Check your well pressure tank
Annual · typically August
Why it matters
You're on a well, which means somewhere in your basement, garage, or well house sits a pressure tank — and inside it, an air cushion that does the actual work of pressurizing your house. The pump fills the tank; the air pushes the water out. That cushion is what lets the pump run in long, lazy cycles instead of stuttering on and off with every glass of water.
Tanks lose their air charge slowly — through the valve, through a tired bladder — and the failure is silent. The water still flows. The pressure still reads fine. The only symptom is the pump cycling more and more often, and the only gauge on that is you, once a year, with a tire gauge.
What skipping it costs
$400–$4,500
The pressure tank's air cushion is what lets your well pump rest between draws. Lose the cushion and the pump kicks on every time you crack a faucet — on-off-on-off, hundreds of times a day. Pumps are rated in cycles, not years, and a short-cycling system eats a $2,000–$4,500 pump replacement to save a $40 pressure-switch or a $400 tank fix. The tire gauge check below is the cheapest pump insurance that exists.
Two ways to get it done
Do it yourself
You'll need: Tire pressure gauge, Bicycle pump or small compressor (if the charge is low).
- Listen first: run a faucet and watch the pressure gauge at the tank. The pump should kick on at the low number (usually 30 or 40 psi), climb to the high number (50 or 60), and shut off. If it's clicking on and off every few seconds — that's short-cycling, and you've found a problem worth fixing this week.
- To check the charge: kill power to the pump, drain the tank down through a faucet or spigot until the gauge reads zero.
- Find the air valve on top of the tank (it's a standard tire valve under a cap) and check it with a tire gauge. The charge should read 2 psi below your pump's cut-in pressure — 28 psi for a 30/50 switch, 38 psi for a 40/60.
- Low? Add air with a bike pump or compressor to spec. Recheck in a month — a charge that keeps dropping means the bladder's going.
- Water spits out of the air valve? The bladder's ruptured and the tank is done. That's a replacement, and it's a normal end-of-life event, not a crisis.
- Power back on, let it cycle up, and confirm one long fill cycle to cutoff.
Hire it out
$150–$300National fair range — local labor moves this number.
A well-system checkup runs $150–$300 and a good one puts a gauge on everything: tank charge, switch operation, cycle timing, and drawdown. Worth buying every few years, or the first time you hear short-cycling and don't want to chase it yourself.
The economics to keep in your pocket: switch ≈ $40, tank ≈ $400 installed at the honest end, pump ≈ $2,000–$4,500. Every misdiagnosis in this system fails expensive — the tech who starts at the pump without checking the tank charge first is either green or working a commission. The fix order is always cheapest-first, and now you know it.
Ask the tech
- What's the tank's air charge, and what should it be for my pressure switch setting?
- How long is the pump's run cycle — is it short-cycling?
- Is the pressure switch clean and the contacts in decent shape?
Red flags you're being upsold
- 'You need a new pump' as the answer to short-cycling. Short-cycling is usually a $200 waterlogged tank or a $40 switch — the pump is the last suspect, not the first.
- Tank replacement quotes over $1,200 installed for a standard residential tank. The tank itself is $250–$500.
- Anyone diagnosing over the phone. This system needs a gauge on it before anyone names a price.
Second opinion time: Any pump-replacement quote — pulling a submersible pump runs $2,000–$4,500, and a wrong diagnosis at that price deserves two opinions on principle.
The call
DIY the check — if you can check tire pressure, you can check tank pressure. Hire the fix if the tank's waterlogged; wrestling a full tank isn't worth your back.