View Full Version : Well pumps water but will not fill tank
Smiggen
Jun 10, 2013, 05:36 PM
My well pumps a lot of water but it will not go into the tank. The well is 30 ft deep. The pump is at the end of 2" stainless steel pipe. Water comes out of discharge valve but when I close the valve water will not enter the tank. The pressure switch melted the other day and I changed it out. Then I checked the pressure on the tank and it was zero. I aired up the tank to 28 lbs. I installed a new check valve. I can't pull the pump myself due to the 2" SS pipe. Is there something I am missing. I can't understand why water will not go into the tank. Hope I don't have to call well rig to pull the pipe.
Thanks
jlisenbe
Jun 11, 2013, 05:34 PM
When you say you checked the pressure in the tank and it was zero, do you mean you checked it at the top of the tank (little air valve) and it was zero? That should not have been the case. It sounds like the bladder might be bad in your tank. By that I mean the rubber diaphragm that divides the tank in half. The area above the diaphragm should be air only. The area below the dia. Should be water only, but that only happens after several weeks when the air below the dia. Finally dissolves into the water. That should happen in your case, but if the tank is bad, then eventually it will completely fill with water. When that happens, the pump will constantly want to shut on/off. That is possibly what fried your old switch.
For the time being, as long as you are getting good pressure in the house, let it go for a while. The tank will fill over time.
Don't pull the wellpipe or the pump.
How old is the tank?
speedball1
Jun 12, 2013, 08:26 AM
Let's start from scratch. Shut the pump off at the breaker and open a cold water tap to bleed off the pressure. Now charge the bladder tank to 2 PSI under the cut in point of the control box. If it's 30/50 then your setting would be 29 PSI. Now turn the pump back on and let it pump up to the cut off point. When the pump stops open up a cold water tap. If you have pressure and the pump doesn't start back up then you're OK. I'll put up a drawing of how bladder tanks work. As you can see they don't fill up completely with water. Good luck. N bTom