Question on my well's pressure switch &tank pressure

Hi guys, new here to the forum but hoping you can help me out.

Last week I went down to my basement and noticed the pressure switch on my well was dripping water. It's about 12 years old so I just took it off, went down to my local plumbing supply store and got a replacement. I noticed my pressure gauge was not working so I replaced that as well.

Everything went fine but I noticed something and wanted to make sure it is normal. My pressure switch is a 40/60 switch, same as the old one. Now that I have a working pressure gauge I see that the well pump properly kicks on at 40lbs, fills up to 60 and cuts off. The pressure gauge then slowly drops to about 52 pounds and holds there. Is this normal or should the pressure hold at 60 until someone uses some water? Is there some settling that happens when the tank fills up that balances the pressure out to the 52 lbs or is there something else going on?

Thanks in advance!

I have seen lots of systems do this, but I have never seen one drop that much. It might be because of your tank size or the tank could be waterlogged. Is it a bladder tank?

It's a tank that has an air bladder inside yes.

What would be a good test to see what the issue is? I was thinking of letting it fill then shutting off the valve that runs out to the house, won't this eliminate an issue downstream somewhere?

Turn off the pump. Take a tire gauge and check the air pressure in the tank. There is a schrader valve on it somewhere. If there is no pressure, give the tank a little push at the top. It should rock real easily. If it feels abnormally heavy, it's probably full of water (waterlogged) and needs to be replaced. When a tank waterlogs, it can only hold a thimble full of water under pressure. It takes air to push the water out of the tank. Without air, it's like not having a tank. The pressure in the tank should be 38 lbs.

OK, I think you helped me find a big part of the problem. When my tank was full i checked and it showed about 56psi. I drained the tank and put the tire pressure gauge on and it gave me nothing......didn't even budge the gauge.

I have an air compressor, should I fill it up to 38 psi and see how much that helps? What could have happened to the charge of air that was in there?

The air could have leaked out over time. One of those neighbors that knows everything about everything may have let it all out, or the bladder has ruptured.

speedbump said:

One of those neighbors that knows everything about everything may have let it all out

Click to expand...

That's funny but so true. Some people think you have to let the air out so the water can get in. Many things about pumps are counter intuitive.

What are the typical symptoms you find when there is no air charge? I know if a tank is waterlogged it will cycle on and off rapidly, does it do the same if there's no air pressure?

I notice mine kicks on at about 36 lbs, fills to 60 lbs then shuts off. It then drops to about 52 and holds. However if someone is using the water it quickly falls in pressure and the pump has to kick on. I was watching while my wife was in the shower and it kicked on every minute to minute 1/2

With no air the bladder can fill up and stay full. So if the bladder isn't yet ruptured, it can only stretch so much which only lets in a very small amount of water.

Thanks for all your help guys, I spoke to a family friend that installs wells, he's going to come look. In the meantime I put some air in the tank and noticed I now get nice, steady pressure during my shower this morning.

Weird thing was over the past week I had drained the tank a few times, once to change the leaking pressure switch and once to check the pressure when the tank was empty. This time however, after I added the air and turned the water back on I got a run of nice, brown water when I turned the faucet on. It cleared after a second or two but curious how adding air pressure could have forced up this junk?

Any time you let all the pressure off the system, mineral will loosen up. It's normal.