[gail120]

I am on a well. My water runs fine for a little while then it stops. After waiting for a few minutes it kicks back on. Some one told me it might be my bladder tank. Can I replace this myself and how much should a new one cost, or should this be a job for a professional and what will they charge? Money is very tight right now, but we do need water!

[speedball1]

Do you mean the pump shuts down and starts back up or does the flow stop and then continues? Before we go much farther let's check the bladder tank.
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 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 the 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.

[spanky917]

Spedball1 has given you some good, accurate advise... but not a simple diagnosis/fix for a novice...

[speedball1]

Spamky,
I don't know enough asbout his problem to lay out a repair. We are still checking to find something at fault. When the poster answers back about his bladder tank we'll proceed, OK? Cheers, Tom