Is there a plumber in the house?

[Crumm]

I am having pressure switch problems. When we purchased our house three years ago there were two pressure tanks in the basement. One looked to be 100 years old and the other one is a nice new looking blue one. A week ago the wife called me while I was out of town and informed me that the old one had sprung a leak When I returned home I removed the old tank and capped the line so now I only have one tank. The line to the old tank t-ed out where the pressure switch and pressure gauge are right next to where the line from the well comes in through the floor. The new looking tank is plumbed in about two to three feet on down the line from the pressure switch.

Next problem that arose a few days later was the pressure switch was constantly clicking the pump on and off like the switch was set at 40/40.5. I went and purchased a new 40/60 switch and it seemed to fix the problem.

Next day the pop-off on the water heater started leaking so I installed a new one and it now seems OK. I wrote it off to the domino effect of more pressure as I think the old switch was much lower than 60, at least it feels like it in the shower but the old gauge was broken so I don’t know what I had.

Now tonight the pressure switch started its crap again When the water softener was cycling the pump started coming on and off in 1 second increments until I went and turned on a faucet for a few seconds then all was well until the water softener did another function and it happened again. The switch seems to be getting a pressure surge when it turns on at 40 psi so it immediately shuts off thinking it has 60 psi but then it clicks back on when it figures out it only has 40. If a faucet or anything else is on things seem OK but a slight water draw will put the switch into fits.

Question : Is my pressure tank too far from the pressure switch or is the tank bad? How much pressure is the tank suppose to have in it? Like I said above the tank is two or three feet down the line from the switch so is this acceptable? I think my pump must be a high flow unit as I can flush both toilets, take a shower, run the dishwasher and do a load of laundry all at the same time so flow is not a problem. It seems as though you can flush a toilet or run a faucet for a quite a while without the pump kicking on so the pressure tank must be doing something but there is a problem.

Any ideas? I am getting tired of playing plumber every time I get home and my wife is about to stress out.

 

[F350DRW1]

You need some air at the top of the tank. Don't let it fill. gotta have an air cushion at top. I learned this the hard way.

 

[DaveBen]

There should be a rubber bladder in the tank, and that is your airspace. Is there a way to check if you have about 30 pounds in it? You can refill it if it is low.

Dave

 

[Bolt]

There should be a schrader valve (valve stem type) that you can check your bladder's pressure with, just using a tire pressure gauge.

 

[Crumm]

Well I did some more research and found that the tank should have 32psi in it when it is not hooked up. Does not appear to be anyway to test them once they are plumbed in without disconnecting the water line My tank feels very light when there is 60 psi of water pressure(not much water in it)and the pressure does not drop to 40 psi until two toilets are flushed and refilled so the tank must be doing its job.

So with this in mind I went to bed since I work nights and sleep days. Once I got to sleep the wife woke me up in a panic "we don't have any water" -mad -mad -mad -mad

Went down and the pressure switch contacts were closed but the pressure was at zero Pulled the switch off and took a big old hammer to the built in Taiwan piece of crap and went to Home Depot and got one made in USA. The Taiwan piece of crap was purchased at Lowe's a week ago. I just installed the new switch and all seems well. I watched the pressure while two people took showers and it cycled fine and then I watched it with one faucet on a trickle like when the softener is cycling and it kicked on fine. I am now hoping that the Taiwan piece of junk was the problem.

If the problem returns I guess I will have to move the tank closer to the switch and if that does not fix it I guess a new tank is in order. Anyone know if having the tank a couple of feet from the switch is a no-no??

 

[Bolt]

The pressure switch on our residential system is right on the tank, most I have seen have been this way. But lately our's hasn't been working too great either, granted it is from the 80's....

 

[JLDickmon]

mine is about a foot from the surge tank..

honestly, other than your two week crap-out switch, it doesn't sound much different than mine...

when you think about where a water softener is plumbed into the system, it should be the first or second think away from the tank... your toilets, on the other hand, have a whole house to act like a big surge tank...

plus, depending on the softener, you could be running quite the volume of water through it during it's regeneration period...

how old is the softener? It may be worth your while looking into a new Kinetico...

 

[Crumm]

mine is about a foot from the surge tank..


how old is the softener?

The softener is about two or three months old.


Is your tank or pressure switch closer to the well?

 

[dpantazis]

crumm-

do you have isolation valves on your equipment? you should have a a shut off valve to disconnect the water heater, softner, etc.. to diagnose problems.

do you have a boiler in the system for hot water heat?

do you have a WATTS valve on your water supply line or somewhere on the system? might be upstream of the pressure tank. best way i can describe it, its like a check valve the eliminate the backflow in the system. it will have an arrow in the direction of flow, and probably two screw plugs. it has a flapper valve in it. it may also have a screen. check the screen. if the screen is plugged up, then the valve will not close properly and you can overpressurise the system.

pressure tank distance: why do you ask. there is a code prescription, but i do not think it applies.

water is a NON-compressible fluid in this case. as lond as there is water in the piping leading to the pressure tank, and the water level is in the pressure tank, then you should be ok.

lastly, you are overpressurizing. have you checked and 'burped' your tank like suggested above? as long as there is no water in the tank, you should be able to check the pressure reliably.

dp

dennis

 

[Wingdog]

Crumm, I insall and work on these things every day. If your pump is costantly cutting in and out rapidly it is a pressure tank problem. Your air pressure on the top of your tank should be two lbs below your water cut in pressure. If it doesn't hold pressure your tank is toast, buy a new one.