Post your water well and pump questions

[Kjbakke2]

Hi guys, I was at work the other day (I drill wells and install pumps and pressure tanks) and thought to myself, this might be something useful to take to the gj boards.

So go ahead, if you're having problems or have questions let em rip and I'll see if I can't get you taken care of.

 

[tymbo]

I have a well in a concrete pit. Eventually, I want to install a pitless adapter and fill in the pit. The well casing is steel. I would like to do this myself. Does the casing extension need to be steel, or is there a way to use PVC? I have watched videos of cutting a hole in the side of the well casing and installing the actual adapter fitting, but extending the casing is where my knowledge ends.

BTW thanks in advance for volunteering your expertise!

Tim

 

[yeldogt]

Timely!

I'm starting my rebuild soon and I do have questions. My well/pump is about 15' behind my studio and the pressure tank and controls are in a mini 6x6x6 basement under the studio ... then the water line goes to the house about 20' from the studio

It is all very old -- some parts are really old.

How do you determine what size tank and pressure?

I have heard that some don't use a tank but rather use some sort of pressure control that eliminates the cycle and pressure fluctuations from the pressure tank. The pump runs when you need water at a steady pressure ... any ideas?

Also -- what is the best pipe to use .. currently some sort of black flexible plastic.

The submerged pump was replaced about 7 years ago just before I bought the place -- but the controls are much older ... as are all the wires.

I want to replace everything from the well head while it is all ripped up.

 

[arrowhead]

OK I got one, have a pretty standard well and bladder tank setup. Replaced the bladder tank a few months ago because it was leaking, everything was working perfectly other than that. Now the pressure goes down to zero before the pump kicks on. Honestly have been just too lazy to even look at it as it's only slightly annoying, the water still works, but it momentarily stops flowing until the pump kicks on again.

So I'm thinking:

defective pressure switch

obstruction (corrosion) in the small pipe to the pressure switch casusing a delay in switch acivation

bladder tank pressure too high

 

[Kjbakke2]

Hi Tim, its actually somewhat coincidental, I had a pit to pitless conversion on Friday. First things first, you have to check with your local DNR regulations to see if you can do this work yourself. As with anything well related it needs to be done with the end game being safe water. If your well becomes contaminated it could threaten your waters safety your neighbors and could ultimately mean the well needs to be redrilled. That being said, in Wisconsin all well pits are illegal because they act as a conduit for contaminating the well. The code here states that the casing needs to be at minimum 12" above grade.

You will need to remove the pump,
find a way to prevent sparks from going down the casing,
weld a new piece of casing on to extend above outside grade weld in the adapter receiver.
The casing needs to be straight, this can be achieved with a level and a hand grinder
When you purchase your adapter you will get a male and a female part. The male part screws on to your drop pipe, use thread sealant, my favorite is jet lube v2
Make it tight and screw a piece of drop pipe on top of it (don't crank it, just snug)
Use whatever system you used to get it up to lower it down and set the adapter. The well should be chlorinated, there are pellets made for this.

Hook the wires up, check for leaks and then remove the top piece of drop pipe and put the well seal back on.

When you're tackling the pit, we typically drill many holes through the pit so that it drains and add in clean fill dirt. This can be done in concrete but its expensive.

I have to say anything you do here is at your own risk, and I recommend having this level of work done by a licensed tech. They will inspect your system and keep it sanitary. But that's the process. Hope that helps.

 

[Kjbakke2]

Arrowhead, you are correct in thinking its the pressure switch, that's where my money is at. The 1/4 inch ****** that the switch sits on, is it brass or galvanized?

Odds are that the ****** is plugged regardless, but I would replace the switch too. You should get out of this for under 25 bucks.

Kill the power to the well, open up faucets, flush the toilets, get all the water out of the system.
While its drained check the pressure in the tank, it should be 2lbs below the turn on so if its a 40-60 switch it will be 38lbs
Check the piping under the ****** for obstructions, then install your new ****** and switch
Use a brass ******. 1/4 npt about 3-4 inches in length. Take note of the wiring before hand.
I will also say 7 out of ten times the gauges are bad, so you may want to replace the gauge while the pressure is out.

