Water pressure/tank question/problem?

[ggglobert9]

I live in the country. Have a well. Problem is water pressure is very irregular. It kicks the pump on and off more frequently and much shorter than usual. New pressure tank a couple of years ago. Drought, pressure in tank, well getting low? Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[rockhopper46038]

Undersized pressure tank? Badly adjusted (or faulty) pressure switch? Those would be my first guesses. I think low GPM out of your well would cause longer intervals of pump usage, not shorter.

 

[remauto1187]

Pressure switch going out of adustment (weak spring) or right on the fence of start/stop setting adjustment. give it a 1/8 turn either way to see if its ok then.

Water level in well has nothing to do with pressure assuming you arent sucking sand from a almost empty well.

There is a bladder in your accumulator tank that maintains pressure. If you look on the tank there will be a schrader valve (like on a car tire) to add air from a compressor. Measure it and check for a spec on the tank, correct if needed.

 

[femurphy77]

Bladder could be discharged or waterlogged also. Turn off your pump, open a couple of valves in the house and after the water quits running out in the sink measure your air pressure, somebody help me here, I'm thinking 40 psi but can't remember this early in the morning.

Add air to bring it to the necessary pressure then turn off your faucets turn your pump back on and wait for it to cycle off then check the pressure in the house to see if it has been restored. If your pressure in the house drops again over a period of time or you start short cycling again you may have a ruptured bladder.

 

[walterwhiting]

Had the same problem last June. Turned out the bladder in the tank was bad. Excessive cycling of the pump will cause failure of the pump itself. Good luck.

 

[concrete dog]

I just put a new well in a Year ago,and just up graded the half horse to 1 horse a month ago. I put a 44 gallon bladder tank in instead of the standard 20, so there would be less wear on the bladder. My pump kicks on right around 40ish and only shuts off when there is no more draw for water(I have a cycle stop valve in place that keeps pressure around 50psi till no more draw). 60psi is where it shuts off. I'm going to lean toward bad switch.

 

[mrjarrell]

Most tanks will have the pressure rating on them. 30# is about the average, as far as I've seen. Check that pressure and charge accordingly.

 

[femurphy77]

I just put a new well in a Year ago,and just up graded the half horse to 1 horse a month ago. I put a 44 gallon bladder tank in instead of the standard 20, so there would be less wear on the bladder. My pump kicks on right around 40ish and only shuts off when there is no more draw for water(I have a cycle stop valve in place that keeps pressure around 50psi till no more draw). 60psi is where it shuts off. I'm going to lean toward bad switch.

Based on the pump continually running until there is no more demand for water would make the well suspect in my mind. You seem to be using more water than the well can provide. When we installed our new well recently I ran the well free-flowing from the line that we connected to the house and it was shooting a 2" stream of water almost 20 feet. I couldn't outflow our well pump if I turned on every faucet in the house.

If you open a valve and cause the pump to kick on, it should be able to refill the tank and shut off even if you still have your valve open. I'm not a plumber and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express but we did just finish installing a new well and connect it to our house, doing all the work ourselves except drilling the hole and sleeving it.