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WellMate fiberglass water pressure tank (C) D Friedman J Hafner Cycle Stop Valves as Water Pump Short Cycling Cure

This article describes using a cycle stop valve or similar device as a cure for well pump short cycling - too frequent turning on and off of the water pump.

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- Daniel Friedman, Publisher/Editor/Author - See WHO ARE WE?

Water Pressure Regulation and Well Pump Life Extension using Cycle-Stop Valves?

CSV1A Cycle Stop Valve from cyclestopvales.com - pressure /flow regulator reduces well pump short cycling - cited & discussed at InspectApedia.comA cycle stop valve or CSV can work with some pump and well controls to reduce the frequency of pump on-off cycling.

The CSV does this trick by regulating the delivery pressure of water into the building water supply piping system, holding it to a pressure 2 to 8 psi below the maximum pressure the system would normally achieve - the CUT OUT pressure set on the pump pressure control switch.

Illustration: the CSV1A cycle stop valve from Cycle Stop Valves, Inc., cited below in this article.

[Click to enlarge any image] A CSV is in essence a pressure regulator that controls the usage rate of water in a building to reduce the water pump on-off frequency.

Using the Cycle Stop CSV1 as an example, installed with a 34 gallon capacity water pressure tank and working under the control of a pressure control switch whose CUT-IN / CUT-OUT pressures are set to 40 / 60 psi, the CSV1 is set to regulate water pressure to a maximum output of 55 psi.

That extra 5 psi keeps some reserve pressure capacity in the water system, therefore extending the draw-down time normally provided by the pressure tank's air charge alone, and thus causing the pump to cycle on and off a bit less often.

Really? Well yes, this CSV device works exactly as described. You could achieve a similar effect in your building by installing low-flow-rate shower heads, and sink faucets, or by convincing the users of those fixtures to run water at less than full "on" at the sink, shower, or tub. But we know that people don't follow instructions. The CSV will regulate flow to conserve a bit of water use and thus cycle the pump on and off less frequently.

OPINION: Cycle stop valves are most-useful for residential application in which a residential well and water pump will be used occasionally, perhaps weekly, for applications that call for the pump to be run for a long period (several hours). The device is in essence a control on the water flow rate similar to what can be achieved in more-expensive water systems by using a variable frequency drive motor.

Watch out: a cycle stop valve is not a proper repair for a well pump that is short cycling - turning on and off rapidly, perhaps every few seconds or four or more times a minute when water is being run. If your well pump is cycling rapidly in that manner, before installing a cycle stop valve, check for a water-logged pressure tank.

See those details at WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING - pump turns on and off to rapidly

Also see WATER PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL SWITCH CHATTER - very rapid on-off water pump operation at the start or end of a pump-on cycle. Also called pressure control switch bounce or telegraphing

According to manufacturer Cycle-Stop Valves, Inc.

A Cycle Stop Valve or CSV is a simple device that drastically reduces the number of times a pump is cycled on and off. The Cycle Stop Valve can be used with very small pressure tanks and still double or triple the life of any pump or motor.

The CSV controls the amount of water being pumped to exactly match the amount of water being used.

This means the CSV can be used with very small pressure tanks because there is no extra water being pumped to cause the tank to fill. Pumping more water than is being used is what causes the pump to cycle on and off repeatedly.

Cycling on and off repeatedly causes the pump, motor, controls, and bladder pressure tank to wear out prematurely.

The Cycle Stop Valve does this by supplying water for the home owner at a constant pressure.

Pressure in the house remains steady while a single shower is running. When additional water is needed for a second shower, washing machine, pressure washer, irrigation sprinkler, etc., the Cycle Stop Valve opens more to supply the extra water needed. The person in the shower will never see a change in pressure or be scalded by hot water when additional water is used elsewhere in the home.

CSV1 Cycle Stop Valve Set - Working Pressure
Pressure Tank Size
Gallons		 CSV1A Set
Pressure - psi		 Tank Pre-Charge
Pressure psi		 Pressure Switch
CUT-IN /
CUT-OUT psi
4.4 50 38 psi 40 / 60 psi
10 52
20 53
34 55
44 56
62 57
86 58

Notes to the table above:

Source: adapted from Cycle Stop Valves, Inc., cited just above on this page.