You might need to tap out your screens in your faucets, when you depressurize you shake loose a bunch of stuff

Let me know if that does it

 

[Kjbakke2]

Yeldog, I would absolutely advise against a constant pressure system. When they fail you're looking at $800 for just the control box. Keep it simple, there's nothing wrong with the traditional types, people can't tell the difference between 40 and 60 psi, and the control box is about $40. You're saying the well is in an alcove, you will have to make sure the alcove is legal, I would recommend and inspection by a local tech, I can also look at some pictures if you would like. For the tank, I would recommend a wellrite wr140 it's a 44 gallon tank and the best tank I've found.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005VPLJCM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I can get you a parts list if you end up doing a pressure tank install yourself. If its hung on black poly you're asking for trouble, we only use schedule 80 PVC, 95% of the time its 1" pipe for residential. Any other questions?

 

[sb7979]

KJB,

Thanks for your help ahead of time.
Our well and house are only 5 years old. Drilled well, submersible pump, bladder tank set-up. Over time, the pressure has seemed to drop, especially upstairs. I'm assuming that either the water is leaking into the bladder area or the air is leaking out of the bladder. Is this common, or is there something else I should look for? how would I tell which is really happening, if it's one of those two scenarios?

Thanks.

 

[Kingcreek]

OK, here goes:
What should I do with my OLD well?
26' deep brick lined hand dug well that got a buried concrete cap and seal with PVC riser 12 years ago before we gave up on it and drilled a new deep well. I kept the old one functional in case of emergency or watering landscaping or something with its own old pressure tank. It does not communicate with the household plumbing anymore, just a hose spigot in the basement and one outside. Haven't used it for a few years. I know the recommendation is to fill with sand or something but How to get a column of sand 18'x4' below the cap thru a 8" PVC pipe without excavating the cap (along with patio and landscaping and an ornamental tree)?
Thanks

 

[Kjbakke2]

Sb,

Knock on the side of the tank top to bottom it should sound hollow. Also can you provide me with a tank model number?

 

[sb7979]

Sb,

Knock on the side of the tank top to bottom it should sound hollow. Also can you provide me with a tank model number?

I'll check that out tonight and see if I can find a model number on the tank. Also I forgot to mention that sometimes I notice the pump come on when seemingly there is no water running anywhere.

 

[larry_g]

Timely!



I have heard that some don't use a tank but rather use some sort of pressure control that eliminates the cycle and pressure fluctuations from the pressure tank. The pump runs when you need water at a steady pressure ... any ideas?

I have one of these. Referred to as a constant pressure pump. It does use a small pressure tank to prevent cycling with every glass of water but it does kick on with a only a few psi of drop. The control is a VFD that is controlled with a variable resistance pressure switch. The further the pressure is from the set point the faster the pump will run to keep up. ( there is more electronics here but preceding is the basic operation) I really like it as we do watering of lawns and gardens in the summer and always plenty of water and the sprinklers deliver a consistent pattern. I don't have to keep certain sprinklers running to prevent the pump from cycling like the old pumps with a cutin/cutout pressure switch. Another side benefit is that the pump is a soft start and will run just fine on a small generator as there is no heavy inrush of current to start the pump motor.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[jaysberman]

I have a 13 year old well that is over 150 ft. deep.
Lately the filter is getting clogged with sand. My plumber raised the pump ten feet, but I still get sand. What is causing this?
Thanks Jay

 

[Strouty]

I have a 13 year old well that is over 150 ft. deep.
Lately the filter is getting clogged with sand. My plumber raised the pump ten feet, but I still get sand. What is causing this?
Thanks Jay

Sand


Have you ever installed a point? There was one at my shop when I moved in, but I did not know it until I dug it up. The water table is pretty high and the soil is very sandy. They want $7500 for a well and I can't swing that, especially since there is no house on the property. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Kjbakke2]

Hi jay, well to be quite honest the rock formation is deterioration down the bore hole. There are temporary solutions. Some pump services out there have made tools that they can drop to the bottom of the well and pull out some of that sand. As the well deteriorates, the sand will bud up in the bottom. What my service has done in the past is insert a 5 inch liner. We backed our drilling rig up to the hole, set up over top drilled down another 50 to 100 feet, put the liner in and got the customer into fresh rock formation. There's isn't really anything you personally can do to remediate this, the problem is down the hole.

