It should only take the few minutes it takes for your pump to cut on, pump up to pressure, and cut off. What is your pressure gauge reading? When you say you charged your pressure tank, do you mean that you set the pressure in a bladder tank?

Sorry about the question with no real info... I have had very low water pressure in my house the last few days. I talked to someone who has had a little experience with this and they told me to drain the tank and check the pressure in the tank. I shut off the well pump, drained the tank and checked the pressure on the top of the tank. It had no pressure at all, so I added air from a compressor and had filled to 4 psi lower than the cut on point (the well mate suggested 4psi lower). I have now turned the well back on, and still have hardly any water pressure, and it seems that the tank is not filling up.

Sorry about the question with no real info... I have had very low water pressure in my house the last few days. I talked to someone who has had a little experience with this and they told me to drain the tank and check the pressure in the tank. I shut off the well pump, drained the tank and checked the pressure on the top of the tank. It had no pressure at all, so I added air from a compressor and had filled to 4 psi lower than the cut on point (the well mate suggested 4psi lower). I have now turned the well back on, and still have hardly any water pressure, and it seems that the tank is not filling up.

2# below cut in pressure is what is recommended, but don't worry about that now. Your tank is not the problem. The big question is this: Does your pump pump for several minutes and then cut off, or is it running nonstop? If it is cutting off, then it might be that you simply need to raise the cut off pressure. This is done by turning off the power, then removing the grey cover off the switch (small eletrical control box), and finally turning the large center nut clockwise a couple of full turns. Turn the power back on and see at what pressure the pump turns on/off. If you are happy with that, then fine. If not, then continue to adjust. Most people shoot for 30/50 to 40/60.

However, if your pump is running constantly and won't shut off, then that's a different matter.

I'd still like to know what your pressure gauge reads.

This excellent site gives more info: http://www.inspectapedia.com/water/WaterPumpAdjust.htm

Thanks for all the help. The pressure gauge is broken. Of course I didn't realize that until I started with all this. The pump does just run without shutting off. I turned off the pump last night, and called a well service this morning. They pulled the pump and said that it needed to be replaced. They also suggested replacing the motor, which was 20+ years old. They did try and sell me a tank as well, but thought that the tank would work for a while yet and I could always call to replace at any time.

Again, thank you for all the help. I'll be sure to take a look at the site you suggested... maybe replace the tank myself?

Tank replacement is fairly simple if you have some basic plumbing skills. As a general rule, the larger the tank, the better.

Just curious... what did they charge to pull and replace the pump?