Pressure tank or ?

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Voyager1947

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I have a problem with my pressure gauge slowly losing pressure with the cutoff valve to the house being closed.
I read in another post that it must be the tank itself or the check valve in the well pump The tank is one of those
Home Depot models with a 30-50 control switch (or whatever it's called). There is no check valve between the tank
and the well pump in the basement. Is there a definitive way to know which one it is without throwing parts and well guys
at it? One thing I have done is check the pressure in the tank with the pump off and the water drained. It is supposed to be 28 or so
and if I charge it to 28, then check it again a week or so later, it'll be 20 or so, maybe lower if I waited longer. If the well pump
check valve was bad and not the tank, shouldn't it always be 28.

Any help would be appreciated
 

Reach4

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Water ressure slowly dropping is not caused by a bad pressure tank. That has different symptoms.
Air precharge pressure (measured with water pressure zero) dropping over a month is caused by a bad pressure tank, or not having a good valve cap over the pressure tank Schrader valve.
 

LLigetfa

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There is no check valve between the tank
and the well pump in the basement.
Since the pump is in the basement and not in the well, you must have a foot valve. The leak could be the foot valve or the pipe between it and the pump. If there is a pitless adapter it could also be the source of the leak.
 

Voyager1947

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Since the pump is in the basement and not in the well, you must have a foot valve. The leak could be the foot valve or the pipe between it and the pump. If there is a pitless adapter it could also be the source of the leak.
My grammar may have been misleading, I meant that there is not a check valve in the basement, not that the pump is in the basement. The pump is submersible down in the well.
 

Voyager1947

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Water ressure slowly dropping is not caused by a bad pressure tank. That has different symptoms.
Air precharge pressure (measured with water pressure zero) dropping over a month is caused by a bad pressure tank, or not having a good valve cap over the pressure tank Schrader valve.
If I read you correctly, it sounds to me like I have both problems, a bad tank and a drop in pressure caused by the check valve or some other weirdness.
 

Reach4

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I am not yet sure of that.

How quickly does the water pressure fall when you cut off the valve feeding the house? 20 psi in 10 minutes? 4 psi in 4 hours?
 

Voyager1947

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I am not yet sure of that.

How quickly does the water pressure fall when you cut off the valve feeding the house? 20 psi in 10 minutes? 4 psi in 4 hours?
Well, I charged it to 28 psi about a week ago, of course the valve feeding the house was not cut off. Today when I checked it, I closed the house valve so all the water in the pipes would not drain out when I drained the tank. After draining the tank and the pump turned off, the psi was at 20. I can't say what the pressure fall would be if I shut the valve off for any length of time, I can try that for a couple of hours as no water will be used for a while. I can tell you that it definitely isn't 20 psi in 10 minutes.
 

Valveman

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Your tank is losing air AND the check valve on the pump is leaking back. Both of those things are caused by the pump cycling on and off too much. Cycling bends the diaphragm in the tank back and forth over and over until it tears and slams the check valve closed over and over until it not longer seats.

 

Reach4

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