Watch out: this table is specifically for the CSV1 from Cyclestop valve products. Other similar short stop or cycle stop products may have different operating pressures, settings, and behaviour.

In residential applications served by wells and pumps with modest water flow rates (under 10 gpm), when filling a bath tub or running multiple plumbing fixtures at once, the water flow in the building will exceed the pump's capacity, and the flow rate is limited to the pumping rate that the pump itself can provide. In such installations, we aren't sure that a Cycle-Stop valve will be of much benefit to the equipment.

The company describes residential applications at http://www.cyclestopvalves.com/homeowners_1.html

and says that their valve will reduce the well pump on-off cycling rate.

But in applications served by a submersible well pump capable of higher pumping rates, and provided that the well flow rate also supports a higher water flow rate, the CSV may indeed be of benefit to consumers. We recommend that you discuss the details of your well and pump equipment with the company before ordering a product.

If your well pump is short cycling, before fixing the problem with a Cycle-stop type valve, be sure that you don't have a more serious underlying problem with the equipment - see WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING [link just below] for details.

Short Cycling Pump Cycle Stop Products & Sources

Cycle Sensor pump monitor from cyclestopvalves.com detects rapid pump on-off cycling or pump running dry and shuts down the pump - cited & discussed at InspectApedia.comIllustration: cyclestopvalves' Cycle Sensor pump monitor used to detect either rapid water pump on-off cycling or "dry run" (pump out of water). The device will shut down the well pump if either of these is detected. Similar devices are discussed

at WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH

Cycle Gard I constant pressure valve reduces pump cycling on and off - cited & discussed at InspectApedia.com adapted from Flomatic Valves inc.

Illustration above: the Flomatic Cycle Gard I typical installation schematic, excerpted from the product installation instructions cited just below. [Click to enlarge any image]

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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2023-01-20 by InspectApedia Publisher - short cycling means action may be needed to protect the pump control and possibly pump as well from damage

@Cary Austin,

Thanks, we agree.

Clarifying for other readers:

If in the past your water pump ran for minutes at a time, and now you hear it clicking on and off rapidly, in less than a minute, it is short cycling and action is needed to protect the pump control and possibly pump as well from damage.

On 2023-01-20 by Cary Austin

@InspectApedia Publisher, That is more good information. However, short cycling is a matter of opinion. While cycling with one minute on and one minute off is not considered short cycling by many, I submit that it is still short cycling.

Manufacturers recommend 1 minute run time minimum, 2 minutes is better, but running continuously when water is being used is best. Pumps are made for continuous duty, meaning they will last longer running 24/7/365 than with any amount of cycling on and off.

I have a stock water well where the pump has not shut off since 1999. Pumps like to run, they hate cycling on and off no matter how long or how short.

Most people do not take very long showers, and if you hear/feel the pump go on and off while in the shower, the pump is cycling too much in my opinion. Not only does this cycling shorten the life of the pump but also causes the pressure to go up and down in the shower. The CSV delivers strong constant pressure for a shower, and does not let the pump cycle even if you are in the shower for a month.

Bladderless tanks, also known as hydro-pneumatic or just "hydro" tanks do need some device to add air regularly, as with no bladder the air mixes with the water and is lost from the tank. An AVC or Air Volume Control for these type tanks works differently depending on if you have a submersible or and above ground jet pump.

An AVC with a submersible lets out the excess air from the tank that was added by the control check valve/bleeder orifice/Schrader valve combination. An AVC with a jet pump actually adds air to the tank each time the pump starts.

Also, anyone who has tried to air up even a small pressure tank with a bicycle pump now owns a air compressor. Lol! Takes a lot of air. Thanks again!

On 2023-01-19 by InspectApedia Publisher - different types of tanks require different remedies

@Cary Austin,

Thank you for the continued discussion.

