I have a new to me house with a well that I was told is about 8-10 years old. The well is some 50' deep, and has a submersible pump in it 9dont know what kind) in the garage is a large (55 gal drum size) frp tank and on the bottom of the tank is a square D pumptrol regularot. 16 months now and no problems with the water supply until tonight, when we had no water pressure. I cycled the regulator on and off, it seemed to hold for a few minutes, then tripped again. Does this sound like it could be the regulator? If I cycle it, it it seems to take a few times to catch and I can see the pressure go up, but then if I watch the contacts they slowly open and the pressure goes down.

Thanks for any help.

Tom

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I cycled the regulator on and off, it seemed to hold for a few minutes, then tripped again.

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By "regulator" do you mean the breakers? Are you blowing/tripping the breaker? Let's hear back from you. Regards, Tom

Hi,

No I meant the pumptrol pressure regulator. I replaced the regulator today with a brand new one... and represurrized the FRP bladder tank. Now I get a similar problem, though not exactly the same.

The pump runs and brings the pressure up to 50#, the top limit of the new pressure regulator, the as pressure bleeds off (open a faucet) right at 30# ( which is the lower limit of the pressure regulator) the regulator contacts will close, then snap open again. When this happens, the line pressure immediately drops to zero.

I must admit... I am confused, very confused. Please help

Tom

When the pump is up to 50 PSI and shuts off does the pressure hold or does it bleed off until the pump starts again.

It seems to hold, I don't know for how long but the 50# holds for at least 10-15 min or so.

Are you thinking it could be the check valve at the pump? The well is some 200' deep so pulling it would be a real job I think.

Not sure what the deal is with the pressure tank, I pressurized it to 30 psi when I changed the regulator before I turned the fuses back on. When I checked it while the pump was holding 50#, the air pressure was 50# so that seems right.

One other piece of information my wife just told me I do not know if it relevant or not. I shocked the well with 2 gallons of chlorine about two months ago. The water was super for about a month after that, then we had a horrendiouse rainstorm and right after the rainstorm she says the water got very brown and had a lot of sediment in it. I was away so I did not know, but she says she changed the filter we have twice in that time frame.

Thanks for helping, I am at a loss

Speedball,

One other piece of information, when filling the pressure tank with air I got some water out of the schrader valve, so I guess the bladder is ruptured. It is a WellMate tank... does it make sense to try to replace the bladder or is it better to just change the whole tank... I have read some things online that changing a bladder is like giving yourself open heart surgery.

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does it make sense to try to replace the bladder or is it better to just change the whole tank...

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On smaller tanks the cost of replacing a bladder may exceed the cost of replacing the tank. Replace the tank and let us know how itworks out for you. Good luck, Tom