New Member There's air in my pipes on well

[anna perenna]

Hi....
I have a private water well system that feeds the house, 3 outdoor faucets and a
2 zone sprinkler system.

The other morning when I turned on the kitchen faucet there was some air in the
pipes both hot and cold water. I checked the bathroom closest to the water source and
hot water heater. Same thing. Not very much but definitely air . Very quickly the water
was running as normal and since then okay. Air in the line has only happened when
the water has been turned off for a while and the amount of air is more than the other
morning.

The previous night the sprinkler system ran it's usual cycle. The sprinkler system is old but
works okay... one zone is a reasonable size, 3 lawn heads, the other is double that size (too big
in my opinion). I have turned the sprinkler system off temporarily because I was thinking
this might be related to siphoning somehow.

I also have a drip line that I keep on most of the time and move around to different locations.

Where, how did the air get into the pipes? At best, where do I begin looking? Ideas?
Thank you for any help.

Carol

 

[Valveman]

Do you have a diaphragm/bladder tank, or an old bladderless tank? If you have a bladderless tank there will be a fitting screwed into the side about half way up. This is an Air Volume Control and needs to be replaced. If you have a bladder style tank, I am afraid to tell you that there is probably a hole in the pipe down the well.

 

[anna perenna]

I have a Craftsman Model 390 bladder tank 85 gallon. It is outside in a pump house. I went out this morning to clear out the cobwebs and take a look at all the pipes, valves, switches etc. and I turned the sprinklers on briefly. The control box (Franklin) began clicking on, then off, a few times in succession with about 5 to 10 seconds between clicks. I turned the sprinklers off.. The box clicked a couple more times and then calmed down. The tank is cool to the touch (I live in Arizona... temps above 90 degrees and dry as toast). I called the local pump and well company to check on service call charges, they are the ones that installed the control box years ago and is the company who originally installed the well 40 years ago with the original owner. The cost of replacing the tank is not great but if that is the problem then I don't have a choice. This company doesn't use Craftsman products so they won't repair the existing tank. I have no idea what the cost of fixing a subterranean hole would be but it sounds $$$$$. Would any pipe in the system cause this? for instance I am pretty sure the the sprinkler system doesn't maintain water pressure once the sprinklers shut down.. Any pipe with a leak would seep water but not take in air.

 

[Valveman]

Clicking every 5-10 seconds sounds like the bladder tank is bad. And no you don't repair those tanks, just replace it. The air in the lines is not likely caused by the bad tank. I still think you have a hole in the pipe down the well. Most likely yo will need to pull the pump to replace the pipe with the hole in it. But the bladder tank can be replaced with one of the following. Stopping the pump cycling solves a lot of problems, but it won't help with the air in the lines.