Well Pump Pressure Switch!

[RyanB]

We have had quite a few problems with our well pump at this house. It was replaced about two years ago with a new one. Now we seem to be having a problem with the pressure switch.

For a couple of months I was not observant enough to realize that our water was continually running. It turned out the rubber ring at the bend where my pump and the pipe that goes to the house meet was bad or old and water had been leaking back into the well continually. So the pressure would go down and then up at the switch constantly. When the guy fixed the ring he said my switch wasn't operating properly and I should replace it. Can someone confirm whether it needs to be replaced or not? Here is the problem I am having now....

It is my understanding that when I have the water running in the house my 40/60 switch should just hold at 60 and keep the pressure up. If just a little bit of water is used it should use water but once it gets down to 40 it should bring the pressure back up. What happens now is, if the water is on full blast and you watch the switch the needle just goes back and forth. 60 down to 40 up to 60 down to 40 and so on. So the pump is cycling for very short amounts of time very often. I think this is bad but do not know.

In addition randomly we just lose pressure all together and it will go down to 20 psi or something and the pressure does not come back up on its own unless I use the little metal thing on the side of the pressure switch to bring the pressure up to 40 and then let go.

So is my understanding correct and should I just replace the pressure switch? Is this something someone moderately handy like me can replace?

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks,
Ryan

[suitcase_sally]

Our pump was cycling off and on very quickly and it turned out to be the bladder was bad in the tank. You can try draining the tank if it doesn't have a bladder, or you can try repressurizing (sp?) the tank with air.

[js2743]

Sounds like the switch is doing what its made to do. when you have your water turned on it will not hold at 60 psi. the psi will drop down to cut "on" setting which u say is 40 psi then the pump kicks on and takes the pressure back to 60psi and cuts the pump "off" that's what it should do.

What size pressure tank do you have?
The smaller the tank the more your pump will cycle on and off. The bigger the tank the less the pump will cycle on and off as you use water. Bigger the tank the better for the pump.

Is it a bladder type tank or just a regular type with no bladder?

If its a bladder type tank, when the pump is off and the tank is drained the bladder should have 2 psi below the cut "on" setting which you said is 40psi, so it needs 38 psi in the bladder.

If its just a regular tank with out a bladder it could be whats called water logged. you need to drain it and let air inside and then restart the pump. a tank has to have a cushion of air inside to work properly.

when you are losing pressure altogether and you have to restart it with the lil flipper on the pressure switch. sounds like the water level is dropping below the pump intake causing it to lose prime. the pump is pumping more than your well will recover, you are pumping it dry.

When this happens are you using a lot more water than you normally do?

[agmantoo]

Your problem is with the tank. Either you have lost all the air that should be in the tank (conventional tank is water logged or bladder tank has the bladder ruptured) or the air pressure in a bladder tank is way too high.

[RyanB]

I think if I turned the pump off and ran the water right now it would not stop 2 psi below the cutoff it would just keep going down until there was no pressure at all.

If its a bladder type tank, when the pump is off and the tank is drained the bladder should have 2 psi below the cut "on" setting which you said is 40psi, so it needs 38 psi in the bladder.

Sometimes it is after using a lot of water but other times it is not. The only reason i don't think we are running it dry is that I can prime it to bring the pressure back up and there is always water.

when you are losing pressure altogether and you have to restart it with the lil flipper on the pressure switch. sounds like the water level is dropping below the pump intake causing it to lose prime. the pump is pumping more than your well will recover, you are pumping it dry.

After the ring was fixed on my well the guy said I need to fill my tank back up with air and had me fill it to 40 thinking I have a 40/60 switch. Is there a way to tell for sure what my switch is set at? How can I tell for sure if the bladder has ruptured? I read today that if your switch short cycles you might not have enough air in the tank and you are saying I might have too much air. I think I will let the air out and start over but before I do this I need to know for sure what pressure switch I have, 40/60, 30/50, etc.

Your problem is with the tank. Either you have lost all the air that should be in the tank (conventional tank is water logged or bladder tank has the bladder ruptured) or the air pressure in a bladder tank is way too high.

Thanks for the quick replies. Murphy has been killing me lately I really don't want to have to pay someone to troubleshoot this if I can fix it.
Ryan

[agmantoo]

Watch the pressure on the pressure gauge and determine what the pressure is when the pump turns on.
Now turn the pump off and drain everything.
Put a gauge on the schrader valve on top of the tank
That reading should be 2 lbs or less than the pressure you observed in the first sentence instructions. If it is not 2 lbs or less let some air out until it is.

Realize these are cheap gauges and they may not be calibrated to each other. If in doubt, error with the tank pressure less by as much as 5 lbs less than the cut in pressure of the pressure switch.