 

[Kjbakke2]

Sand


Have you ever installed a point? There was one at my shop when I moved in, but I did not know it until I dug it up. The water table is pretty high and the soil is very sandy. They want $7500 for a well and I can't swing that, especially since there is no house on the property. Thanks for any advice!

I have installed a driven point and its a bear, not to mention the risk for contamination is higher. I much prefer drilled wells, but start out by contacting your local DNR and see what they allow.

Best of luck

 

[Kjbakke2]

I have one of these. Referred to as a constant pressure pump. It does use a small pressure tank to prevent cycling with every glass of water but it does kick on with a only a few psi of drop. The control is a VFD that is controlled with a variable resistance pressure switch. The further the pressure is from the set point the faster the pump will run to keep up. ( there is more electronics here but preceding is the basic operation) I really like it as we do watering of lawns and gardens in the summer and always plenty of water and the sprinklers deliver a consistent pattern. I don't have to keep certain sprinklers running to prevent the pump from cycling like the old pumps with a cutin/cutout pressure switch. Another side benefit is that the pump is a soft start and will run just fine on a small generator as there is no heavy inrush of current to start the pump motor.

lg
no neat sig line

All of the classic pumps should be minimum 10gpm, thats two garden hoses going full blast (and that would be what I recommend doing if you are watering), so basically once the pressure switch tells the pump to turn on you will be flowing straight from the pump. The big downside to constant pressure systems is that they are very expensive to fix simple problems. I have seen control boxes ($800+) go after three years. As a person who installs both, I prefer the classic systems.

 

[larry_g]

All of the classic pumps should be minimum 10gpm, thats two garden hoses going full blast (and that would be what I recommend doing if you are watering), so basically once the pressure switch tells the pump to turn on you will be flowing straight from the pump. The big downside to constant pressure systems is that they are very expensive to fix simple problems. I have seen control boxes ($800+) go after three years. As a person who installs both, I prefer the classic systems.

Two sprinklers won't cut it for me. I can have up to 7 running at a time so the system I spec'ed out works for me. Typically have only 5 rainbirds out though and cover the place in 2 days. I am not your typical tract house.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[yeldogt]

Kjbakke2: Well alcove?? Not sure?

The well location is a large pipe -- maybe 8" cast iron with a cap. This sits all by itself out in the yard -- The water line and power goes about 15 feet before entering my studio. When the building was constructed back in the 60's a 6x6x6 area basement space was created -- the rest is a slab. So I have a floor cover to look into this space -- is that an alcove. This 6x6x6 area is where the pump control and pressure tank are located ... then the water line goes to the house underground another 20 feet or so. I guess they did not want the tank and control in the main house -- space or noise?? Thanks for the info on the constant systems and the tank suggestion.

 

[Kjbakke2]

Oh so you have a standard well casing outside, I'm sorry I misunderstood. You should be totally fine with just replacing the tank. Is there a control box and a pressure switch or just a pressure switch? Do you know the HP of the pump? I can tell you the health of your pump with a resistance test.

 

[66HertzClone]

Here's one that bugs me, when I turn the faucet on the water pressure from the nozzle decreases, then increases again when the pump kicks on. Something as small use as a toilet flush at times will cause the pump to cycle twice to fill the tank. There aren't any leaks internally, and I guess if there was one outside in the pipe, the pump would continue to cycle on and off forever. The pressure tank is fairly small, I didn't check the air pressure it has, but I'm thinking it is lower than it should be.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have a 5 hp pump set at aprox 480 feet in a 525 foot deep well. I also have the largest captive air tank that sears sells. I get a real bad hammer through out the whole house when the pump starts and stops also. And it get some sand. the well has been in for close to ten yrs. Thanks Rich

 

[yeldogt]

Kjbakke2: It has a very old Square D pressure switch, old Franklin pump control and a non working gauge. Have never touched any of it in the seven years I have owned the place. I can see the flex black pipe coming in -- all of the connections inside the little basement are metal -- all the valves are stuck --- then another black flex pipe going to the house. The previously owner never fixed anything correctly -- although much of this predates him.

