Well bladder tank question

[Freebird33]

I have a well bladder tank. I checked the air and it was low, which explains why my pump was running too often. Getting the air to the turn on pressure fixed the pump issue. I installed that tank about a year ago. It was a used tank, but was said to be good. It worked fine until recently when the pump started to turn on and off too often. A month ago, I drained the water from the tank, but did not check the tank air pressure. That did not solve anything. This time I filled the air in the tank to 33lbs which is my turn on setting. Now it works fine.

My question is this. What happens to the air? Why did it drain out? I was told to push the air fill valve when the tank is filled with water and if water comes out, the bladder is ruptured. I only got air to come out so I assume the bladder is ok. However, the air pressure was around 18 lbs, and a year ago, I had it at 33. Where did the air go?

Thanks

Freebird33

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Probably out a very tiny leak in the valve.

[Joseph Meehan]

Freebird33@hot_ail.com wrote: ..

Nothing is perfect. Just like the tyres on your car, that tank is going to leak a little. Over a year's time it will show. Some leak a little faster than others. That's why you need to check your car's tyres regularly as well as the well's bladder pressure.

[KC]

May be a dumb question on my part, but did you replace the air you let out?

-KC

[Harry K]

My guess is that the bladder is broken. Pushing the valve will only get air unless the tank is completely full of water which it wasn't as long as the pump was still cycling at all.

Where did it go? Out with the water. It disolves in the water and needs to be replenished if you have a non-bladder tank or a bladder tank with a broken bladder.

Oh. The proper air pressure is 2 psi _below_ the cut-in pressure.

Harry K

[Art]

I had the same air bladder tank for 20 years (before I moved) and never had to touch it. Yours is probably shot.

[Freebird33]

Guess I'll have to just check it for awhile and see if it loses air again. I am going find one of those air valve tools and be sure the valve is not leaking. I suppose, just like a tire, I can soap it too.

I always thought it was supposed to be a tiny bit lower than the water CUT IN pressure too, but the tank says to set it the same as the CUT IN pressure ????????? This is a Well-X-Trol tank. Actually I did make it about 1 lb less, just because it only makes sense, or else the pump might not turn on? (or so it would seem).... ???

[Freebird33]

Well, actually I used NEW air. I could not find the air I released, or I would have recycled it.

Any idea where the air went that I released?

[Harry K]

I be dogged. I just checked my wellxtrol too and it does say that! Doesn't make sense to me either and goes against the '2psi below' that is quoted everywhere.

Harry K

[Freebird33]

I would have never even noticed that, but I was thinking I may need a new tank so I put on my reading glasses and was looking for the capacity of the tank so I could price new tanks. Thats when I saw that notice. Without my glasses I would have never read it. I never did find the capacity though..... But measuring the tank I compared the size to the ones on their website. I figured that using ONE psi below is a good compromise. It works.... guess thats what matters !!! Maybe well-x-trol has some special design that allows for this.... Otherwise I dont know why ????

[Ron Hardin]

I have a bladderless 50gal(?) tank and just drain it and fill it again once or twice a year. The pressure switch sets its own pressure with the amount of air the tank has in it when it's empty.

(Fast way to drain tank : garden hose, Y connector on tank outlet, and drill pump. Pump for 30 seconds, and then flip the unattached Y inlet open to let air in, repeat. Takes about a half hour. Otherwise it takes 12 hours to drip empty.)

I was always afraid to use the schrader air valve because of putting oil in the water. At 35 years old now, I doubt the valve works anyway.

Just to suggest you can ignore the bladder entirely.

[Ron Hardin]

(draining and filling bladderless tank con't)

Oh and you have to flip well pump on and off when you start refilling it, to get the dislodged rust (if you have iron in the water) out of the bottom of the tank. Each time you fill for 5 seconds and let it drain again, you have half the rust left. After 10 cycles, you have

1/1000 of the rust left, so you do make fast progress eventually.

[Harry K]

You can speed up the drain process if you have a portable air compressor or one of those air tanks. Insert the blow gun and pack some cloth around it in the "Y" and blow air into the tank. I now have a bladderless and had I but known I would have changed out the bladderless years before I did it.

Harry K

[Mark S]

Another thing to check, let a little air out. If water comes with it, your tank/bladder are probably shot. Adding air will only fix it for a short time. MarkS

[Harry K]

That is not a good test. True if you get water out, the bladder is broken but the bladder can be broken for a long, long time before you will get water out of the valve.. Why? Because the valve is almost at the top of the tank and thus you won't get water until the air bubble is almost totally gone. There will be plenty of warning before that with the pump short cycling.

Harry K