OK, I'll bite.

I just set my water pump and pressure tank up for the year, same set-up as always, but it won't hold the pressure. It'll pressurize up tp 50 psi just fine, but then within about 10 seconds it's back down to 30 psi and the pump starts up. I disconnected it because I was worried about the pump burning out.

I don't think there's any leak in the cottage plumbing proper (I carefully disconnected and drained it for the winter), and I don't hear any obvious leaks, although it may be coming back through the water pump.

How do I test for this? I have a shallow-well pump connected to a bladder pressure tank (at least I'm pretty sure it is).

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

B. Skidder
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Sounds like you have a leak somewhere in your system likely above the pump. Is there any way for you to shut off the pipes on the other side? I suppose it is possible that your pump impeller is failing to lock after compression and the water is leaking back out but probably not. Isolate!

cottage~cheese
Thursday, May 27, 2004

I've been asking around and from what I've heard you're suffering from tank depressurization. Over the course of the winter the air has likely leaked out of your tank (assuming you have a bladder tank; if you have a single-compartment tank, then loss of pressure as the air and water mix is normal, but will still have to be replenished).

There should be a nozzle in the top or side of your tank that you can take readings from with a tire gauge. Be sure that all of the water has been drained from the tank before you take the reading. If you do have a tank with a bladder and water comes out of the air nozzle, then your problem is a hole in the bladder and your tank needs to be repaired or replaced. Otherwise, the pressure should read between 28 and 32 psi (check your manual, if possible), assuming that your pump operates over the 30-50 psi range. If the pressure is below this, simply use a bicycle pump to repressurize the tank.

Derek
Tuesday, June 1, 2004

Dang.

Well, I set myself up with a tire gauge and a bicycle pump and headed up to the cottage. The pressure was a little low when I measured it so I pumped it up a bit, but when I re-primed it, it made no difference at all.

I decided to go over the system again looking for leaks, only to find that the foot valve had thrown off both clamps and fallen off. I forgot to re-tighten everything after the winter freeze had worked everything loose.

Sigh. At least it's working properly now.

Thanks for the help!

B. Skidder
Monday, June 21, 2004