Well Pressure System should work but....

Here is the entire situation and symptoms dont match situation. Any help appreciated
Well and septic in 40 yo house. 1 person household
Replaced well pump in 2007 with 1/2 hp Franklin . Works fine and house water pressure is always good.
Pressure switch and pressure gauge replaced in 2018 and they both work fine: 40/60 square D
15 year old fiberglass wound pressure tank 35 gallon was loosing charge (bad bladder) and I'd recharge to 38 every 6 weeks or so and finally replaced it 3 weeks ago with a 32 gallon waterworks steel tank. I did not modify the system at all.... just unthreaded the pvc pipe from the old tank and replaced it with the new tank.
New tank was pre charged to 38, which I verified before pressurizing. I cycled the system and checked for leaks.
The system didn't work and water would not enter the tank so every time I turned on a tap, the pump would run til it reached 60, (about 45 seconds - too short run time?), shut off, drop to 38 and start again. No water getting to tank so I thought I had bought a bad tank. I returned the tank and bought the same one from a different store and installed it exactly as above. Same issue and water not going into the tank.
I couldn't see what I'd done wrong so I called a local well service. They came out and checked the switch (good and contacts open and closing correctly) and said they system was working correctly.
It isn't and I think I have a leak somewhere before the tank for well pump to run every time I use any water...even flushing toilet or brushing teeth.
I dont see a back flow valve (maybe under ground between pump and the house) but doesnt seem likely that would be a problem just because I changed the tank.

Thanks for any advice

I'm a little confused. If no taps are open does the system come to pressure and hold?

Yes, it stays pressurized with no taps open but the least little bit of calling for water makes pump run. Seems like it comes right from the pump and goes to the open tap without any going into the tank. Is that even possible

SR Smith said:

Yes, it stays pressurized with no taps open but the least little bit of calling for water makes pump run. Seems like it comes right from the pump and goes to the open tap without any going into the tank. Is that even possible

Click to expand...

I would say this is possible. The pressure tank and pump you mentioned are both small, but the pump can be small if not drawing from deep. 32 gallon pressure tank probably has a draw down of 5 gallons. Maybe a little more but not much.

If you flushed a toilet, would the pump turn on?

Do you have a pressure gauge near the pressure tank? If you do, let the system come to pressure. Put a big pot in the sink (to estimate how much water comes out). Turn the water on slow and go supervise the pressure gauge. If you see it falling slow, nothing is wrong.

Or use a big bucket and outside spigot

Sounds like the plug to keep debris out of the tank during shipping wasn’t removed before installation, and the tank isn’t actually receiving any water.

Is the tank heavy???

Opened spigot and it falls slow as it drains and the pump is 60 feet deep. The tank never gets heavy and runs even with a toilet flush. The last pressure tank was also 32 gallons and pump didn't run as often so that is what is confusing me. Can I wind the pressure switch up beyond the 20lb spread to have longer run time and, theoretically, put more water in the tank to draw down from?

took plug out of tank as it wouldn't thread onto the pipe with the plug in..but was hoping it was something that simple (LOL)

So the tank was not heavy? No water in it?

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