I have a couple of questions regarding a water logged pressure tank.
First what is the proper way to repressure the tank? It is an underground tank and the switch is a30 50. It has been water logged before and the plumber has come out and fixed it when I wasn’t here to watch.
The well feeds a house and two cattle waters. the plumber recharged the tank last year and the year before. Both times the pump was short cycling. I was told by a person that there might be a weep hole that is causing the tank to be waterlogged.
The well was water logged about six weeks ago. The owners refilled it with air. That night it got cold and the pressure swith line froze so I unthawed it at 11 pm. I noticed water coming out of the small air hole on the pipe at the well. the pressure tank read zero. the pump kicked on ok. the next morning the pump pressure was around 5. there where cattle drinking at the water. What are the symptoms of a tank becoming water logged within a short time of say two to three months versus say a year or more. What are some of the things to watch for that might indicate that it is getting water logged before I get the short cycling(shutting on and off rapidly)
thanks
mark
Replies
You have a hole in the tank. Go out to the Farm or plumbing supply store and buy a new bladder tank (blue generally) unthread the old one and replace it with this. You of course need to seal the threads.
Steel rusts. it leaks the air out and that is that. The bladder tanks separate the air cushion from the watter by an elastic diaphragm. Therefore the air doesn't get absorbed into the water.
If this is threatening to you then call a plumber. 150 for a tank, and mscl parts plus labor.
i have never actually seen the pressure tank on top of this well but on the neighbors house when they drilled a new well the old pressure tank on top of there well was big i think 300 gallons. are yo refering to a tank that is on the well cassing in your response.
thank
mark
My experience is with a 6" caseing with a 1/2 hp 220 volt pump. That system had a ~30 gallon steel tank that was replaced by a 15 gallon pressure bladder.
Now I'm not sure what you are running in terms of volume (for the cows) but the pressure tank is intended to keep you from hammering the load on an off. Generally the pressure tank in a home application is used to allow water usage and pressure to be maintained but not necessarily have the pump turn on every time someone flushes the toilet.
Further you should probably change out the pressure switch as the hammering is certainly eating up the contacts in the switch (or the power relay) Possibly the switch is mis adjusted.(if it is adjustable) Hysterisis is the value you want to increase. this is the pressure differential. On at 20 off at 50 or whatever you have for a system.
I don't know how to make this simple but the issue here is that the pressure tank is there to keep pressure relatively constant and minimize the startup of the pump. If you have a 1/2 inch hose going 400 feet to fill a drinking trough then the pump will turn on and off several times during a fill cycle of a 400 gallon trough. The submerged pump in the well knocks out 100 gallons a minute but your hose can only use 10 gallons a minute. The pressure tank can even out some of the flow by taking some of the volume but the pump will still cycle in short bursts. Here the problem is poor distribution or too much pump.
If this doesn't answer the question describe the system and sizes of the loads (pipes) and the pump size.
Editing this I just thought of another issue. it could be your well is running down. If the water in the caseing is just at or even with the the submersed pump you could be sucking air. If that is the case then you need to drop the pump lower in the caseing, clean the drill point, or get a new well. Only the guy with the cold ankles knows that for sure.
Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?
Edited 4/30/2003 10:46:30 PM ET by Booch
I noticed water coming out of the small air hole on the pipe at the well.
"Small air hole"??? do you mean an air inlet valve like on a car tire? If so, and water was coming out of it, you need a new valve stem, take one out of the right front tire of your car and replace the one in the air tank. Just kidding, tho they are probably the same valve.
Need more info to help more.
