Pressure pump with tank on @30; off @50psi. Takes too long to build pressure, loses it fast. Why? What to do?

Question

Tank capacity about 21 gallons. No pressure is lost when all taps remain closed. Pump sort of "gurgles" when switched off. Pressure pump and tank system only 2 months old. First time to encounter this situation. Already tried draining all the water from tank, then resumed pump operation. Please explain step-by-step procedure on what to do and on how to resume operation from the very start (as if system were newly installed). Thank you.

Answer 1

you are losing your water pressure backwards through your pump , your foot valve is stuck open so the system is leaking back to your well you will have to replace the foot valve so you will have to pull up the pipe that goes down the well the foot valve is at the bottom  

Answer 2

If your system holds pressue until you open a tap, then the check valve is fine.  If it were bad, the water would immediately drain back down the well pipe as soon as the pump shut off.   If it takes more than a minute to pump up pressure from 30 to 50 lbs., then you're well point is mostly plugged.  Regardless of how new your pump is, if you can't get the water through the point easily, then it will take forever to attain pressure.  Also, when the pump kicks on as you're using water, it can't even come close to keeping up with what you're using, so it seems like you're losing pressure there too.  

Answer 3

I would think that the tank would need an air bubble in the top to help smooth out the off/on situation. But if the tank is full of air it would take a long time to build up.

If the tank has a level indicator on the side- or a sight glass- it should be near or just over half full when the pump shuts off.