I seem to have very low water pressure after a plumber installed my tank. My cut in Pressure is 30lbs and my cut out is 70lbs. I realize this is a huge gap. Does pressure switch need adjusting? Should I drain my tank first and then check air pressure? I don't have the extra money at this time and hoping for a simple fix. Please help.. and God bless!

Steve,
That is a huge pressure variation. First, you need to adjust your bladder tank. I would recommend you set your system to 40/60. To do that you will need to adjust your bladder tank to 38psi. Or, 2 psi less than what you want your pump cut-in pressure to be. Make sure your pump is off, and you totally drain the system of pressure, and leave a valve open so that the air can be adjusted with a pump and tire gauge.

Now, you can adjust your pressure switch. You'll need to loosen the short screw way off. And, you'll probably need to adjust the tall screw. By adjusting the short screw, you are looking to get a 20 psi differential between cut on/"in" and cut off/"out". After you get your 20psi differential, then you can set to 40/60. Or, whatever pressure you choose... say 50/70.

Make sure that there is not a sudden drop just before the pump comes on. That indicates the bladder is collapsing. It should be a nice smooth pressure fall, then pump comes on and a nice smooth increase until the pump shuts off. No sudden jumps in pressure up or down. Sudden jumps indicate a problem.

Al

Al,
Thank you for your help! I'll give ite a try right now.
Steve

Steve, 70 is on the high side for pressure. If you say you are having a pressure problem but your cutout is 70, then that is awfully strange. A 40# differential is also strange as you would really have to "tweak" a switch to get that. You might want to call the plumber and ask him about that. Just putting in a new tank should not have changed your switch settings. But, you can readjust the switch. This site gives you some insights into that.

How to adjust water pump pressure, pump cut-on pressure and pump cut-off pressure - private pump and well system do-it-yourself repairs