PRESSURE WON’T GET OVER 30 LBS

[Ariane McIntosh]

MY PUMP KEEPS RUNNING BUT THE PRESSURE IN MY TANK WILL NOT RISE OVER 30 LBS. I BLEED THE BLATTER AND PUMPED IT UP TO 28 LBS I PUT ON A NEW PRESSURE SWITCH. THE PUMP KEEPS PUMPING BUT THE WATER PRESSURE WONT GET OVER 30 LBS
ANY IDEAS

[daveroconnParticipant]

When you drained the air from the tank did you first drain all of the water from the tank and did you verify that the tank was actully empty or did it just run out of water? You need to make sure that all of the water is out of the tank before you check the pressure. If you can’t get all of the water out your tank it is waterlogged and you will need to add air in to get the water out.

The only way an expansion tank can drain is for air behind the bladder to push it out. If your tank does not drain completely than it does not have enough air on the other side of the bladder to displace the water inside. This would cause the symptoms you described your tank sounds as thought it has a very short drawdown that is the water available to your house before your pump kicks on. You should be able to easily move the tank empty.

To drain an expansion tank

First you need to drain the tank as far as it can go by itself. Next using a bicycle tire pump fill up the tank only until the water begins to flow out. Do not over pump the tank or you may ruin the bladder. Keep doing this until you are sure all of the water is out of the tank. Now to obtain the proper air pressure this can only be checked with the tank empty. Fill the tank up with 2 psi below the start of your pressure switch. (Example 30 psi on means 28 psi in the tank.) If the tank will not hold this pressure then the bladder has failed.

Now it would be a good time to disinfect the tank with some bleach. Use an empty filter sump housing to introduce about a 1/4 cup of bleach into the tank you will need some valves to do this. Now rinse the tank by filling it and draining it several times.

Respectfully David F. Walling

[Author]

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