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Plumbing question???
JesseLee
Member Posts: 1,032 ✭✭✭✭
This is for those that are plumbers. First let me tell you the situation. I have a well and normally it holds about 60lbs of pressure. Lately the pressure is dropping to 48lbs of pressure. Now I noticed that the expansion tank is leaking around the connection so I plan on replacing it. However, what reasons would cause the pressure to drop? Any help would be great. Thanks
Comments
Better answers tonight I bet.
Its not the tank. Even if the bladder is bad, it would not cause a pressure drop. If the pump builds up to 60 PSI , and the switch turns the pump off and the pressure drops- the water is going somewhere. If you have a service valve on the outlet of the tank tee shut it off and watch your pressure. If it still drops, you have a leak either in the line from the well to the house or in the well itself. If the pressure does not drop with the valve closed, open it back up and watch the pressure, it could be something as simple as leaking flappers in your toilet tanks.
You have a pressostat that shuts off the pump at a set high pressure and starts it back up at a set low pressure.
Sometimes the anti back flow (check) valves leak a little (sand, calcium or corrosion). The weight of the water (Vertical) can cause a suction and you may very slowly loose a little pressure.
Or like mentioned something in the positive pressure side of the system is leaking down.
A failed accumulator (storage tank) will usually cause the pump to cycle very quickly (short cycle), if the diaphragm is leaking or pressure from the air side of the diaphragm has escaped.
A typical place for the pressure to leak down, besides the check valves, is the pump itself, if it isn't a submerged pump. Depends on how the check valves are set up. The pump can leak around the motor shaft to impeller seal, pretty common, which also affects the pump efficiency.
Trinity +++
This is for those that are plumbers. First let me tell you the situation. I have a well and normally it holds about 60lbs of pressure. Lately the pressure is dropping to 48lbs of pressure. Now I noticed that the expansion tank is leaking around the connection so I plan on replacing it. However, what reasons would cause the pressure to drop? Any help would be great. Thanks
In red above is why I took down my previous post.
First,......if your bladder tank is actually leaking water, then that could very well be the issue.
If the air charge is simply low it has nothing to do with your cut-out pressure, but if it is spewing water from a connection, or even a loose schrader valve on the charge valve, that is most likely your issue. A water-logged tank will not cause your cut-out pressure to drop as long as the only failure is the air bladder itself.
The tank is there to keep your well pump from short-cycling.
As others have said, rule things out one by one.[;)]
then your pump will keep running untill the system reaches 60 PSI
If your pump is shuting off at a lower pressure, your pressure
switch is bad, or out of adjustment. Your bladder tank may be bad
also, but that wont cause the pump motor to cut out at a lower
pressure, it will just cause it to cut in and out very often.