I was wondering if he should have installed a new pump control when he put the new pump in ?


When you speak of schedule 80" -- are you speaking of rigid pipe for the manifold connections -- or do you recommend rigid pipe for the water lines to the house

 

[mrodgers]

Here's one that bugs me, when I turn the faucet on the water pressure from the nozzle decreases, then increases again when the pump kicks on. Something as small use as a toilet flush at times will cause the pump to cycle twice to fill the tank. There aren't any leaks internally, and I guess if there was one outside in the pipe, the pump would continue to cycle on and off forever. The pressure tank is fairly small, I didn't check the air pressure it has, but I'm thinking it is lower than it should be.

This started to happen to me. I played around with draining the pressure tank and checking/refilling with air. Played around like that for about a year when it quit working with pressure altogether and just cycled the pump continuously as soon as we used water. The air bladder was completely waterlogged at this time. I just replaced the tank last week. Now even with the kids taking long showers, the pump only cycles once and runs for a good long while pumping back up. Next kid will get her shower and the pump won't even need to cycle.

Previous owners were just the 2 of them. We've been in the house 14 years. The old tank was only 20 gallon. With 4 of us I figured a bigger tank was in order. Put a 42 gallon in and it runs fantastic now barely ever kicking the pump on and as I said, when it cycles, it runs for a god while. I have no noticable pressure difference at the faucet between the tank running down and pump kicking on to when at full pressure when the pump kicks off.

This sparks my question. I have a 20/40 pressure switch. Like I said, no pressure fluxuations but I've always felt like there just wasn't enough water flow such as the volume of water in the shower or filling up a pitcher at the sink. Would it benefit me to swap to a higher pressure switch? I believe my water lines are 3/4" but without looking they may reduce down to half inch going to individual faucets. What are the benefits to running higher or lower pressure (other than tank longevity as it seems the life expectancy listed on tank is lower for higher pressure)?

 

[Kjbakke2]

This started to happen to me. I played around with draining the pressure tank and checking/refilling with air. Played around like that for about a year when it quit working with pressure altogether and just cycled the pump continuously as soon as we used water. The air bladder was completely waterlogged at this time. I just replaced the tank last week. Now even with the kids taking long showers, the pump only cycles once and runs for a good long while pumping back up. Next kid will get her shower and the pump won't even need to cycle.

Previous owners were just the 2 of them. We've been in the house 14 years. The old tank was only 20 gallon. With 4 of us I figured a bigger tank was in order. Put a 42 gallon in and it runs fantastic now barely ever kicking the pump on and as I said, when it cycles, it runs for a god while. I have no noticable pressure difference at the faucet between the tank running down and pump kicking on to when at full pressure when the pump kicks off.

This sparks my question. I have a 20/40 pressure switch. Like I said, no pressure fluxuations but I've always felt like there just wasn't enough water flow such as the volume of water in the shower or filling up a pitcher at the sink. Would it benefit me to swap to a higher pressure switch? I believe my water lines are 3/4" but without looking they may reduce down to half inch going to individual faucets. What are the benefits to running higher or lower pressure (other than tank longevity as it seems the life expectancy listed on tank is lower for higher pressure)?

