TABLE OF CONTENTS The following section outlines solutions to some of the more common problems encountered with plunger lift systems. These items are grouped with respect to the system components and particular malfunctions.
Table 7-1 (Phillips and Listiak [7]) summarizes various problems that can occur with plunger lift. It can be used as a quick reference. The following material revised from Ferguson and Beauregard [5] contains more detail of troubleshooting procedures.
| Check/Change Plunger | Optimize Program Settings | More Off Time | More Afterflow | Less Off Time | Less Afterflow | Check Well TBG(Restriction/Hole) | Check Wellhead (Design) | Clean Sensor/Check Wiring | Check Module/Wiring | Change (+) Lead Fuse Link | Power Down Restart Module | Set Sensitivity of Sensor | Change Supply Gas Filter | Adjust Supply Gas Pressure (20-30psi) | Clean Control Bleed Ports | Change O-Rings Under latch Valve | Check/Change Battery | Check Solar Panel | Repair Motor Valve Trim | Eliminate Flow Restrictions | Check Catcher | Change Module | Change Latch Valve | Check Special Settings | Check Motor Valve Diaphragm | Inspect Plunger | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No plunger arrival | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| Slow plunger arrival | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fast plunger arrival | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
