My well pump seems to be cycling on and off more quickly then ever. I have a Square D Pumptrol. It cycles on at 40 and off at 60 which is what it is rated to do. However it cycles on and off every 2 seconds when water is in use.
Any ideas?

Do you have a bladder tank or a pressure tank?

Thanks.
We have a bladder tank.

Your bladder apears to be ruptured. Let me show you how to check it. There are several ways to check your tank. It has a air valve on top like a valve on a tire. Push it in, you should not get any water out of that valve at all. Another way is to tap the tank from the bottom up. You will hear a "clunk" on the bottom filled with water, however you should hear a "clang" near the top filled with air. If you have water up to the top the bladder has ruptured and the tank must be replaced.
To set the air pressure in a new bladder tank, look at the cut-in pressure on your pressure switch. Now drain the line down with the pump off. When there is no more water coming out of the hose bib that you drained the system down with set the pressure in t6he bladder tank at 2 lbs. below the cut-in pressure. Check it with a tire gage. If your pressure control is set to come on at 20 PSI and go off at 40 PSI then your gage should read 18 PSI. Hope this helps and thank you for rating my reply. TOM

Until you get around to replacing the tank, drain and re-pressurize it. That should stop the short cycling of the pump until the air is again absorbed by the water. You will have to put some air in to push out all of the water. Turn pump off. Open faucet. Pressurize tank until air comes out faucet. Close faucet and set pressure, turn on pump.

I'd like to thank Tim for asking this question, Speedball1 for answering it adequately and accurately, and hkstroud for the quick fix in the meantime.

I'm experiencing the same problem with my well. I replaced the pressure switch and the problem remained. That's when I happened onto this site and, luckily, found the same situation discussed back in July (I think). BTW, the 'fix' worked perfectly but don't know how long it'll last. My tank is $500 new. Thanks again, Guys!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chevyfreak

I'd like to thank Tim for asking this question, Speedball1 for answering it adequately and accurately, and hkstroud for the quick fix in the meantime.

I'm experiencing the same problem with my well. I replaced the pressure switch and the problem remained. That's when I happened onto this site and, luckily, found the same situation discussed back in July (I think). BTW, the 'fix' worked perfectly but don't know how long it'll last. My tank is $500 new. Thanks again, Guys!

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Just glad we could help Chevy. If we can ever be of service in the future just ring our bell. Good luck, Tom

Chevy, how large is your tank? Five hundred is kind of high unless this is a pretty large tank.

The "fix" will last until the air in the tank is absorbed by the water. So it depends on how much water you use. Probably a year or so.

Didn't expect a reply so soon since this post began in Jan. 08. But since my email notified me, I assume everyone gets the same notification on replies.

I have no way to tell how large the tank is, jlisenbe, as all the sticker info has been bleached by the Florida sun and rendered un-readable. I'm just going on general dimensions from a website. Mine's about 46 inches high and 18 inches or so in diameter. I have a horse and a half submersible pump.

However, I did find the original invoice for the installation and my tank is a: "120 captive air tank", as it's written on the 1999 ticket from the well company. Is a captive tank different from a bladder tank? I just did some quick research (web, of course) and think the two types of tanks may be different. But I'm just a cub at this well stuff. Thanks in advance for anything helpful.

PS. The system is working perfectly after the "fix". I pressurized the empty tank with 28 lbs of pressure (30-65 lb switch range).

What area in Florida Chevy? Tom

Orlando area, and you?