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apitonyak · Feb 1, 2008, 11:56 AM

My water pressure in the house drops rapidly when water is used.
In the past when this would happen there was a valve that would allow me to add air to the tank after emptying it to restore the pressure. Apparently over time the air would be replaced by water and the tank needed to be repressurized. This was a regular water tank without a bladder.

How do I add air to a tank that has a bladder? Where is the valve that air can be added? The pressure in the tank is 60psi. The pump turns on at 40psi. It is a small tank and does not take long to fill to 60psi nor to drop to 40 psi when something is using water. The tank is a Well-/-Troll. There is a red plastic cap on the top... is this the air fill valve (as on a tire)?
I assume I would have to turn off the pump, empty the tank of water, and then pressurize the tank to about 35-40 psi then turn on the pump and let it fill. I do not have a drawing of the tank to show where the air fill valve would be, or if there even is one.

letmetellu · Feb 1, 2008, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by apitonyak

My water pressure in the house drops rapidly when water is used.
In the past when this would happen there was a valve that would allow me to add air to the tank after emptying it to restore the pressure. Apparently over time the air would be replaced by water and the tank needed to be repressurized. This was a regular water tank without a bladder.

How do I add air to a tank that has a bladder? Where is the valve that air can be added? The pressure in the tank is 60psi. The pump turns on at 40psi. It is a small tank and does not take long to fill to 60psi nor to drop to 40 psi when something is using water. The tank is a Well-/-Troll. There is a red plastic cap on the top....is this the air fill valve (as on a tire)?
I assume I would have to turn off the pump, empty the tank of water, and then pressurize the tank to about 35-40 psi then turn on the pump and let it fill. I do not have a drawing of the tank to show where the air fill valve would be, or if there even is one.

I feel like you are on the right track thinking that the red cap is covering the schrader valve (The tire inflating valve. So the thing to do is like you said, turn off the well, relieve the pressure in the tank and then pump air into the valve, should be about 35 to 40 pounds. This will then give you at least 40 pounds of water pressure until the tank is completely empty.

bruno1 · Feb 1, 2008, 03:51 PM

The red cap is where the schrader valve is located. Remember that you set the air pressure in the tank 2 pounds under the cut in pressure on you system. If you have a 40/60 switch, you would set at 38 psi.

jlisenbe · Feb 1, 2008, 05:19 PM

With a bladder tank, it is not necessary to replinish air in the tank unless there is a leak in the bladder, in which case the tank needs to be replaced. If you press the air valve for a couple of seconds and water comes out, the bladder is gone. It is possible you did not set the tank pressure correctly to begin with, but once done correctly, it should not have to be done again. You old tank needed added air from time to time since it did not have a bladder.