SamT
Great idea. I took the stem out of the neighbors car. lol The hole is in the pipe casing (about 2to 3 inches around that is next to to the well casing) that the pressure gauge is threaded to on one side and the pressure swith is threaded on the other side. The valve stem you are talking about when I push in on it top let air shoots out water and not air. It was about 4to6 week ago that we added air because it was water logged and tuning on and off rapidly. One plumber tht I talked to said thereis a weep hole on the pipe in the actual well casing that could be pluged and or there is a thing (ican't remember the name ) that is on the end of the pipe that is about 2 to 3' long and is in the casing that the pressure gauge is attached too. The plumber said that it would be about 1and 1/2 hours to check and fix this. The problem is that the owners asked the plumber if water caould be fixed and he said no. They don't think there is a problem that can be fixed and I don't want the pump to burn out if it can be avoided. I would send you apictur e of the well head but it is raining cats and dogs. I am in wisconsin and two winters ago I had to heat the metal pipe going to the pressure switch because water froze and blocked air from getting to the switch. I had to do this about every day to every other day.
The valve stem you are talking about when I push in on it top let air shoots out water and not air.
I think you said that water is coming out the air fill valve that is on top of the tank, when you push on it (the valve). A valve stem usually means the tank has a bladder. Water out the valve stem means ruptured bladder. Is this a bladder style tank?
Putting air back in a water logged tank (non bladder type)
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I am a seasoned professional. (salt to taste)
Once upon a time when I was a young lad of 14yo, man of the house, poor as church mice, we had an old leaky pressure tank. I stuck galvanized sheet metal screws in the pinholes. I did not realize that I was making a 50# BOMB! Old tank, no bladder.
SamT
Edited 5/1/2003 12:25:44 AM ET by SamT
Sam T, I second your Motion, I would also shut off water to the house/ stock tanks, if there is a shut off valve. I'am guessing the owners have an old "Galvanized Pressure Tank", Quite possible, the water logged Pressure tank was only partially recharged last time around. I'am in a similiar situation, same steps you have mentioned, my well guy told me, to recharge pressure tank once every three to four months. air and water will mix, as we all are aware of, over time. I believe the missing word was/is "Pitless adapter" Good Luck to all, Jim J.
Thanks for the feed back. i can't see the tank since it is buried in dirt. I don't think it has a bladder. The previous owners of the farm can't remember changing the tank and they bought it in1976. Since I can't see the tank to pund on it how can I tell when the water air is right. The last time they put air in we open the water in the house at the sink and pumped air in until the water was out and then turned the pump on and let it pump up. the hole in the 3 in pipe that the pressure gauge is attached to was letting excess air out while the tank pumped up to pressure. I will try and get a picture of the well head so you can see what it look like.
Hokay. That pump up procedure will work fine. I lnow in my last post I said 1/3 full...Just woken up and was confusin self pressured and manually pressured and something else.
the hole in the 3 in pipe that the pressure gauge is attached to was letting excess air out while the tank pumped up to pressure
The hole in the 3" pipe has a valve to open and close or it is just a hole in the pipe??? or maybe it has a plug?
Excess air?... there is no excess air. starting with an empty (no water) tank and no air outlet the tank will be about 1/2 full of water @ 30# pressure. maybe 3/4 full @ 50#. the amount of water it takes to go from 30# to 50# is the water you can use before the pump starts. Don't let air out of the tank while pumping it up!
Try this... repressurize the tank, close all valves into and out of the tank. Note the pressure in 1 hour, recheck pressure in 24 hours. If the pressure falls you got a leak.
the advantage of air pumps is you can get 30# at any water level you want, 50# when the remaining air space is about halved by water pump.
Another issue...an underground metal tank that is 27 years old... Bet you need a new tank real soon.
Keep on keeping on and we'll figure this out,
SamT
the well was put in and there is no way to shut of the water and isolate the pressure tank. the best I can do is try and moniter presure during the day at different time and try and get a time when the cattle are not drinking. I will do that and see what I can get for information. I don't know what size pipe is running from pump but I would be willing to bet it is 1" or 1 1/2" copper copper and possibly up to 2 in for on building that is about 600' feet away that has 1 cattle waterer with 1/2" hose going to the float. the other water has a 1 inch pipe and the house has a 1 inch copper.
Bigger tanks definitely do much better.
water damage restoration
When you're going to be spamming you should check the date of the last post, so it's not quite so obvious.