Anybody know about water wells?

I have an older style water well with a jet pump, air volume control valve and a galvanized tank. The tank wasn't holding air pressure so I replaced the air volume control and recharged the tank with air. That worked for a while but the tank is still not holding pressure so the pump kicks on every couple of seconds when we use the water. Does anyone have water well experience?

If you can't find an air leak anyplace it would seem to me that your losing it in the tank itself . Bad bladder or diaphragm ?

dantheman said:

If you can't find an air leak anyplace it would seem to me that your losing it in the tank itself . Bad bladder or diaphragm ?

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Kind of what I thought too, But what about the actual pump itself. If it has a damaged impeller, that could suck! <No pun intended!

I actually have one as described, I had to prime that damn thing every week of non-use. Apparently the water was back draining, because $300 later (new pump), it rocks!

We had this not too long ago, the pump would kick off and on constantly when the water would run. Found the tank had a crack in the top and the air was leaking out slowly reducing the air volume and increasing the water volume. If its a bladder tank and the bladder is leaking the result would be the same. A new tank ran just under $400, installed it in a couple hours and its been good since.

Turn off power to the pump, drain water from the tank, turn pump back on and come up to pressure.
Check every fitting, the pump, the tank for leaks; use some kind of spray soda (simple green?) on every surface.
Look for air bubbles, not necessarily water leaks. You state an air control valve, these aren't used with a bladder tank.
You are losing air; the ACV is supposed to add air as the system is running. Have seen new ones that would not work.
The pump is moving water and compressing the air, the water cannot be compressed (not with a jet pump anyway).
If there are no leaks, I would suspect the ACV.

Didn't these older pumps have a check valve in the pipe that allows the pressure drop from the tank and the pump would turn on to build up the pressure.

There is a check valve in the input pipe to the pump or a foot valve at the bottom of the well.
If these are leaking it would lose its prime.
The pump cycling rapidly shows a "water logged" condition. Mostly water in the tank without any air to pressurize.
The air acts like a spring against the waters surface in the tank.

Turn off the water shut-off valve going to your house and see if the pump continues to run or if it stops.

The pump should stop running. If it continues to run, there could be a leaking pipe between the pump and the valve. You may have to do a little digging.

If the pump shuts off, you may have an underground leak between the shutoff valve and your house.

Had this same problem with our pump about ten years ago, most likely an air leak in the tank bladder. Here's what I would try when you can afford to be without water for a few hours (overnight).

1. Pull the circuit breaker for the pump
2. Pull the circuit breaker for the water heater (the heater will stay full of water, this is just a precaution)
3. Drain all the water out of the tank
4. Note if you get any air out of the faucet as the water pressure drops to zero, this would indicate3 a leaking air bladder
5. Carefully check the air precharge on the tank and inflate to the specified pressure
6. Wait several hours
7. Check the air precharge, if it's dropped then you have a bad bladder & need a new tank

Caution: After you have replace the tank, do not forget to turn the water heater back on well in advance of your wife trying to take a shower. Trust me!

Take into mind that you have to put air into the tank with a compressor for it to work correctly.
Keep the upper screw out while the pump fills the tank, This screw should have a valve stem on it. Let the pump fill the tank until water starts to come out of that hole. Once water has reached that level in the tank, put the valve stem screw in and fill it with air. I put 55-60lbs of air in mine.
You pay have to manually hold the switch to keep the pump running to fill the tank before capping it with the valve stem screw.

Another problem that I didn't see mentioned (I only skimmed the thread), there is a leather piece at the bottom of the pipe that is connected to your pump. Over time, this leather will become water logged and start to deteriorate and will cause your tank to lose pressure because the water is able to flow back into the well. Also, I a bad check valve will do basically the same thing.
If you cannot get it working correctly, let me know and I can give you the number to the man that knows everything there is to know about these things. I'm not sure where you are located but he services the walker/denham/Livingston area. He is a really good guy and will try to help you fix it yourself over the phone if he can.

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OK guys, from my understanding ; he has a galvanized tank, since he stated he replaced the ACV, it's not a bladder tank.
Bladder tanks don't use an ACV. Either the air is leaking from the tank or the ACV is bad.

Doctor481 said:

OK guys, from my understanding ; he has a galvanized tank, since he stated he replaced the ACV, it's not a bladder tank.
Bladder tanks don't use an ACV. Either the air is leaking from the tank or the ACV is bad.

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Right, no bladder in my tank. Haven't been able to check the forum lately. Im going to get another new ACV and see if that does it. The ones from Lowes are cheap made in China quality products. I can't find any leaks so hopefully it was a crappy ACV.
Thanks everybody for the help!