Weird water tank problem

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altynsydykov

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Hello - I am having a problem with my water tank, and getting no water in the house. The pressure on the gauge is at 52, which does not change (it is a Baron pre-charged water tank). There is a little crank on the side of the gauge, and when I crank it, the pipes start moving and I get water in the house. As soon as I switch off the crank, the water stops. I was thinking maybe the pipes froze from the cold weather, but can't be, since I do get water once I turn the crank. Maybe it is an old water pump and needs replacement? Also seems hard to believe as I do get water. Same answer for "Maybe there is no water in the well"? The water that does flow seems really dirty (there is a filter between the water tank and some other tank), but when the comes out of the faucet, it is clean. There is also a water softener, but do not think the water softener nor the other tank are affecting the water flow.
I released air from the water tank for a little, and water seemed to flow in for a few minutes, but then stopped.
Any ideas on what could be going on? I appreciate any help.
 

altynsydykov

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I have tried doing that; I have to hold the lever to get any water in the house. As of this morning, the water pressure is really low. I do think that the pressure gauge is broken, as it still shows 52 psi. I have tried letting air out of the water tank too, but that hasn't done anything. How does one replace the pressure gauge? Do I need to turn off the water from the well to replace the gauge? Do you think that will fix the problem?
Thanks for your help!
 

altynsydykov

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I have tried putting it on bypass, but that does nothing. The water is not being pumped from the well by itself, it only gets pumped when I hold the lever.
How do I turn off the whole system? Just unplug it from the power?
 

Gary Slusser

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I have tried putting it on bypass, but that does nothing. The water is not being pumped from the well by itself, it only gets pumped when I hold the lever.
How do I turn off the whole system? Just unplug it from the power?
You need to shut of the power to the pump and then shut off the water after the pressure tank to the house and then drain the tank. Instructions are in a Sticky post at the top of the forum.

Then you must replace the air you've left out of the pressure tank. You must have 1-2 psi less air pressure than the cutin setting of the switch so you need a new pressure gauge so you can see what is happening and what pressure range the pump is operating at.

There's nothing wrong with your pressure switch, it turns the pump on/off just like it is supposed to.

I suspect you have a leak in the water line from the pump to the pressure tank that allows the switch to shut the pump off or a check valve in/on the submersible pump that allows pressure bank through the pump into the well and the switch to open shutting off the pump.
 

NHmaster

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I suspect the line that runs to the pressure switch is plugged up. Pull the switch, clean out the line and inlet to the switch and see what happens.
 

altynsydykov

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Thanks everyone. The plumber replaced my pressure gauge, the little box with the lever (not sure what that is), let the pressure out and pumped it back, and got water for about two hours. After hundreds of dollars and hours of labor, he now tells me I have a hole in the pipe that goes from the well to my house; the pressure is really low downstairs, and no water at all upstairs. He also said my pump is fine... Is that a reasonable assumption, or should I call another plumber?
 

Valveman

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A pressure switch is about 20 bucks, and a gauge should be about 5 bucks. It shouldn’t take 30 minutes to replace those and in my opinion 100 bucks would be high on labor. There may very well be a hole in the underground pipe but, somebody should have diagnosed this before changing any parts. If it is an underground pipe problem, you may need a plumber to fix it but, it would have been better to have a pump man diagnose the situation.
 

NHmaster

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I wonder what he is basing the pump being OK on?

There may indeed be a break in the pipe but I would be more inclined to believe it's a problem with the pump. Pulling the pump off the pitless adaptor and running it outside the casing will tell you if the pump is producing or not.
 
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