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Baseman219 · Aug 23, 2008, 10:58 AM

Hello everyone,
I have a question involving my plumbing. I was having terrible water pressure and I checked the pressure at the pump itself and it was great. Went to the pressure tank and it was trickling. Shut down power to pump and drained system - checked air pressure and it was not registering. Tried to refill tank and it would not hold pressure. Decided to replace tank (old one was 20 gal) and since I am using an awful lot of water (dishwasher/washing machine/family of 5 - so 2 to 3 showers a day, etc. etc.) I wanted to go with a larger tank (86 gal). Installed with no problem (moderate experience.) and left the factory pre-charge at 30 psi. Opened all faucets, turn on water pump, waited for all air to be released and closed faucets. Waited 1 hr. to let tank fill. And now I can not get any more than 15 to 17 psi (according to gauge near tank). And when I shut power down and try to drain system, I am only getting about 2 to 5 gal from the system only. Please help

Baseman219

speedball1 · Aug 23, 2008, 01:01 PM

Something doesn't sound right here.

Opened all faucets, turn on water pump, waited for all air to be released and closed faucets. Waited 1 hr. to let tank fill. And now I can not get any more than 15 to 17 psi (according to gauge near tank). And when I shut power down and try to drain system, I am only getting about 2 to 5 gal from the system only.

You waited for a bladder tank to fill? You have just mixed a bladder tank with a pressure tank and that's not how it goes. Bladder tanks don't "fill". They expand internally with pressure.
I need to knoew the cut in pressure of your control box. Your bladder tank has to be charged according to the cut in point on the control box. Let me know what the control box reads on the case and I'll walk you through charging your bladder tank. Regards, Tom

jlisenbe · Aug 23, 2008, 08:12 PM

I'm a little confused as to how you had pressure at the pump (must be above ground?) and no pressure at the tank. How did you measure the pressure at the pump? Does it have a gauge above the pump housing? Some do, but I'm just interested in how you did this.

I suspect your pump is the problem. There is no way I know of you can have pressure at the pump and no pressure in the tank unless you have some peculiar blockage between the pump and the pressure tank, or perhaps a blocked/defective check valve between the tank and pump. Even if you do not have the pressure at the top of the tank set correctly, that would not prevent the tank from filling sufficiently to get up to cut off pressure, certainly not after an hour.

Just to be clear, and I am certain SB simply phrased this hurriedly, the bladder tank itself does not expand. The bladder in the tank does so.

albinfla · Aug 24, 2008, 09:45 AM

If you'll please give us the make/model # of your pump, we can offer more exact advice. I think that you may have pressure internally on the pump, which is why your gauge is registering. I'm just guessing without knowing the type of pump. But, that is probably just the internal back-pressure of water supplying the jet of the pump.

jlisenbe had good advice to check for a blockage. Either a gate valve has a gate stuck closed. If the handle just spins, and never stops when you're opening it, it is a sure sign of a "dropped gate". Also, you could have a check valve jammed closed.
Al

Baseman219 · Aug 30, 2008, 04:42 PM

Sorry about not getting back with you all. I had my neighbor come over and we found out that in the pump was submersible, and that the top of the pump - where the pipe is threaded in - was broken off. Pump was fine but the pressure was not being pushed up pipe (found out that it was 100 ft. down). We replaced the pump and made sure that all connections were heat shrink wrapped to ensure no water causing damage - also installed a torque suppressor to eliminate this from happening again in the near future. Again thank you for your suggestions - sorry I didn't get back with you until now.

speedball1 · Aug 31, 2008, 06:22 AM

Great Baseman,
Thanks for filling us in. Good luck and if we can ever be of service in the future just click on back. Good luck, Tom

aztec8888 · Feb 4, 2010, 12:45 PM

Last year had a deepwell pump that cycled continually, albeit supplying good pressure and volume. Called plumber who came and diagnosed bad pressure tank (25 year old cast iron 80 gallon) and pump control box. Replaced both and new 167 liter pressure tank. Good pressure(set at 65psi) and int volume problem. Pressure/storage tank never seems to have much water in it (by weight maybe 5 gallons) when power goes out absolute minimal water reserve if any. Any thoughts would be appreciated

jlisenbe · Feb 4, 2010, 05:03 PM

The old tank was not a bladder tank, but it sounds like the new one is. If that's the case, then that can be a bad mix. Is that the case?

aztec8888 · Feb 5, 2010, 11:25 AM

I don't know what type the old tank was although old, cast iron and large (6 feet x 32" dia) the plumber who replaced said "that type" didn't hold as much water as one might think>he advise that's why the new tank (bladder type) is so much smaller physically) the new tank is H2 pro by flexcon 167 liter, bladder at 28psi pump control on at 30psi off at 60psi