Thread: water pump problem

Hi SF,

Yes the air tank should be pressurised. The required pressure should either be on the tank itself or in the owners manual.
The air tank has a rubber bladder in side it, when you put air in through the tyre valve on the top of the tank you are providing the resistance for the pumps water pressure to work against to activate the power switch. Insufficient air will cause the pump to cut in and out frequently or, in extreme cases, run constantly.
I check my tank pressure once or twice a year, here's how to do it.
1) Turn the pump off.
2) Turn the valve off at the water tank outlet
3) Open a tap in the house to release all the water pressure in the plumbing.
4) Using a hand pump or compressor put a small amount of air into the air tank BE CAREFUL don't over do it, my tank uses 27Lb/sq in. Check the valve's not leaking.
5) Close the tap in the house.
6) Open the water tank outlet valve.
7) Turn the pump on.
The pump should run briefly and then turn off when sufficient pressure has built up in the air tank. From memory I think mine cuts out at about 33Lbs.
Hope this helps,
Geoff.

I should also mention that earlier this year I had to replace the nonreturn valve located on the inlet side of the pump. It was leaking and allowing the air tank pressure to bleed down very slowly causing the pump to cut in unneccessarily.
G.

Originally Posted by shedfooting

We rely on tank water and a pump for our home.
Recently I disconnected the pump to install a new tank. Now I find that when I use the shower the temperature of the water swings from hot to cold to hot to cold to......it keeps doing this for ever.

Our pump is fitted with a "Pressure Wave" PWB-8 inflatable tank. It has a valve on top where a car pump wouls screw on, so I am guessing that there might be an air pressure adjustment required.

Seeking your advice please?

Sounds like you may have inadvertently got a bit of debris in trhe supply line to the HWS which is restricting the flow into the HWS or alternatively, check your hot tap body on the shower to make sure there isn't something partially blocking flow there,

Any foreign body that restricts the flow of part of a shower will show up when the pump is running.

Hi rwbuild
When I lived on the farm before retiring our house supply was by a pressure system.
I had the same problem as you and it turned out that the bladder in the tank had ruptured. Took a while to locate the problem.
A new bladder was'nt all that easy to fit as it had to be inserted through the lower pipe fitting.
Good luck with it.
Keith