Hello,

I have what I believe to be a 19 gallon pressure tank for my well. Recently I started noticing that the pressure tank kicks on and takes no more than 5-8 seconds to build pressure to about 43 psi and then immediately drops back off to about 38 and stays there. When spraying the water hose, the pressure drops to about 10-12 psi in again, no more than maybe 5-8 seconds before it kicks back on again and builds pressure to about 43 psi. Could anyone tell me where to start looking for the problem. I don't see any leaks in any lines anywhere. I also pushed the schrader valve to see if water came out but luckily it was only air.

Thank's for any help

 

You pushed the schrader valve and let some air out. There probably isn't enough air in it. In the following link is instruction in how to recharge your pressure tank with the proper amount of air.

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/we...well-info.html

 

Someone told me to do it only for a second to see if maybe the bladder was leaking. You are right though I should refill it. I still can't think of why it has to kick on so quick now compared to before. Isn't between 5-10 seconds way to quick to be dropping that much psi while only spraying the water hose? It seems like it used to not do it nearly that quick.

Thank's

 

The air in the pressure tank is the primary means of maintaining pressure in the system.

As you draw water and the pump is still off, the air cushion (air bubble if you insist) in the pressure tank will expand and at the same time its pressure will drop. In a typical system the pressure will drop to pump turn on pressure when the air cushion has expanded to slightly less than twice its size.

So if the air cushion is small to begin with (after the pump stops) then the absolute amount of expansion which is equal to the amount of water you draw will also be small before the pump turns on again.

When you add air to the pressure tank, the size of the air cushion after the pump stops will be larger so it can expand more and push out more water before the pressure drops enough to start again.

Now, the maximum air cushion size is of course the size of the pressure tank. That is for the fully expanded air cushion or pump turn on pressure. (For smooth operation the pressure should drop to turn on pressure slightly before the tank empties out completely) The turn off pressure will see the air cushion compressed to slightly larger than half the tank size.

A larger pressure tank or a second pressure tank will make it possible to have even less frequent pump starts.

 

Hey thank's for the reply. Yeah I have been thinking a bigger tank is probably needed like you said. Any idea as to why this problem started all of a sudden though? I asked someone else that said they noticed it loses pressure quicker than it used to also. It holds the pressure fine when not in use. it just loses it fast when using water now.

Thank's

 

It can appear to happen all of a sudden when in reality it's been getting worse all the time or you have a pinhole in the bladder and the air retention problem will worsen.

 

There could be a tiny leak in the Schrader valve causing very gradual loss of the air cushion while the system still looks like it is holding pressure

 

Just figured that I would get back on and add that I put more air in the tank and it has been working much better for the last few weeks. I am still planning on getting a bigger tank though later on.

Thank's Again