[Schoolbusguy]

Hi Everyone. Just joined this chatroom to seek help with a water bang/plumbing/well pump problem that appears to be getting worse. Hope you can help!

We have a well, with a pump that is now 27 years old. The well fills a tank (blue) in the house, that has that bladder thing, and the well is set for 40-60psi (on/off). The bladder tank thing is about 15 or more years old. Our water is very hard and minerally.
It used to be (up to about a year ago) that when we came home from work (the house being dormant for about 11 hours), and turned the faucet on, or flushed a toilet, you'd hear a loud bang after a moment that seemed to coincide with the well pump going on (while the water was running). It would only happen the once after we got home. The sound came from the basement, and but closer to where the water enters the house, not near the water tank.
On weekends or other times we were home all day, it wouldn't happen.
Then we started hearing it more often, a couple of times a day, even on weekends, and now that we've been home for the last couple of months, it seems to happen several times a day.
I thought it might be a check valve at the pump in the well that was going bad, and allowing water to back into the well, filling the pipe with air that would then bang once someone ran water. I had someone from a pump company come out to look at it about a year ago, and they said the pump was fine (but didn't address a check valve at the pump - I don't even know if there is supposed to be one there). They changed the check valve at the tank in the house, and reset the bladder tank thing. It seemed to be ok for while, but now it's worse than ever.
I've looked for "water hammer" online, but everything addresses a loud noise when you turn the water OFF, and the noise happening then. This happens when the water is running.
I've read also that maybe the bladder is failing in the tank, but don't understand why it would bang like that.
Thank you, and hope you can help.

 

[jmon]

Yes, I agree with you, could be any of those things. You have to narrow down exactly where the banging is coming from. Post some pictures.

 

[Schoolbusguy]

Thanks - I did put 2 pics of the water tank in my "album," but there's nothing really to show. Other than that tank, everything else is in the well or basement ceiling, or otherwise hidden, and just pipes.

 

[jmon]

Verify that the expansion tank is set to the correct incoming water pressure and no water comes out the schrader valve, if good to go, you can rule that out. Easy to check. Looks brand new, so I doubt it's the xpansion tank. But good to verify that it's set to correct psi. They come preset right out of the box at 25psi and have to be adjusted to match your incoming water pressure.

In regards to the banging; Have someone flush the toilets/run the water and see if you can pinpoint where the banging is coming from. It may just be a pipe that needs securing. I've seen that before. Just a suggestion.


Usually water hammer is the quick turning off of the faucet like toilet or washing machine, etc.

 

[Schoolbusguy]

There's no evidence of water coming out of the schrader valve. This is the second tank we've had- the first was smaller, of lower quality, and our hard water mucked it up quick, and ruined the bladder. The pump would run all the time because the bladder wouldn't hold the pressure. This one, however, has been ok, and no indication that it loses pressure on its own.

Off the top of my head, I remember the tank pressure should be 2lbs less than the low end pressure? Like 38psi if my low is 40psi?

I suppose the first easiest thing to check is the loose pipe idea. It does sound like it comes from the same spot each time. I'll report back when I get a chance to drop the ceiling tiles in the basement. Thank you!