it may be a bad check valve, allowing water to slowly seep past it and back down the pipe, thereby lowering the pressure?
DM
DM
well tank
i am on a well and my water pressure never seems to be real strong but not real bad either. after flushing the toilet or showering the well will turn on and go up to 55psi and shut off. after about 30 minutes i noticed it reading at 40psi... when i get up in the morning it reads 28psi. my neighbor said it should hold at 55 or drop just a little bit and the bladders bad but i dont agree, when my well pump was installed 7 yrs ago the guy wrote 28psi on my tank. i think thats what its supposed to read and my pressure is just because i have a very deep well. anyone know whos right ?
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
Your cut out is 55 and cut in is 28. How fast you get from the cut out to the cut in will usually indicate what kind of issue you have.
If you drop from 55 to 28 the second you open a faucet, and the pump turns on and off rapidly, odds are strong that your bladder failed.
If you drop from 55 to 28 over the course of 15 minutes to a half hour, you might want to check for leaks and recharge your bladder. I used to recharge my bladder every year when I had a well.
If you drop from 55 to 28 over the course of an hour, odds are strong that you have a decent leak somewhere, like a trickling float valve on a toilet reservoir. And you might be low on the air charge.
If you drop from 55 to 28 over the course of a few hours, again, it could be a leak, it could be your ice machine making ice. It could be your humidifier on the furnace.
If it were my house, I'd recharge the bladder and look for leaks.
If you drop from 55 to 28 the second you open a faucet, and the pump turns on and off rapidly, odds are strong that your bladder failed.
If you drop from 55 to 28 over the course of 15 minutes to a half hour, you might want to check for leaks and recharge your bladder. I used to recharge my bladder every year when I had a well.
If you drop from 55 to 28 over the course of an hour, odds are strong that you have a decent leak somewhere, like a trickling float valve on a toilet reservoir. And you might be low on the air charge.
If you drop from 55 to 28 over the course of a few hours, again, it could be a leak, it could be your ice machine making ice. It could be your humidifier on the furnace.
If it were my house, I'd recharge the bladder and look for leaks.
well its a 20 gallon wx-202 and i've lived in the house for 10 yrs so i know the tank is at least that old. i dont know if it has a bladder or not. mine fits into the category of taking a few hrs to go from 55 to 28 but it does go into the 40's inside of 15 minutes. it will go to 35 in about 3 hrs and to 28 shortly after.... i do have a ice machine on the frig but i have only 2 toilets and i checked them both and neither are leaking. i have no leaky faucets or anything else that i could see... do i have to cut the power off before recharging the tank ?
Here's the link for the maintenance manual to your unit. It has all the info you need. And yes, I used to shut the power to the well pump when I did mine, and your model does have a diaphragm.
http://www.amtrol.com/pdf/9015A290revcWXT.pdf
http://www.amtrol.com/pdf/9015A290revcWXT.pdf
If no water is being used, and the pressure falls, you have a leak. It is not anything to do with the pressure tank unless you see water on the floor.well its a 20 gallon wx-202 and i've lived in the house for 10 yrs so i know the tank is at least that old. i dont know if it has a bladder or not. mine fits into the category of taking a few hrs to go from 55 to 28 but it does go into the 40's inside of 15 minutes. it will go to 35 in about 3 hrs and to 28 shortly after.... i do have a ice machine on the frig but i have only 2 toilets and i checked them both and neither are leaking. i have no leaky faucets or anything else that i could see... do i have to cut the power off before recharging the tank ?
To prove this, shut of the water to the house past the pressure tank and watch the gauge for 10-30 minutes. If the pressure holds, you have a leak past the pressure tank in the plumbing to the house or in the house.
If the pressure falls, your leak is between the shut off valve/tank and the check or foot valve in the well. Submersible pumps have a check valve in or on the outlet of the pump and a jet pump, single line or two line, has a foot valve on the end of the drop pipe or the j-body in the well. The leak can be underground between the tank and the well but usually it will be in the well. And that means you pull the pump or drop pipe for a jet pump. If you have a submersible pump, you can have a broken fitting that can lead to the pump falling off the drop pipe and going down the well. That you do not want because it could lead to needing a new well, so get this identified and fixed before you end up with no water and a more serious problem.
Call a pump guy, well driller or only a plumber that is capable and willing to pull the pump or drop pipe(s) and fix things. Few plumbers are capable.
With your settings are 30/55 and that requires the air precharge to be 29-28 psi with no water in the tank. And you have a bladder type tank or you wouldn't have to put air in it.
