Water Pump Short Cycling & Water Tank Air - How & Why to Add Air
Water Tank Repair or Replacement
Questions & Answers about private water wells, pumps, water tanks, and pump controls
This well & pump article series answers just about any question you may have about water pumps, wells, and drinking water including water quality and water quantity problems, well and pump problems, and municipal water supply problems.
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Even before performing water quantity, quality, equipment function tests, there is an enormous amount we can determine about
a building's water supply just by looking at the equipment. Articles here provide details on water pumps, tanks, controls, and wells and water supply inspection, diagnosis, and repair.
The page top photo shows our client holding the open top of his well casing along with some unusual well casing exit plumbing at a drilled well with a modern steel casing.
Finding the location of your well and inspecting the condition of the well piping and equipment are an important first step to assure a functional and potable drinking water supply - that is, having enough water supply and having water that is safe to drink.
Knowing the type of well you have and the type of pumping equipment will be very important in diagnosing any water pressure, flow, or supply problems. The articles listed below provide detailed advice on diagnosing and repairing problems with water pumps, water tanks, wells, and other water supply equipment.
If Your Water Tank is Not Working Properly See These Diagnostic Guides
The photograph of typical residential pump and well components found indoors (below) shows a one-line jet pump, the water pressure tank, and a water softener. We know from the fact that this is a single line jet well pump that the well is a shallow one, probably less than 27' deep. Well depth may have implications
for water quantity and quality and vulnerability to surface water contamination.
If You Need Help Diagnosing a Loss in Water Pressure or Other Pump & Well Problems or Poor Municipal Water Pressure See These Guides
Our sketch of a drilled well with submersible water pump (below), courtesy of Carson Dunlop, shows the basic components of a drilled well with a submersible water pump.
Controls & Switches on water pumps and tanks, how to identify, use, and repair or replace these devices. Where & How to turn on or off water.
Foot valve problems in your well? See See Repeated Loss of Pump Prime for a discussion of well piping foot valves and the relation to loss of well pump prime.
Diagnostic Guides for water pumps, wells, motors, in table form:
Water Tank Diagnosis, Repair & Costs an specific case offers an example of diagnosis of loss of water pressure, loss of water, and analyzes the actual repair cost
WATER TANK REPAIRS - how to diagnose problems with water tanks, such as the need for air, how to add air, stop water pump short cycling to avoid damage - water storage water pressure tank safety.
Water Tank Pressure Calculations the effects on water tanks and pumps caused by changes in temperature, pressure, or volume are reviewed using Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, and the Combined Gas Law
Water Tanks, how they work what is the purpose of a water tank in buildings, how they work, what goes wrong, how to fix water tanks
WATER TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT Water Quality: how to test for contaminants in drinking water - what test are available, what tests to ask for, what they cost, how people cheat on water tests
WELLS CISTERNS & SPRINGS - types of water wells - types of sources of drinking water, what they look like, what goes wrong, what to do about it
Questions & Answers about private water wells, pumps, water tanks, and pump controls
Question: The well pump runs, but we get air, not water
Two months ago I started having problems with our water well. The first thing to happen was the pressure switch caught fire, it was 25+ years old, I replaced it. Then I had the problem of the well pump kicking on and off every few seconds so I had to adjust the air in the air tank. Everything was fine for a month, then last week we started getting air in the lines, at first it was just a little air but as time went on there was more and more air until there was more air than water coming out of the faucets.
Two days ago I turned on the faucet and just a trickle of water was coming out, I went outside, looked at the pressure gauge and it was at 20 pounds and the pump was still running. I turned off the pump, checked for leaks in the house as well as all around the well housing to the home, no leaks. I left the pump off for a hour or so because I thought the water level maybe low, 20 inches of rain this month, didnt really think it would be low but I thought it maybe a possibility. A hour later when I turned on the pump it still would only go up to 15-20lbs of pressure and the pump was still running.
When I turn off the pump I don't lose any pressure, it stays at 15-20lbs until I use water in the home. I looked again for leaks, didnt find any so I replaced the pressure switch, the pressure gauge, the wires from the breaker box to the pressure switch and the wires from the pressure switch to the other bigger switch.
I thought maybe the wires were bad and not allowing enough current to run the pump properly. I filed all the points on the bigger switch box and cleaned all the connectors. I tried the pump again, still it will only go up to 15-20lbs of pressure and the pump will keep running.
The well is around 400 feet deep, I opened the top of the well housing and put my ear to it, I don't hear any water leaking back into the well and I can hear the pump running. We replaced the pump and air tank 5-6 years ago. We have lived here for 20 years and have had only a problem one time with low water levels and that was in the middle of summer with very little rain for months, its always had water.
I also checked the air tank, the rubber thing inside of it is busted or something, I'm getting water out of the air valve on top of the tank. I don't think the air tank has anything to do with the amount of pressure the pump pumps up to the home but it will have to be fixed. There is no one close that has a pump puller in service, the closest is almost 100 miles away, and its going to take them almost two weeks to get here to check out the problem.
So if anyone has any ideas, suggestions, or anything that maybe able to help please post! It will be greatly appreciated! We have 5 children with no water, its getting kind of crazy!!! Thank you! - Woody
Reply: Some Water Loss Diagnostic Suggestions for This Case
Usually we start diagnosing a well pump and water problem by focusing first on the obvious, known problem, assuming that the chances of multiple problems happening at once are less likely. But in fact multiple well pump, water tank, piping, and pump control switch problems can occur in a given interval and might even be related to a single root cause.
In this case it sounds as if:
1. You need to replace the water pressure tank. A burst bladder in the tank can briefly send air out through faucets and will end up leaving the well pump short cycling on and off as the water tank air charge becomes lost. A burst bladder in the water tank can also interfere with water entering the tank and it might even interfere with proper operation of the pressure control switch.
2. A short cycling well pump for any cause can burn-up the pump pressure control switch. On occasion it can also damage the pump itself - which in your case is a submersible down in the well, costly and a lot of trouble to replace. So we ought to be as thorough as we can with the above-ground tests and fixes before pulling the pump out of the well.
3. Some causes of a well pump running on without shutting off include loss of water in the well, a damaged pump, a well piping leak, and a pressure control switch set to a cut-off value higher than the pump can reach. At page left under WATER PUMP PROBLEM DIAGNOSTIC TABLE take a look at the article named WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING.
But first swap out that bad water pressure tank and give us a comment back here on what happened. - Editor.
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Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
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Plumbing Diagnosis & Repair: Water supply, drainage, septic systems, water testing, water contamination, defective plumbing materials & products.
The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 2010, $69.00 U.S., is available from Carson Dunlop. The Home Reference Book is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. InspectAPedia.com ® author/editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume.
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