Need advice about expansion tank

[Widgit Maker]

Once I went back under I heard it click about 4 times in about 8 seconds maybe.

Was the needle on the pressure gauge moving when you heard the clicking?

 

[tess]

Was the needle on the pressure gauge moving when you heard the clicking?

the person helping me - he didn't ask me to look at that so I didn't - but at this point with it holding no air, the rapid clicking and the solid noise it's making when I hit the tank I am suspecting that I do need a new one.. I must have spent at least a solid 20 minutes altogether pumping (or trying to pump) air into that thing and nothing. I tested the gauge on my car and it works fine so another reason I'm suspect. Not sure if it's waterlogged or if the bladder is bad.. I sure have learned a lot about something in which I had ZERO knowledge about before the other day. I guess that's a good thing now being a home-owner.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[tess]

Think of the bladder in the tank as a tire...a reading of zero means it's 'flat'. It must have close to the lower cutoff pressure to work properly. Most people don't want to spend the money for an air compressor that they may only use once...you can pump it up with a hand pump, it will just take awhile. It will take more than a few pumps, though! Once you turn on the water pump in the well...the water pressing against the trapped air means that the air pressure will match the water pressure. This is why you must relieve the water pressure so you can check the air pressure on its own, uninfluenced by the water pushing on the other side. If the bladder has a hole in it, you'll never see the pressure rise.

I know the bicycle pump wasn't ideal but I thought I could get at least some air in there - but nothing took. I pumped that thing as hard as I could and for quite a while. Altogether I'd say I pumped it a good 30 times. At first I thought the gauge wasn't working because when I put it on the valve each time it was reading nothing at all.. then I tried it on my cars and it's fine. I went and knocked on the tank and just got this solid sound also. (I think that is bad )

 

[Jadnashua]

A properly working tank will sound different depending on where you knock on it whether there's air or water beneath. So, since it's a thud all the way from top to bottom, you need a new tank since it won't accept any air. To save wear and tear on the pressure switch and especially the pump, you should not delay or it could get lots more expensive.

You can pump up a car tire with a bicycle pump, but it will take awhile, and give you a workout. At least on the pressure tank, you don't have a 4,000# car pushing back, making it harder! It's what people had to use not all that long ago, since access to an air compressor just wasn't a common thing.