Well pressure tank

My well tank is 19 years old and while I have checked it a few times over the life it is time to do it again. So check my thinking for me.

While under pressure release some air.
If it is pure air with no water I can assume the baffling is good.
Now turn off pump and drain water pressure.
Now adjust air pressure to 2 lbs below cut on pressure of pump.
Let sit 15 minutes and check again to make sure pressure is holding.
Turn pump back on and check and adjust cut on and off pressure.

Does that sound about right???
 

I don't see a need to go through all this. When the bladder is bad you should notice that the pump is short cycling and you just verify it by seeing if water comes out the schrader valve. My tank is 30 years old.
 
Grab the to of it and give it a wiggle, does it feel full?
Should not be much more than 1/3 full if the bladder is still good.

In addition to checking your cut in cut out pressure check how long you can run the water before it cuts in.

Usually right after someone has a shower or other task that requires a fair amount of water to go through the system you can see a light layer of condensation on the outside of the tank that will indicate the water level in it.
 
Here ya go. This is a little "classroom" explanation video but it is thorough. I have gauges on my system next to the tank and another on the kitchen wall. Amazing how just about 12 feet of height will cut the pressure several pounds. Gravity baby. I think it is one pound drop for every 2 1/2 feet rise or something like that. Someone will chime in. Oh...yes my farm decor. Mercury boiler thermometer, grain scoop, cow ear tag, you can see the handle of a two man saw, the safety tag from an old JD two row corn picker from a fence row, the four set commercial timer, etc.
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Set your pressure.
 
Showcrop, I agree, leave well enough alone!

An aging tank bladder might not like being adjusted or fully expanded due to the pump being turned off.
 
Because it's hard to find a tire pressure gauge and a water system gauge that agree within 2 psi I like to check them this way. Turn off the power, and then start bleeding off the water pressure. Listen carefully and watch the gauge, the switch should click, and then the pressure should drop to zero after about another 2 psi of drop.
 
"and then the pressure should drop to zero after about another 2 psi of drop".

I don't understand that completely, are you saying the water pressure should drop to zero after another 2PSI drop in tank air pressure?
 
When the pressure switch clicks to start the pump, there should be very little water left in the tank, hence the 2 pound difference in pre-charge and cut in pressures. So if the power is off and the pump won't start, there is just that little bit of water and then the pressure gauge should drop to 0 quickly. This is only with a bladder tank!
 
(quoted from post at 08:26:29 10/10/19) Because it's hard to find a tire pressure gauge and a water system gauge that agree within 2 psi I like to check them this way. Turn off the power, and then start bleeding off the water pressure. Listen carefully and watch the gauge, the switch should click, and then the pressure should drop to zero after about another 2 psi of drop.

Russ, if the gauge is at zero 2psi below pump kick on pressure, isn't your shower a little weak?
 
I should add that the water system gauge only shows water pressure, not the pre-charge in the tank. If the tank is aired up to 38 psi the Schrader valve will show that, but not the system gauge, until the pump starts, then it should jump right to 38 immediately and then rise slowly to the cut-off pressure.
 
I have a feeling he has a jet pump. Mine would do that if the checkvalve opened. He is correct if you slowly drop the pressure that click is when the pressure switch kicks on. Then you check the pressure in your bladder with a tire gauge and it should be 2 lb. under. My submersible doesn't crash like that. Just keeps slowly going down till you stop letting water out. Watch the video!!!
 
(quoted from post at 17:02:02 10/10/19) My submersible doesn't crash like that. Just keeps slowly going down till you stop letting water out

Fascinating how different systems work, I guess. I have a jet pump and mine works exactly like Russ from MN describes. When the bladder is fully expanded, the water line pressure drops nearly immediately to zero (if the pump is off, of course). (Unless I have a lot of air in the lines somewhere, which act as their own "pressure tank". This is true for me in the spring when I first open the several hundred feet of 1.5 inch irrigation lines but haven't yet purged the air from them.)

Question just for my curiosity: on a submersible system where is the pressure from after the tank bladder is fully expanded? The water itself doesn't contract/expand to maintain pressure, but it seems like something must. I'm not terribly familiar with submersible pump systems.
 

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