Pressure Switch Issues

I need help. In Jan 2005, we installed a new pump motor, pressure switch, pressure tank and compacitor/relay box. Before we replaced these items and now, we are consistently replacing pressure switches. The switch starts clicking on and off continously, until the pump starts. But after a while the pressure switch wears out, or so we are told. Anyhow, we thought we fixed this issue when we installed all new equipment. But it is happening again. On this past Saturday, I went out and started all of my farm chores, including pumping large stock tanks of water, everything was working great, I finished chores, proceeded to the house, and there was no water! I went into the barn looked everything over, still nothing, I tapped on the pressure switch and boom, everything worked. The water system than worked for several more hours, than it went out again, so I went back to the barn tried tapping on the pressure switch, this time nothing. So I figured here we go again, I went the the hardware store, bought the same kind of pressure switch and went home to install. I installed the new pressure switch and we had water again. Than comes Sunday, started out again the same way, did chores everything was fine, great water pressure, I thought I had it fixed, wrong! Went into the house couple hours later no water again. I gave up at this point and shut the power off. Today is Monday, I decided to call for advice, the plumber told me to check the pressure in the pressure tank, it was at 30psi, he said with a 20-40 switch it needs to be at 18psi. So I let air out of the tank, I than reconnected everything, turned the power on, and heard the pump kick in but no water, just air, the pressure tank no had 50psi???? I thought it is to stay at 18psi, correct? I than found a small area were the pipe had froze up, I thawed this and guess what we had water. The well would run for a little while shut off but than will not start up again. Its like the pressure switch does not tell it that it needs to kick back in. Please help I am so done with this ......

Note that the air pressure in the tank is a couple of pounds less that the start point on the control switch. It is set with NO water in the tank.

Emptying Tank

How can you ensure that the tank is empty? I turned on a hose bib with the pump offline and the hose ran dry within less than one minute...not much volume. Do I have to bleed air in at the top of the tank via the pressure check valve?

If you open the valve to dump water and the pressure goes to zero, and there is air pressure on the air side of the bladder, then the bladder pressure will force all of the water out of the tank.

At that point, the air should be set at a pressure about 2 psi lower than the START pressure of the pressure switch.

The only thing that you must watch for is that the air pressure gauge (usually a tire gage) matches the water pressure gauge. You can check that by comparing the two when there is water in the tank. Whenever there is water in the tank the pressure on the air side is the same as the pressure on the water side. Therefore, look at the water pressure gauge; put the tire gauge on the air-valve at the top of the tank; if they are reading the same then the gauges match. If the gauges are not the same, then you must adjust for that difference when you set the air pressure. For example:

If the START switch pressure is to be set at 30 psi:

If the air and water gauges were the same when there was water in the tank then set the air pressure when empty at 30 -2 = 28 psi.

If the air gauge was 3 psi greater than the water gauge with water in the tank then the air gauge when the tank is empty should read 30 -2 + 3 = 31 psi.

If the air gauge was reading 3 psi less than the water gauge when there was water in the tank then the air gauge when the tank is empty should read 30 -2 -3 = 25 psi.

It sounds to me like you had too much air in the tank which made it act like a waterlogged tank. This condition can trip the overload protector in the motor and also burn the points on a pressure switch. The freezing enters into the mix as well as a possibly plugged pressure switch tubing which will lie to the pressure switch.

I think you have more than one issue and it would be a good idea to have a pump man or well driller take a look.

bob...

When you add air to the pressure tank, if the air is hot, as from a compressor, the pressure will eventually be less than you read on the tire gauge. That happens as soon as the air cools and contracts. The cooler/cold water enters the tank and the pressure drops. So 0-1 psi less than cut-in is a better empty tank psi than 2 psi. Incorrect air pressure is the primary cause of bladder failure.

When the water line between the submersible pump and its controlling pressure switch freezes, the switch sees low pressure closes and turns power on to the pump. The pump runs but no water gets past the freeze up portion of the pipe to the switch, so the switch can't shut off the pump. Then more likely than not, the pump gets hot, the thermal overload protection device opens shutting off the power to the motor until the motor cools and comes back on to repeat the shut off until the freeze up melts enough to allow water past it to the switch.

And after all the water use for chores etc., the water in the well may be drawn down to the maximum depth of the pump's ability to move water... If no freeze up, that is the cause of the no water problem. So you might want to check the water level in the well the next time this happens. The air in the water line instead of water says there is no water to pump. Then the pump gets hot and shuts down until it cools. This all kills a pump and switch in a short time.