Captive Air Water tank won’t fill??

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

I’m on well water-i have a captive water air tank under my house as well as 1/2HP.pump-over a week ago the well (went dry) ran out of water-Now there is plenty water in the well-The pump was turned back onnd we DO have water-The problem is over 3 gallons of water are run out of the the faucets then….the water trickles,stops & is gone-at that time the pump under the house makes a clunking sound then cuts on nice-N-smooth,the water begins to flow once again thru the faucet with a spit-N-sputter and a few gasps of air(then runs smooth till the procedure repeats itself.)-(It is obvious somethings wrong here)-The pump seems to work just fine thru all checks-But for some reason there is NO whoshing sound that is normally heard as the water is maintaned in the captive air tank-Is the water not going in the captive water air tank,is there no air in the tank??-What would cause it to act like this??-Please post any trouble shooting guides or remidies for this problem-We have tried everything we can think of here-Please HELP! [email protected]

[daveroconnParticipant]

If you are getting air from your expansion tank then the bladder inside has failed DO NOT DRINK THE WATER the following is how to check the tank.

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 in it to displace the water inside. 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 a good bladder. Keep doing this until you are sure all of the air 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. Most expansion tanks will begin to fail at around 10 years.

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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