Is there a plumber in the house?

[JLDickmon]

The softener is about two or three months old.


Is your tank or pressure switch closer to the well?

Well, I think I'd go with Wingdog's advise, if he does this for a living... but as far as your question... the switch is closer to the well.

The well is in the front yard, about 30 feet from the house... the pressure tank is in the well pit under the front stoop

 

[Wingdog]

O sorry, I just read your other post and it shouldn't matter where the pressure switch is situated as when you are pressurizing the tank the whole line from the pump to the house also builds up pressure. Ideally closer to the tank is prefered as there is some line pressure loss futher down the line. If your tank is really light the air bladder may be too full of air which is not allowing any water to enter the pressure tank. If you have any other questions let me know. I'll get this problem licked for ya.

 

[Crumm]

Thanks for all the input. The new switch seems to still be working flawlessly after two days so I am thinking that the new made in Taiwan switch was the problem. Switch is only a couple of feet from the tank so from what you guys say that is not the problem. I will check and make sure the tank pressure is 38lbs as my pump kicks in at 40psi. If anything I am guessing the tank has too much air in it.

 

[RenoF250]

It is probably a combination of the crappy switch and where it is plumbed. If the pressure switch is plumbed so that it is straight through the T and the pressure tank is off the bottom of the T I would bet that there is a pressure spike at the switch when the pump turns on which was high enough to trip the cheap switch. It is probably marginal with the new switch and may give you trouble in the future. You may want to move the switch closer to the tank when it is convenient to save yourself from dealing with it again in the future.
How deep is the well and what is the size and type of pipe? If you have plastic pipe to the pump and it is a deep well that is a large area of pipe to expand and contract. The water does not compress but the pipe will expand. Also the water has mass and when it gets moving it create artificially high pressure in corners and at the end of tees.

 

[Crumm]

If the pressure switch is plumbed so that it is straight through the T and the pressure tank is off the bottom of the T.

How deep is the well and what is the size and type of pipe?

The pressure switch is on a 1/4" riser about 8" above the T that is on the line from the well.


The well is over 400 feet deep somewhere around the 430 mark I believe and the pipe up the shaft is iron but the pipe that comes into the house is copper. I don't know where the iron turns to copper. Whole house is copper so I doubt there is any give in my lines.

 

[Crumm]

If your tank is really light the air bladder may be too full of air which is not allowing any water to enter the pressure tank.

Well that was it Drained the whole system which only took ten seconds since there was no water in the tank. After draining it I checked the tank and there was 65psi in it Just how could 60psi of water move 65psi of air? It couldn't. I drained it down to 38psi and then recharged the system. Now we can flush two toilets and run the faucet for a while before the pump kicks in

Thanks for all the help