bruceha2000
New Member
Hi all,
I awoke to no water today, not even a drip. The tank is galvanized and there is a sticker that says it has a Merrill float in it. The gauge on the side of the tank (about 2/3s up) shows 45 PSI but no water comes out even at the drain cock on the tank so I figured it was empty and the gauge was broken and something really bad was going on with the pump (3/4 horse, in well). I replaced the pressure switch since it looked kind of corroded but no change. If I force the pump to run, it trips the overload switch in the controller. I read about waterlogged tanks and not having a Schrader valve on the tank to force air in (there is one in the pipe on the pump side of the tank), I removed the gauge so I could replace that. Water blew EVERYWHERE (thanks for the shower and shoe wash) until I could cram the gauge back in and screw it down. I'm now draining it at a slow dribble into a bucket from the gauge fitting. It will take a LONG time to drain the top third of the tank at this rate and the pressure is 25 PSI so I guess the gauge isn't broken after all. So the question:
If the water blows out the pipe the gauge screws into, why is no water coming out the drain? The drain cock is on the straight "side" of a Tee connected to a short pipe that exits the tank, the "up" side of the Tee goes to the house faucets. I can open the drain, see the valve clearly open, but not a drip of water.
I'm hoping that if I can get the water below the gauge fitting, it will then drain out the cock, controllable with a hose. I can then take it off and make sure there is nothing blocking the pipe. That would be odd though, since the water was fine until today. Why would it all of a sudden be so clogged with "whatever" that NO water comes out??
And if there is something fully blocking the "exit" pipe, it is going to be REALLY MESSY draining the rest of the tank by taking out the drain cock.
I think I'll get a Tee and shutoff/drain I can connect to the small galvanized pipe where the gauge is fitted so the next time this happens (hasn't been a problem the 2 years we have owned the house), I can drain the water with a hose instead of a slow dribble.
Thanks,
Bruce
I awoke to no water today, not even a drip. The tank is galvanized and there is a sticker that says it has a Merrill float in it. The gauge on the side of the tank (about 2/3s up) shows 45 PSI but no water comes out even at the drain cock on the tank so I figured it was empty and the gauge was broken and something really bad was going on with the pump (3/4 horse, in well). I replaced the pressure switch since it looked kind of corroded but no change. If I force the pump to run, it trips the overload switch in the controller. I read about waterlogged tanks and not having a Schrader valve on the tank to force air in (there is one in the pipe on the pump side of the tank), I removed the gauge so I could replace that. Water blew EVERYWHERE (thanks for the shower and shoe wash) until I could cram the gauge back in and screw it down. I'm now draining it at a slow dribble into a bucket from the gauge fitting. It will take a LONG time to drain the top third of the tank at this rate and the pressure is 25 PSI so I guess the gauge isn't broken after all. So the question:
If the water blows out the pipe the gauge screws into, why is no water coming out the drain? The drain cock is on the straight "side" of a Tee connected to a short pipe that exits the tank, the "up" side of the Tee goes to the house faucets. I can open the drain, see the valve clearly open, but not a drip of water.
I'm hoping that if I can get the water below the gauge fitting, it will then drain out the cock, controllable with a hose. I can then take it off and make sure there is nothing blocking the pipe. That would be odd though, since the water was fine until today. Why would it all of a sudden be so clogged with "whatever" that NO water comes out??
And if there is something fully blocking the "exit" pipe, it is going to be REALLY MESSY draining the rest of the tank by taking out the drain cock.
I think I'll get a Tee and shutoff/drain I can connect to the small galvanized pipe where the gauge is fitted so the next time this happens (hasn't been a problem the 2 years we have owned the house), I can drain the water with a hose instead of a slow dribble.
Thanks,
Bruce