Short story, bought a home from a duct tape job family. Love the land it's on, so my wife had to have it, but - we have been renovating for years now fixing their crap jobs. Also, sellers lied about half the stuff in the house (as they duct taped things per se to get the house sold) so we won a small suit against them to fix things.

One of those things is the well tank.

They mentioned that the water would stop working occasionally when it would rain as the storm drain where the well tank and pressure switch was located would fill up. Yes, submerging the pressure tank and the ELECTRICAL pressure SWITCH. Hazard right. Anyways...they said "oh ya just go down there with rubber boots and gloves and hit it with a rubber mallet and that will fix it"... yeah.. anyways... The storm shelter since filled up during a flood and capsized the tank, twisting and breaking the pvc pipe coming in through the concrete from the well pump (comes in horizontally). I fixed that after some jack hammering. I moved the tank up and out of the storm shelter into the garage. This was about a 7 foot up and 7 foot over move from it's original location. Ran with the same schedule 40 pvc that was there before, just a few more bends and a good 4 foot vertical run.

My water works, it works fine....the pressure switch has been short cycling though. Mostly when running the water but sometimes when the water is off. This all started after the flood and me moving the tank to it's new location.

The pressure in the tank is creeping up on its own too. I noticed, but it wont hold any air that I pump into it when it is empty.. I found this out by doing some reading. So, I drained the tank of all water after cutting the pump off. Checked the pressure at the tank and I have 0 pressure. At the switch it reads 30psi on a 40/60 switch. I tried to charge the tank but it wont hold any air what so ever.

I turn the pump back on and the tank shoots back up to 50+ psi and my water works just fine. Still, with short cycling. It's about a cycle like ON/OFF, ON/OFF,ON/OFF,ON/OFF in a good 5 seconds IF that. I know it's wearing the hell out of my pump among my electricity bill.

I do also have a culligan gold series heavy duty whole house conditioner/softener too.

I'm half tempted to throw in the towel, call a plumber and replace everything. The tank is god old well x tron and is rusted to all hell as I am sure it has been under water PLENTY of times. The switch too has some serious rust on it included the pressure gauge which looks like a fossil from all the rust.

Not sure what type of pump I have or where it is located, all I know is the pipe for it comes in underground horizontally. I can provide pics of the setup if that will help.

I've been known to paypal folks beer money who have helped me figure other things out on here, this isn't a bribe - I just am a amateur who needs advice, and people who truly help deserve to be paid for their time.

 

Welcome to the forums! From what you describe, it appears a total change out of your pump system, with the exception of the submersed pump is in order. Your tank, if it is rusted on the outside, may very well be that way on the inside. The bladder may be ruptured. It may have seen a rough life. The switch is in the same boat if it is has been submersed at any time. Short cycling is due to the equalization of the pressure in the pump and the pressure the pump switch is set at. There must be a 2 lb differentiation between the two. The tank pressure should be set 2 lbs below the cut in pressure of the switch. How many pipes do you see going to the pump, or into the hole in the ground?

 

Thank you for the reply!

As far as I can see, there is literally a pvc pipe coming out of the concrete which is where my water comes in at. It appears to have been filled in around it with concrete which would make me think the pump is that a way? I do have the little well pedestal on the side of my house a good 75 yards away from this location.

The pump outlet pipe goes into the pressure switch which T's off into four

1. from the pump
2. to to the pressure tank
3. to an outside valve
4. to the softener, which then comes back down and into the house

 

You definitely have a damaged pressure tank for starters.

 

Any recommendations for replacement on the tank? The pressure switch I see is a direct replacement from lowes. Should I stick with the 40/60 I have?

 

Wel-x-trol (Amtrol) still makes good tanks. Don't have any experience with the brands the box stores are selling now, but a pressure tank is a pretty simple thing.

Well systems are usually 30-50 or 40-60. I like 40-60 because I like vigorous showers and I have filter equipment after the tank that has some pressure drop (as does a softener). I see no reason to change range if the 40-60 is working for you.

Good luck with your project!

 

thanks everyone thus far.

another couple of questions before I decide what to do:

Does the pressure switch need to be "X" distance from the pressure tank?

Also, as mentioned - I do have pressure in the tank when water is in, there - when I pinch the air value, air comes out and not water. Where is that air coming from? Is that bad?

 

Pressure is pressure, so it won't matter where it is unless there are leaks between the two. You WILL have pressure in the tank, but the air above it is waterlogged and that is the cause of the cycling. There will always be a small amount of head space air until it is evacuated.

 

Larry's correct that placement doesn't matter in terms of operation. However, there should be no valves or filters or the like between the pump and the switch, with possible exception of a check valve. This is to minimize any chance of the pump running while being isolated from the pressure switch, which could cause a dangerous overpressure situation or damage the pump. Because most installations have a service valve between the tank and the home's plumbing, in most cases the pressure switch is mounted right at the pump tee so it is ahead of that service valve.

 

Try this.

After emptying the pressure tank of water (while the well pump is turned off and while pumping air into the top of the pressure tank) turn off all the faucets and see if you can get the pressure tank up to 2 PSI below pump turn on pressure.

Turn off the water heater heat when doing all this. Don't turn that back on until you turn the well pump on and get a solid flow of water out of a wide open hot faucet for a full minute.

Note: If you have air hissing from or water dripping from the pressure tank to the outside then stop and replace the pressure tank.