First off, let me apologize in advance for the lenght of this post. Just want to make sure all of the info is here.
I Have a 82 gallon galavanized steel tank. Just recently had my 35 year old Red Jacket pump replaced and replaced all the steel piping with PVC pipe. The old system had the bleeder values on the pipe in the well which would provide the shot of air each time the pump cycled on. Also have an AVC on the tank which would bleed off excess air when necessary. This all seemed to work just fine and maintained the correct air to water ratio in the tank.
When the contractor installed the new pump and pipe, he inisited it wasn't a good idea to have the air making system since water went back down the well each time the pump shut off and that could cause problems in the future. He said the galvanized tank would be just fine as long as the correct amount of air was maintained in the tank. So he drained the tank, added 20lbs of air using an air compressor to the tank through the valve at the top of the tank. Turned the power on to the pump and it ran until it hit the 60lb limit set on the pressure switch. He than showed me by taking a tire guage to the valve on top of the tank that it registed 20lbs which was the air sitting on top. He told me to periodically check the pressure this way and it should remain around the 20lbs. He said that once a year, the tank should be drained down and 20lbs of air added to maintain things.
A couple weeks later, I checked the pressure on the top valve and it was right at 20lbs. The guage on the tank was at 60lbs as the pump just filled it up so all seemed fine. Checked just recently after the tank filled up. The guage on the tank read 60lbs. Took the tire guage to the top valve and it read 45lbs. After using some water and the tank pressure got down to 40lbs where it turns on, the guage on top read 30lbs. Since the water is so cold this time of year, just feeling the side the tank told me where the water level was and it is about 2/3 the way up.
I should also say, I haven't noticed any difference at the facuets with pressure. All seems normal.
My questions are:
Is this the start of the tank becoming waterlogged? I haven't acutally measured the drawdown but it appears to be less than normal.
Not sure how, but could there be extra air being introduced into the tank through the water coming in? I know excess air wouldn't be a problem since I have the air volume control to bleed off the excess. I haven't heard this valve open and it makes a load hissing noise I can hear even upstairs.
I Have a 82 gallon galavanized steel tank. Just recently had my 35 year old Red Jacket pump replaced and replaced all the steel piping with PVC pipe. The old system had the bleeder values on the pipe in the well which would provide the shot of air each time the pump cycled on. Also have an AVC on the tank which would bleed off excess air when necessary. This all seemed to work just fine and maintained the correct air to water ratio in the tank.
When the contractor installed the new pump and pipe, he inisited it wasn't a good idea to have the air making system since water went back down the well each time the pump shut off and that could cause problems in the future. He said the galvanized tank would be just fine as long as the correct amount of air was maintained in the tank. So he drained the tank, added 20lbs of air using an air compressor to the tank through the valve at the top of the tank. Turned the power on to the pump and it ran until it hit the 60lb limit set on the pressure switch. He than showed me by taking a tire guage to the valve on top of the tank that it registed 20lbs which was the air sitting on top. He told me to periodically check the pressure this way and it should remain around the 20lbs. He said that once a year, the tank should be drained down and 20lbs of air added to maintain things.
A couple weeks later, I checked the pressure on the top valve and it was right at 20lbs. The guage on the tank was at 60lbs as the pump just filled it up so all seemed fine. Checked just recently after the tank filled up. The guage on the tank read 60lbs. Took the tire guage to the top valve and it read 45lbs. After using some water and the tank pressure got down to 40lbs where it turns on, the guage on top read 30lbs. Since the water is so cold this time of year, just feeling the side the tank told me where the water level was and it is about 2/3 the way up.
I should also say, I haven't noticed any difference at the facuets with pressure. All seems normal.
My questions are:
Is this the start of the tank becoming waterlogged? I haven't acutally measured the drawdown but it appears to be less than normal.
Not sure how, but could there be extra air being introduced into the tank through the water coming in? I know excess air wouldn't be a problem since I have the air volume control to bleed off the excess. I haven't heard this valve open and it makes a load hissing noise I can hear even upstairs.