How often should it cycle?

[johndw]

Okay, hubby is at work and has had a horrible weekend attempting to fix our well/pump. Our previous pump would never shut off and we lost pretty much all of our water pressure. Hubby installed a new submersible pump on Saturday. However, now the pump cycles approximately every 3 minutes, runs for approx 5 seconds and then shuts off. I took the cap off of the well, listened for any water movement but heard nothing.

Can anyone provide some troubleshooting ideas for me/us to try? Our pressure tank is buried "somewhere" near the well, but its exact location is unknown and, obviously, we don't want to dig up our yard for no reason.

Thank you for any and all suggestions!

Happy housewife trying to help a frustrated hubby!;)

[patrick88]

check your toilets for a leaking flapper. if you can't tell if it is leaking drip some food coloring into the tank of your toilets, and don't flush to see if the water in the bowls turns color. this will tell you if the flapper is leaking water past it.
check your out side faucets for leaks.
check all faucets for leaks.
a few leaks don't seem like much until you have a bigger problem on your hands and a few drips add up. good luck

[Raucina]

your pressure tank is shot. You could add one in the house and forget the old one until it leaks, in which case your pump will run for much longer than 5 seconds. you might have some leaks also - shut off the inlet to the house after the tank and see if the pump stays off longer. If yes, you have leaks on the house side. If no, you have leaks on the well and tank side. If the pump stays off when the house is shut off, then you likely need only a new pressure tank.

[speedbump]

If you know what the pressure switch is, where is it in ralation to the tank? The switch and tank have to be together or you will have water hammer which will ratchet the switch off and on which will do a lot of damage. I agree with Raucina, your tank is shot, but just putting one in the house might be a mistake without first moving the switch with it. This will mean some additional wiring.

bob...

[Gary Slusser]

And when a bladder tank has a busted bladder, you don't want to be using the water out of it. The area in the tank above the bladder is not meant for storage of 'potable' water so the water can get pretty rank. And it is stagnant for the most part.