quick run time

[paulk]

Yesterday My well pump seems to be running very quickly and kicks in at about 60psi and off at 62 psi.
Really I should say that it looks like the pressure gauge drops to almost zero for a split second before (or at the same time as) the pump kicks in
Normally it is off at 60 and on at 40 psi.
(But right before that it was ay 60 psi.)
Recently I have used alot of water for irrigation.

Could the problem be that the screen is mostly plugged?
Or the aquifer water level is low and it sucks air into the system?

Could it have lost air from the bladder tank and thus limited the pump cycle volume?

Thanks for any thoughts.

[Cass]

That is the symptom of a bad bladder tank most of the time.

To check the air charge turn off power to the pump and relieve the system pressure. With a tire air gage check the air pressure in the bladder tank. It should be 2# lower than the cut in pressure of 40# that you stated.

[ecpgroup]

also give it a wobble should feel empty! water sloshing around or water coming out of the air inlet valve means the bladder has split. sounds like blocked pressure switch port if the gauge drops to zero. all depends if p/s mounted on top of p/v or remote mount. all the best max

[Rancher]

Yesterday My well pump seems to be running very quickly and kicks in at about 60psi and off at 62 psi.
Really I should say that it looks like the pressure gauge drops to almost zero for a split second before (or at the same time as) the pump kicks in
Normally it is off at 60 and on at 40 psi.
(But right before that it was ay 60 psi.)
The drop to zero indicates the tank is going completely empty.

So I would suspect the pressure switch is clogged, and the pressure gauge is also clogged. What's happening is that when the pressure in the tank hits 38 it rapidly drops to zero, the pressure switch gets jolted and finally reads the pressure again, and closes, starting the pump and the rest is history.

Drain it first, measure the pressure in the bladder without any water in it, it should be at 38psi.

[paulk]

thanks for the insights.

I first turned on a sink to a small flow and watched the pressure drop.
The pressure stayed around 60 psi for quite a while and then the drop was very fast.

So I turned off the well pump breaker, and drained the tank.
All water drained from the tank.
The air pressure in the tank was 60 psi.

I dropped the bladder pressure to 38 psi and then tried it again.
It seems to work correctly now, and has for several days now.

Wierd- I just am not sure how it got the extra pressure in the tank, except if the bladder got a hole in it, but if it did, then I wonder why I didn't get any water out of the bladder, and also why it works fine now.
This is a Well trol Wx250 and is 7 years old but looks brand new.


baffled, but working

[ecpgroup]

very strange did you seem to let much air out to drop it down to 38psi ?

[speedbump]

I have seen this strange behaviour a few times. When the bladder tears somewhere beside dead center at the bottom of the tank center, water can get above the bladder as well as below. The water above the bladder can't get back out and the bladder tanks capacity is greatly reduced. So when you are running water and the bladder hits bottom, there is no more water to let out so the pressure goes to zero. Then the pump comes back on and repeats the cycle again. The tank is obviously shot. Or your gauge is sticking.

bob...