Replaced 1/2 hp pump w/ Utilitech #0036758 pressure tank. open valve up water came out. add sprkler. short time shuts off. wtr gets smaller. pump comes bk on. sprkler goes to original hgt. repeats

bad pressure switch or set incorrectly. the cut in and cut out setting is too far apart.

Without knowing all your variables with well it is hard to say. Bladder tank needs to have 30 psi with no water pressure. It is possible that the screen down the well is restricted and you are only getting that much water. Or you may have clogged impeller in pump.

the pump is controlled by the storage tanks pressure switch , if it continues to run well after the pressure tank has refilled with water , either the switches manual override has been activated (lever) or its defective or blocked off with mud

It sounds like a shallow well pump. Normally they would be set to turn on at 20 PSIG and off at 40 PSIG.

The pump pressure switch should be checked to see what the ON-OFF pressure is set at. Typically the pressure switch is set for 20-40 psi, or 30-50 psi. The pressure tank should be purged as well. With the pump OFF, and the tank drained of water, the air valve on the tank should read approximately 2 psi below the "on pressure". So if the system operates at 20-40, the tank should be pre-charged to 18 psi. If water escapes from the air valve, the internal bladder in the tank is ruptured, and the tank needs to be replaced. A tire air gauge is used to measure the pressure in the tank after the water is emptied from the tank.. A tire air pump or a compressor is used to charge the tank. if a compressor is used, be careful not to over-inflate the tank, as this may cuase the bladder to rupture.

The short run time of the pump indicates very litttle water volume is needed to reach to turn off pressure. To me this indicates you may have two problems. There is a leak somewhere in the system that allows the pressure to drop to the turn on point. Any check valve will fail eventually so barring any other leak that is your problem. I would think only one check valve is needed in the system so the second one may have been added to crutch the first one leaking. Normally the one check valve is placed on the pump before it is attached to the well pipe. The pump must be removed from the well to accomplish the replacement.

The second problem has something to do with the storage tank. If the pumps runs whenever you open a faucet or in your short cycle situation, then your tank is way too small or it is "water logged". Assuming it has been sized correctly, which means at least 20 gallon capacity then air needs to be added to the tank which will compress when the pump adds water until the high pressure setting is reached. When water is release to the house the air will expand until the low pressure setting is reached and the cycle repeats. The point here is that a significant quanity of water flows between pump cycles.

If your tank was installed in perhaps the last 20 years then it is likely a bladder type whitch contains the water so it never comes in contact with the steel tank, preventing internal corrosion and leaching of metals into the water. If the bladder has failed then the formally isolated air will have been absorbed by the water and your short cycling condition develops. That is what happens in non bladder tanks so air needs to be added periodically. I think all bladder tanks have a car tire like valve stem attached to the tank so that the opperating pressure can be set by the manufacture. The valve stem rairly leaks so bladder failure causes the loss of the air in the tank. There should be a label on the tank specifying the factory pressure. Use a tire gauge to test for the proper pressure. Add air if it is below setting.

Hi mid_age_elf
Your problem is that your "water bound"...
Your water tank must have a cushion of air for the pressure switch to work properly.
Turn off your pump and drain about 1/3 of the water from your tank.
Once you have an "air cushion" the pump and switch will work properly.
You can also add air pressure using an air compressor and an air valve installed on the top of your water tank or maybe on the side or bottom of the tank.
You would put air into the tank until about 1/3 of the water is gone replaced with the air.
Once that is complete your problem will be solved.
Please take time to rate me
Bud

Good you got it working. Please post again if you have more trouble on this or another item. Also be sure and check what I mentioned just in case you are operating at the margins, don't want a failure right after you got it going!

Depends on your application. If you are using it to provide water to a residence or other on/off use, you need a pressure tank and a pressure switch to control it. If you are filling a open air tank, no pressure tank needed. If you are just pumping water out of a well and directly to an ditch type irrigation system no tank needed.

My first thought was that of a water logged tank which causes short cycling, from your notes the tank is good (the tank may be partially water logged though) If the tank is ok and your getting short cycling (and the switch is good) I would guess your check valve down the well has failed. As the pump creates pressure then shuts off the water may be going right back down the well causing the pump to cycle again. This could also account for the poor water pressure as the check valve may be stuck slightly open allowing the system to loose pressure but only allowing a small amount of flow by when running. There could be a leak within the pumps drop-pipe and your loosing pressure through this leak. I expect you'll have to have the pump pulled.
I hope this may have helped,
Tom