The switches that I install in 99.9% of houses are 40/60 switches. The .1% are 50/70 switches.at 40/60 your pressure tank WHEN EMPTY should have 38psi of air in the bladder. A wellrite tank at this pressure will last up sometimes up to 25 years, its not really the pressure that kills tanks its rusting and how many times it cyclesnin its life thus bigger tank longer life of both your tank and pump

 

[boo coo tracks]

Man, you are going to be one popular guy !!!!!!
Tracks

 

[Kjbakke2]

Kjbakke2: It has a very old Square D pressure switch, old Franklin pump control and a non working gauge. Have never touched any of it in the seven years I have owned the place. I can see the flex black pipe coming in -- all of the connections inside the little basement are metal -- all the valves are stuck --- then another black flex pipe going to the house. The previously owner never fixed anything correctly -- although much of this predates him.


I was wondering if he should have installed a new pump control when he put the new pump in ?


When you speak of schedule 80" -- are you speaking of rigid pipe for the manifold connections -- or do you recommend rigid pipe for the water lines to the house

Okay the lateral line (line that comes through the wall or slab etc) are often poly and that is fine as its buried and not susceptible to moving.

I was mentored by a guy that has been doing this his whole life, his father before him, his father before him, his father before him, and his father before him were all well guys so I like the old school methods. For inside plumbing I much prefer brass and copper sweat. When I was talking about sch 80 I meant the pipe that the pump is hung on down the hole.

With new pumps I highly recommend a new control box, they are cheap insurance at roughly $40 a piece and they aren't application specific, just make sure the horsepower is correct. In my opinion franklin electric makes the nicest box.

 

[Kjbakke2]

Man, you are going to be one popular guy !!!!!!
Tracks

I see that now hahaha

 

[Richard Cranium]

did you miss my info in #22? What can I do for it? thnks

 

[Kjbakke2]

I have a 5 hp pump set at aprox 480 feet in a 525 foot deep well. I also have the largest captive air tank that sears sells. I get a real bad hammer through out the whole house when the pump starts and stops also. And it get some sand. the well has been in for close to ten yrs. Thanks Rich

So it sounds like you have failing check valves. There are internal check valves inside the pump and a lot of installers will rely on this as their only check valve, we in the industry call this job security and it pisses me off that guys will put shoddy stuff down the well. My company puts one 20 feet above the pump as a back up and another at 300 feet if we are setting really deep. Once again, cheap insurance.

What happens is as sand gets put through the pump it will swirl the seals in the check valve essentially sand blasting it. As this leaks back, you will get air in the system as the check valve can't keep the water column up and when the pump kicks on that space fills and boom, water hammer. Sounds like that pump will have to come out. The other way this happens, is sometimes you'll get a hole in the drop pipe down the well, typically happens near the pump but really not common in PVC, more common in galvanized

 

[Kjbakke2]

did you miss my info in #22? What can I do for it? thnks

Hahaha nope, was just typing away, I'm doing all of this on my phone

 

[Kjbakke2]

Here's one that bugs me, when I turn the faucet on the water pressure from the nozzle decreases, then increases again when the pump kicks on. Something as small use as a toilet flush at times will cause the pump to cycle twice to fill the tank. There aren't any leaks internally, and I guess if there was one outside in the pipe, the pump would continue to cycle on and off forever. The pressure tank is fairly small, I didn't check the air pressure it has, but I'm thinking it is lower than it should be.

Give it a couple of knocks on the side, it sounds like you're starting to get water logged. Is it a bladder style tank or is it bladder less?

Let me know what you hear when you knock on it and what type of tank it is

 

[mrodgers]

I see that now hahaha

Yes, it seems not that you are going to be quite the popular guy, you are quite the popular guy.

I have learned quite a lot about well systems over the last few months with trying to figure mine out. The fact that the tank had a label that said "hydro-pneumatic" on it and everything online told me that is bladder-less tank and later finding info on how the bladder-less and bladder tanks differ in their in/out plumbing really had me confused.

I had never looked to see what a new switch costs. Had no idea they were only $20-30. I thought I would be looking at $100+ so never looked into changing from my 20/40 to a 40/60. I think I may do that in the near future.

Such a great collection of knowledge in this forum and such a service for folks like you who (and the many certified mechanics and such) who bring the specific knowledge to the table to help others. Thank you.

 

[BobRae]

Thanks for starting this thread!

