relay is energized (ie, flood conditions), it cuts the power to the pump whilst energizing the vent valve, allowing it to open and drain the tank. It is also advisable to drain the contents of the tank, rather than just venting the air pressure if the tank is located above the general level of the rest of your plumbing. Otherwise the tank would still gravity-feed the rest of system, exacerbating the leak. If the tank is located below the level of the system, relieving the air pressure alone may be sufficient (except that, in this case, the water in the rest of the system can drain back into the tank and out through the vent valve. Consequently, you may wish to vent the air pressure through a riser that is at least as high as the highest point in your system). Personally, I would just drain the tank, where possible.

"...but if I power up the relay how do I break the circuit."

If I understand your question correctly, do you wish to know how to override the relay manually, or do you wish to manually control the pump regardless of the effect of the relay in the circuit?

If you can give me a few days (it's Memorial Day weekend, and we have plans), I'll whip up a schematic for you, if you like.

There are several conditions you need to consider. If you have a small pressure tank you are willing to waste just shutting off the pump is fine. If you have a large tank you are not willing to waste you need a valve to to stop the the flow. In ether case you want a switch that trips on a signal that can be bypassed in case of fire when you want to dump all the water you can.

One way to do it is with excess flow valves such as http://www.valcor.com/excess.htm

Simple solutions rely on the drop in pressure to tell when you have a large leak and are easy to do.

A more useful solution requires a way to monitor flow over time and compare it to a standard so leavening a hose turned on when you leave for a weekend doesn't drain a large tank, flood the neighborhood, use a lot of electricity and water. There are several ways to make a flow meter from the old standard of vanes that turn in a a race, measuring the pressure on two sides of a constriction in the pipe to listening to the water run by in the pipe. They all take a computer to read and apply the incoming data to a preset template to decide when to turn of the water.

Someone should be able to get an idea from that.

Gordon Couger
Stillwater, OK

Personally, I would consult a plumber to discuss the practical lore. A great online site is http://www.plbg.com/forum/login.php?1

The product "Flood Stop" relies on a detector to sense water where it should not be. That can be problematic since it's hard to predict exactly where a leak might develop. The original question mentioned flooding from a cracked pipe. In a 4 year old house, a cracked pipe is most likely to happen during a freezing spell. Several cost effective solutions are available to prevent freezing of pipes. None of which require dismantling the pipes.

A precaution such as turning off the well pump when leaving the house unattended might also be a simple yet effective solution.

You might consider a run time timer relay to monitor the pump operation time.

If the leak is significant, the pump will run continuously or for an extended time other that a normal pressure pump up time.

you may have a nuisance shut down and have to reset the system, but you will limit the amount of water leaked and prevent a continuous run of the pump. If it's a domestic system, the run time associated with a toilet flush is a good place to start.

It would need to be disabled when watering the lawn.

Another method is to measure the time between pump run cycles.

May need a little logic circuit.