installed new pressure tank need help with checking pressure etc.

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We bought our house in jul 1997. we have a shallow well hand driven in the floor of our basement covered with concrete. in 1999 we replaced the jet pump because the old one kept turning on and off in 5 sec incremnts. We also installed a house filter between the well and the pump due to sand and rocks. Our old pressure tank was rusting, so we purchased a new one. The old was about 22 gal the new is about 44 gal. The problem is that the new tank does not seem to hold te amount of waterwe expected. How do these tanks work? How do you know if it is working properly? How much water should be used before the water pump comes n drawing in more water? My husband instlled the new one yesterday under the stairs where the old was. When we had the old one in, the water pump drew water as soon as the faucet tuned on or toilet flushed. the new turns on about 1 minute after now but I would think it should hold twice as much water. We replaced the old one due to rust thinkng that maybe the bladder had broken.W were told that te well was about 15 feet below the surface. we run a shallow well jet pump on it. Alo when we bought the house they said it was running about 4.8 gpm and had to sign a waiver because state law is 5 gpm. We are new to the well thing so any education is greatly appreciated. always had city water before. The husband grew up on a farm that had submersible pumps. Thanks

-- Joan Plumer (msplumbob3@cs.com), January 14, 2002

Answers

Joan, you can check pressure by turning the pump off and running the water until it stops, then check the tank pressure with a tire gauge the valve will be on top of the tank, should be about 38psi. Well service men like for the pump to run for at least a minute befor shutting off in normal opperation, hope this helps.

-- Kevin in S.C. MO (rosewd@fidnet.com), January 14, 2002.

Do you have a pressure gauge in the line??and has the pressure switch itself been changed??If you have a gauge at what pressure does the pump cycle on?? Ok enough questions,on mine I set the cut-in pressure at 35psi or turn the pump on,and cut-out at 50psi,turn off pump.Most pressure switches have a adjustment nut in the center for cut-in and cut-out adjustment.If none of this helps,reply and we will try step 2..............

-- Steve in Ohio (stevenb@ohiohills.com), January 14, 2002.

Is this a tank where you can relieve the air pressure? If so.

Your tank may be "water logged" or have too much air trapped in it. You can eliminate this by turning off the pump and letting the air out of the tank. There should be a plug or pipe for relief of pressure near the top half of the tank to do this. Once you let all of the air out of the top half, put the plug back and start the pump again to see it this helped.

Another item mentioned above is the pressure settings itself. The pressure switch will control the start and stop pressures of the pump. Check to see at what pressure your pump kicks on and what pressure it kicks off. I run top pressure at 40 psi and low at 20 psi. You can adjust to whatever you desire. 20 psi is low, some would run 50/30.

The other item to check for is a leak in your plumbing somewhere!

Hope this helps...good luck!

-- M5G (Milamgerick@juno.com), January 14, 2002.


I installed a new water pressure tank last year. We used a tire pressure gauge to test the pressure. On the box the tank came in should be reccommendations on the pressure level. on the top of the tank is a pressure valve, we just put the gauge in there and it worked. I have to say that although my tank was bad and needed replacing my water pressure didn't improve. I realized later that the other sediment filters I have on the lines were full and clogged. Once I change then I had great pressure.

-- Susan northern MN (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), January 14, 2002.

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