I live in a city that has increasingly poor water quality (lead pipes are deteriorating and the city adds chemicals to keep the lead for sloughing off which is bothering my skin), such that I have considered drilling a well on my urban property.

The drilling company I contacted says they drill wells within the city limit at a cost of around $5 - $6,000 to a typical depth of 120'. Of course there is no guarantee we'll find water at that level or at any level I suppose, but I'm willing to try.

A few questions:

Assuming I'm not near a toxic waste site, what are the typical water quality problems we might find in our well water and what are the solutions? How can I deal with these problems?

I live in a very cold climate. How does the water pipe enter the house without freezing?

I would plan to put the well in a side yard adjacent to my driveway. What will I see at the surface level?

Is there any way to predict what well water quality will be like if no one in the area has a well? I know of several wells about a mile away. the water is high in iron although I'm told this can be dealt with by an iron eater filter??

Thanks again for starting this thread!

 

[Kjbakke2]

Thanks for starting this thread!

I live in a city that has increasingly poor water quality (lead pipes are deteriorating and the city adds chemicals to keep the lead for sloughing off which is bothering my skin), such that I have considered drilling a well on my urban property.

The drilling company I contacted says they drill wells within the city limit at a cost of around $5 - $6,000 to a typical depth of 120'. Of course there is no guarantee we'll find water at that level or at any level I suppose, but I'm willing to try.

A few questions:

Assuming I'm not near a toxic waste site, what are the typical water quality problems we might find in our well water and what are the solutions? How can I deal with these problems?

I live in a very cold climate. How does the water pipe enter the house without freezing?

I would plan to put the well in a side yard adjacent to my driveway. What will I see at the surface level?

Is there any way to predict what well water quality will be like if no one in the area has a well? I know of several wells about a mile away. the water is high in iron although I'm told this can be dealt with by an iron eater filter??

Thanks again for starting this thread!

Okay, so the concerns of the well driller are primarily rock formation. We are drilling into bedrock and while we do have drill construction reports that give us an idea of what's down there, fifty feet away can be completely different bedrock formations. A bad driller will sink a hole drop some casing in open to water and deal with whatever comes out. A good driller will take the time to make sure your well is straight, cased past all the trouble spots ( in my area this is red and green limestone) and will make sure you have a hole that is in good quality for the next 100 years. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to make sure you're contracting with the right driller. You get what you pay for, our quotes are typically $15,000 plus. Now, we do typically go closer to 200 sometimes venturing down to even 500 and our quotes include tank pump excavating for the lateral the whole nine.
I'm almost off my soapbox, but look into the drillers history, its important.

Other quality problems that are of concern are coliform bacteria, chemical infiltration, iron bacteria, nitrates, and arsenic content of the water. A properly cased well when new should not have any of these problems......LOOK INTO YOUR DRILLER
Most bacterial contamination problems can be dealt with a chlorine shock that typically only has to be done once or twice. Its the same stuff they put in city water to make sure there is no bacteria, yes completely potable completely safe.

The lateral line coming into your house will be buried under the frost plane of your area, around here that's about 6 feet, we bury at roughly 7.5.......your side yard will need new grass hahaha

Your side yard will have a ~6.5 inch by 18 inch pipe stickingnout of the ground with a little metal hat called a well seal and a small piece of conduit running back into the ground. There is a company that makes faux rocks that fit over the top and are very convincing. I don't wanna get in trouble with the gj overlords here, this isn't my company or a friends company, I just know that they exist and we sell a decent number of them to our customers. They're great for septic pipes as well. Google for them. DeKorra products

 

[Kjbakke2]

Yes, it seems not that you are going to be quite the popular guy, you are quite the popular guy.

I have learned quite a lot about well systems over the last few months with trying to figure mine out. The fact that the tank had a label that said "hydro-pneumatic" on it and everything online told me that is bladder-less tank and later finding info on how the bladder-less and bladder tanks differ in their in/out plumbing really had me confused.

I had never looked to see what a new switch costs. Had no idea they were only $20-30. I thought I would be looking at $100+ so never looked into changing from my 20/40 to a 40/60. I think I may do that in the near future.

