Pressure tank won’t hold pressure

[Newbie87]

Yesterday our pressure tank lost all water pressure. I got under the house to find the psi on the tank was next to zero. The bladder seems to be fine, as I checked the air pressure and it is at 28psi (I have a 30/50 tank). If I turn off the power, close the main water valve, drain the tank, then flip the power back on and open the water valve, the pressure indicator will reach about 45, then start to slowly drop back to near zero. I figured since the pressure switch was not clicking on at the 30psi mark, it had to be that. So I replaced the pressure switch, hooked it up, and for about five minutes it seemed to be working fine, until again it stopped engaging and the pressure would drop down to zero. After this frustration I finally called a plumber, and since he observed the same problems he figures it has to be a problem at the bottom of the well and wants to rip it out. Does anyone have any ideas on what the problem could be? I’m trying to save some money here as I’m on a tight budget and can’t necessarily afford the bill this is gonna cost me. This happened once before when we first moved in, and luckily the previous homeowner was still around to help fix the problem (we somehow fixed it with a combination of turning the water off/on, flipping the circuit breaker, until the pressure built and the pressure switch finally engaged after it constantly fluctuating between 0 and 60)

Thanks

 

[Valveman]

The pressure switch was already making contact, and didn't need to "click" in at 30. It never got to 50 to "click" out, so it is still engaged. You could be pumping the well dry, or the motor could be tripping the overload. My guess is it's tripping the overload in the motor. Turing the power off and back on doesn't really help. The overload will cool down on its own in a few minutes and the pump will try to run again. You can check to make sure the voltage is correct, and if you have a control box you could try a new one. But I will bet when you stick an amp meter on the line it will be pulling high amps, and the pump/motor will need to be replaced. All that "normal" cycling on and off between 30 and 50 is what causes the pump/motor to go bad too quickly.