Since the pressure is going down to 28 psi, the pressure switch is not set correctly at 30. The air pressure in the tank has to be 1-2 psi less than the cut in (turn on the pump) setting on the switch, with no water in the tank.If you get water or water vapor out of teh tank when you let a little air out of it, the bladder is bad and you need a new tank. You need to check for proper air pressure in a new tank and adjust it if needed before you install it.
the floor in the room where the well tank sits is always wet. the shutoff valve to the house is behind the tank. i went to shut it off to check the pressure like you said and it was very corroded and leaking a pretty good drip. i shut it off and waited 30 minutes and the pressure stayed at 55 so if i understood you right then thats good news in that its not in the well.... i would highly suspect its that valve itself.... i will get that replaced and let you know it the pressure stays..... i thank everyone who repled very much.... if i missed something and am intepreting things wrong please let me know. i really cant afford a plumber or well guy right now in that i have been laid off since february from a job i had worked steady for 16 yrs....
i changed the valve and the pressure is now holding... its a 20 gallon tank. one more question. with the tank full at 55psi i turned the washing machine on and the pressure in the tank dropped down to 30 immediatly, after doing a load of clothes it came back up and it was at 55 this morning. ..it doesnt drop that fast when just a faucet is turned on...is that normal ?? i gotta learn how it works so i can keep an eye on it..
if you unscrew the end of the faucet and try it, it should respond the same as the washer does. the filters restrict the flow to the faucets.
but then again, i could be wrong....
DM
but then again, i could be wrong....
DM
what valve did you change out? the check valve?
DM
DM
ok, never mind.... found it.
the shutoff valve to the house is behind the tank. i went to shut it off to check the pressure like you said and it was very corroded and leaking a pretty good drip.
sorry, not enough coffee yet....
the leak would for sure cause pressure loss....
DM
the shutoff valve to the house is behind the tank. i went to shut it off to check the pressure like you said and it was very corroded and leaking a pretty good drip.
sorry, not enough coffee yet....
the leak would for sure cause pressure loss....
DM
i changed the shut off valve that controls water coming into the house from the well. there was a rag wrapped around it and it was soaked as was the floor.... when i took the rag off it was leaking real bad....
With your settings of 30/55 that requires the air precharge to be 29-28 psi with no water in the tank. And you have a bladder type tank or you wouldn't have to put air in it.
Since the pressure is going down to 28 psi (and now 0), the pressure switch is not set correctly at 30.
The air pressure in the tank has to be 1-2 psi less than the cut in (turn on the pump) setting on the switch, with no water in the tank.If you get water or water vapor out of teh tank when you let a little air out of it, the bladder is bad and you need a new tank. You need to check for proper air pressure in a new tank and adjust it if needed before you install it.
Since the pressure is going down to 28 psi (and now 0), the pressure switch is not set correctly at 30.
The air pressure in the tank has to be 1-2 psi less than the cut in (turn on the pump) setting on the switch, with no water in the tank.If you get water or water vapor out of teh tank when you let a little air out of it, the bladder is bad and you need a new tank. You need to check for proper air pressure in a new tank and adjust it if needed before you install it.
gary
are you saying i still got problems ?
are you saying i still got problems ?
i've been keeping an eye on the gauge all day and it goes down slowly as water is being used... when it gets in the mid 20's the pump kicks on and it goes up to around 58.... i think from all the help i got on here that this is right and its working correctly and it was the leaking valve causing the problem.....when the pressure gauge is in the low 30's i noticed the water pressure isnt as strong, but after it gets in the 20's and kicks back on the pressure is better..... what started me even looking at this is i bought a pressure washer for outside and i didnt have enough pressue coming thru the garden hose to kick it on... i found out that when you got a well you have to use a 25-30 ft garden hose or it wont work..
A lot of pressure switches can be adjusted for both cut-in and cut-out. If there are two springs inside, loosening the smaller one will make the pressure difference smaller.
If it's 28 to 58 now, you could likely get it to 35 to 58 or maybe even 40 to 58.
If you adjust the cut-in pressure, remember to put more air in the tank. Gary explained how to get it right in post #13.
One drawback here is if the smaller pressure difference makes the pump cycle on and off a lot, it'll shorten its life. The best solution is a larger pressure tank.
Rob
If it's 28 to 58 now, you could likely get it to 35 to 58 or maybe even 40 to 58.
If you adjust the cut-in pressure, remember to put more air in the tank. Gary explained how to get it right in post #13.
One drawback here is if the smaller pressure difference makes the pump cycle on and off a lot, it'll shorten its life. The best solution is a larger pressure tank.
Rob
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