Such a great collection of knowledge in this forum and such a service for folks like you who (and the many certified mechanics and such) who bring the specific knowledge to the table to help others. Thank you.

The hydro pneumatic is a bladder less style tank, it might also need to be air charged. One of the reasons that I much prefer the bladder style tanks, the wr140 being my weapon of choice, is that that you set that pressure once and typically never have to screw with it again. Getting the tank charged right is a little funky but those tanks should charge themselves if your air unloader is functioning properly

Try the switch and while your at it install a new 1/4" by ~3-4" ******
Grab a compressor start adding air, air should come out of your air bleeder, flick your pump on until air stops coming out then flick it off, put in ~38 psi if the bleeder blows again kick the pump on tk get some more water in there and then off again. Once your up near 38 and no air coming out fire up the pump and make sure it builds and shuts off at 60-65.

I would replace the gauge too. If you have any problems you know where to find me

 

[justme-]

We have a glass lined bladderless tank - about 100 gal I believe - very old. Just replaced the pump itself with a newer one about 18 months ago (old was cast housing and failed, new is composite housing). Pump is set 40/60, and there is a noticeable difference in pressure and flow when the pump kicks on. This is in a 2 family, 2 story house.

So here are my questions - annually we drain the system and recharge the tank because (especially in the summer) when water usage is higher we notice the pump cycling more often. Rather than draining and resetting pressure from there, can you recommend adding air to the tank in use (like an automatic unloader valve does) and if so, how much pressure should we put back in.
I've read a lot on line (especially terry love) about wells and pump systems learning about the subject since we moved here (6 years) and most seem to advocate against those automatic air unloaders claiming they fail very often. What's your experience with them? Adding air without draining annually isn't a bad thing, but draining this whole house to recharge is a multi hour project.
thanks

 

[David Paul]

Kj, very nice of you to take the time to start this thread. I'm not even having trouble with my well and I'm reading through it all.....

 

[Kjbakke2]

Kj, very nice of you to take the time to start this thread. I'm not even having trouble with my well and I'm reading through it all.....

Well, I'm happy to be able to help some people out. I work for a company that's been in the game since the 1890s, five generations of honest guys and I hate seeing people taken advantage of. I also know what goes around comes around, so to all of my fellow gj members, cheers mates!

 

[mrodgers]

Is there any way to predict what well water quality will be like if no one in the area has a well? I know of several wells about a mile away. the water is high in iron although I'm told this can be dealt with by an iron eater filter??

Not really a reliable prediction going by what others have. My neighbor directly across the road just built a house a few years ago. His water literally looks this color - . I drink mine straight from the ground. No filter, no rust, very little calcium. It is the best tasting water around. I got lucky. My neighbor next to me is the same. All other houses along the road has this color - - water.

The hydro pneumatic is a bladder less style tank, it might also need to be air charged. One of the reasons that I much prefer the bladder style tanks, the wr140 being my weapon of choice, is that that you set that pressure once and typically never have to screw with it again. Getting the tank charged right is a little funky but those tanks should charge themselves if your air unloader is functioning properly

Sorry, I already have mentioned earlier about a tank replacement. I did it last week. I was just mentioning my tank was labeled "hydro-pneumatic" but after more looking online, I realize it is a bladder tank. I only have a single pipe coming out of the bottom and a shrader valve on the top to fill the bladder. When trying to diagnose my "hydro-pneumatic" tank, I read about an inlet, outlet, valve to charge the tank, bleeder valve, check valves, etc. I didn't have any of those, just the air valve for the bladder and single pipe coming out into a T for pump side and house side.

I did replace the entire T as well as a new gauge. I didn't replace the tube going to the switch. I don't have any problems with the switch, was just wondering what the benefit of going to 40/60 over my current 20/40. Since it's so cheap, I may just do that over Christmas just replacing the switch and the ****** it is mounted to for more pressure (and charging the tank more of course as I had to reduce it down to 18 psi from factory for the 20/40.)