A note for other readers:

There are 2 different cases here.

First, a conventional, modern water pressure tank that uses an internal bladder keeps water and air charge separate.

Water pumps serving systems using those captive air tanks should never be short cycling provided the initial pressure is correctly adjusted.

So for that case if the pump is short cycling, most likely the bladder in the pressure tank has a hole or is torn and needs to be replaced.

Completely separate are water pressure tanks that do not use an internal bladder.

Those pressure tanks need the air charge constantly replenished.

There are several types of air volume controls (AVCs) that attempt to do that.

If the AVC control is not working and there's not a proper air charge in the tank, the pump will short cycle.

It's a trivial remedy to simply use the air valve and any air source, even a bicycle pump, to restore the missing air charge.

On 2023-01-19 by Cary Austin

@InspectApedia Publisher, Thanks Daniel! Maybe I was a bit confusing. But of course the pressure tank will need to be replaced when the bladder is torn and it becomes waterlogged. I fully agree!

However, that is the time to learn what caused the bladder to fail to begin with so it doesn't happen again. Once you learn that cycling was the reason the bladder in the tank failed, adding a Cycle Stop Valve will solve that problem while allowing you to replace the failed tank with a smaller and less expensive tank.

On 2023-01-18 by InspectApedia Publisher

NOTE to other readers:

Adding: please see the comments above from Cary Austin, and our reply. Mr. Austin, as Cycle Stop inventor, elaborates a bit on the utility of adding those controls to water pump systems.

On 2023-01-18 by InspectApedia Publisher

@Cary Austin,

Thank you so much for commenting about Cycle Stop. Frankly I'm thrilled that you found this page, and we would welcome any additional content or patent disclosures or history about the Cycle Stop that you might be able to offer besides the editing you've suggested (and that we'll consider as we review the article).

I very respectfully disagree in part with your advice that there is no need to fix a water-logged pressure tank, simply add a Cycle Stop valve. As a very general rule, in my OPINON, it's usually better to fix the underlying cause of a problem than to add more features and components of a system to solve that problem.

I saw this when working on large computer processor design. We piled on so many layers of processors and software designed to fix errors and problems in processors and software that our computer got so complex that the overall reliability and cost suffered.

Arguing with myself on your behalf, I'd rebut that there are some problems like water tanks becoming water-logged, that are recurrent with bladderless water pressure tanks, chronic, so to speak, and that many homeowners simply don't even think about periodic recharge of the water tank air.

So good design builds systems not for what people *should* do but rather for what people *do* do. For those people, we ought to recommend either replacement of their water tank with one that uses an internal bladder (and doesn't lose air charge) or installation of a Cycle Stop Valve which will handle their pump short cycling regardless of the cause of that problem.

Thanks again. Daniel Friedman, publisher/editor.

On 2023-01-18 by Cary Austin - inventor of Cycle Stop Valves

As the inventor of Cycle Stop Valves this is fairly good information. However, the advice that "low flow shower heads" and "convincing users to run less that full out" when using water will not achieve a similar effect as a Cycle Stop Valve.

As a matter of fact using low flow taps and using water at less than full out is what causes pump cycling to begin with. You also cannot have a large enough pressure tank to eliminate cycling like a Cycle Stop Valve does.

Also, there is no need to "watch out". The Cycle Stop Valve IS a proper fix for any pump that is short cycling. Even if the rapid cycles is caused by a waterlogged tank, the waterlogged tank was destroyed by so called normal cycles. Even with "normal" cycles the diaphragm/bladder in a tank goes up and down with each pump cycle.

This is like bending a wire back and forth until it breaks. But once the bladder in the tank breaks, the extra short cycling is caused by the waterlogged tank. The Cycle Stop Valve reduces normal cycling to a point where it doesn't wear the tank bladder and cause a waterlogged tank to begin with.

Everything in a pump system is destroyed by the pump cycling on and off. Using a Cycle Stop Valve makes everything in a pump system last much longer.

Oh and BTW, anonymous is Kevin Wadel. It would be hard for Kevin to write anything factual about Cycle Stop Valves as it is obvious he has no idea how they work.

