Ask Me Help Desk - How much water should be in the holding tank of a well?

I live in the oldest house in the world - 1861. From what I can tell the plumping was put into the house in the 1950s but I assume the well has been there since forever.
Anyhow - we have had a lot of issues over the past 20 years that we lived there.
We had a plumber out that pulled the pipes out of the well - replaced some parts - did some other fixing and Wonderful! We had the best water pressure that we never had before. Then a horrible rain came and the automatic sump pump in the well pit did not come on and the well pit flooded - knocked out the water for a few days. We turned it off and left it dry out. When we turned it on - the water pressure was low - it pulsated and sounded like it was starving for air. Plus the hot water heater stopped working. It is gas and I could not get the pilot light relit. I replaced the hot water heater - turned the water back on and we still had low pulsating water pressure. That is when we discovered that the pump was turning on and off with every water use.
I turned off the pump - drained the holding tank (it is a bladder tank) - put pressure back in - turned everything back on. The pulsating it gone - but the pressure is still low. It is so low that it will not come up to the shower head.

Here are my questions:
1. How much water should be in the holding tank?
When we drained it only a tiny bit of water came out. When we turned the power back on after draining it - the pump only cycled for about 1 min. not very long.

2. How can I tell what the pressure should be set for in the holding tank?
We were told in the past that it was 20/40 - so I only put 18 into the tank after draining it. Before I drained it the pressure reading was about 25.

3. Should I use the pressure gauge on the pump to know what the pressure is in the tank or just a tire gauge?
There is not a pressure gauge on the holding tank but there is one on the pump that never seems to move, although before I drained the tank it would sometimes jump down to 15 - but it mainly stays at 35 - no matter what it is doing.

4. What other things can I check and clean?
I read in another post about cleaning something that had crude and sediment.

I read some other posts that were helpful - I anxiously await the answers to my questions!

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That is when we discovered that the pump was turning on and off with every water use.

This points to a faulty check/foot valve.

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1. How much water should be in the holding tank?
When we drained it only a tiny bit of water came out. When we turned the power back on after draining it - the pump only cycled for about 1 min. not very long.

This is not a holding tank. For a holding tank you would need a galvanized pressure tank. The bladder tank pressurizes the system, it is not a storage tank.

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2. How can I tell what the pressure should be set for in the holding tank?
We were told in the past that it was 20/40 - so I only put 18 into the tank after draining it. Before I drained it the pressure reading was about 25.

You are correct. The bladder tank should be set 2 PSI under the cut in prssure when the pump's shut off and the pressure's bled off.

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3.
There is not a pressure gauge on the holding tank but there is one on the pump that never seems to move, although before I drained the tank it would sometimes jump down to 15 - but it mainly stays at 35 - no matter what it is doing.

First off, replace the pressure gage on the pump. It sounds like it's faulty.

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Should I use the pressure gauge on the pump to know what the pressure is in the tank or just a tire gauge?

You're mixing apples and oranges here. The pressure gage on the pump tells you how much water pressure's in the system. The bladder tank just needs a tire gage to check the amount of air pressure in the bladder after the system's shut down and the water pressure's bled off.

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4. What other things can I check and clean?
I read in another post about cleaning something that had crude and sediment.

The very first thing I would check is the check/foot valve. It's not letting your system hold pressure when the pump's up to pressure and shuts down. Good luck, Tom

I read posts about the check/foot valve - but I do not know what it looks like so I attached a picture of the well pit in hopes you could point it out to me.

Also, since the gauge is only going to 35 - do you think that the control that turns that up needs to be done? And if so, which screw and which way should I turn it and do I turn a little or a lot?

And I noticed a small - I mean very small leak in the cold pipe going to my hot water heater. The leak is so small that I do not see water dripping but there is a spot on the top of the hot water heater that shows water signs and the pipe feels wet.
Will that cause low water pressure?

And Thank you so much for replying so quickly!

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I read posts about the check/foot valve - but I do not know what it looks like so I attached a picture of the well pit in hopes you could point it out to me

I put up some images of foot valves and check valves the foot valves are the blue ones that are located at the base of the well

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Also, since the gauge is only going to 35 - do you think that the control that turns that up needs to be done? And if so, which screw and which way should I turn it and do I turn a little or a lot?

First turnoff the power at the breaker box, then pull the cover off the pressure switch and you will see two spring loaded bolts secured with nylon nuts.(see image) One tall, one short. To increase the cut in pressure, turn the nut on the tall bolt down. To increase the cut out pressure,(that's the one that will give you more pressure) turn the nut on the short bolt down. This should give you the additional pressure you desire.

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And I noticed a small - I mean very small leak in the cold pipe going to my hot water heater. . Will that cause low water pressure?

No! Resetting the pump control should cure your pressure problem. Good luck, Tom

Awesome ! This worked! I now have real water pressure! I can take a shower!

Thank you for ALL YOUR HELP!!

We thank you for the feedback. This helps us in answering other questions. Tom