On 2022-10-16 by InspectApedia-911 (mod)

@Gurdev,

Pressure relief valves opening pressure depends on where the valve is used.

Is yours on a water heater, heating boiler, water pump & tank, steam boiler, or something else?

Is there a data tag on the existing valve?

Have you diagnosed the cause? It may not be the valve itself.

Watch out: the equipment or system could be unsafe.

On 2022-10-16 by Gurdev

Pressure relief valve at what Pressure relief valve opens need to replace it due to dripping sometimes

On 2020-10-17 by Anonymous

I call it Preventive Maintenance

I did mine today before that cold windy winter weather hits here. My buried Pro-source 35gal quick disconnect pressure tank next to the well without a Cycle Stop Valve or Dole Valve. I was 15psi off from my 38psi air charge going a few years between my normal annual check to see what it could handle compared to the best "WellXtrol".

Works great for flushing out any accumulation of sediment while your at it (just in case you been stirring the bottom of your well from rapid cycling on waiting to long). 10gpm pump pumping more flow than my 9.6 or 9.7 drawdown without looking at my chart on 40/60psi settings.

Replaced warranty air cell in the first year from their design so I made a design change and had them warranty out my air cell with a longer air cell(replaces from the top)so they stop over stretching the air cell and blowing out the bottom that would never touch the bottom of the composite tank(works like a normal non amtrol now).

My 86gal champion pressure tank(cheaper Amtrol model with better made diaphragm material) still holds way better on my other well. I can go way longer before ever dropping alot on the air charge to create short cycling or rapid cycling conditions.

You can also take them to higher pressure settings without a problem or some might try only going with a 10psi pressure swing since you got the spare drawdown capacity on your pump size flowing into the tank from your depth to water. I keep my pump out of the upthrust condition on every start by not using 1 1/4 drop pipe down my well.

Use a Pumptek (a pentair motor) on Franklin motors for motor protection. More features than just for short cycling. People use to remember in the days of air over water tanks. Then Amtrol marketed their first pressure tank as Maintenance free so people forget about doing annual Preventive Maintenance with amtrol pressure tanks over the years since 1963.

On 2020-10-15 by danjoefriedman (mod) - limitations of short-cycle protection valves

Anon

Thank you for the interesting post on the limitations of short-cycle protection valves.

I add for other readers that any short cycling protection device is a band-aid - in my OPINION - against taking steps to make the proper repair.

The most common cause of well pump short cycling is a water-logged pressure tank - the tank's air charge has been lost.

The right fix for that condition is to put the proper air pre-charge in the water pressure tank in the first place. That will stop short cycling and give the cycle stop valves a rest.

Details are

at WATER TANK AIR, HOW TO ADD

and

at WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING - home

On 2020-10-15 by Anonymous

Cycle stop valves and Vfd pump systems have all fallen short against (pressure tank only) cycling and continous duty over the years and that's a fact! If cycling was so bad then why am I beating out the competition still to the day and saving money on all life to my components.

It comes down to low flow rates(and leaks) keeping your pump in downthrust conditions to lower life while my pump cycles at lower flow rates to increase life.

Size everything correctly and you will never see a big drop in flow and pressure(just steady flow and pressure reaching to your point of use) that is capable of handling more flow devices at the same time before you ever drop in flow and pressure(putting out more than what the pump is capable of doing with that size pump).

Let me know when cycle stop valves and vfd systems can keep up? I've been along time for it to ever happen....what generation is vfd on now? Cycle stop valve since the 90's and still waiting!

On 2014-05-18 by DanJoeFriedman (mod) - my new pump is making a loud clicking noise

Steve, you want to review the article on this page on causes of well pump short cycling. If the water tank is not waterlogged, unblocked, and if there are no other external causes such as a clogged water filter or closed valve, I'd replace the switch.

On 2014-05-18 by steve

question my new pump is not kicking in .. its making a loud clicking noise. I can see the point jumping on and off.. what can I do to stop this.....anyone...


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