Air in Lines

[Wiredhot]

I have what I believe to be a odd setup. My pressure tank is in my garage approximately 500 ft away from my well pump. Occasionally, when I'm in the garage working I can hear the switch kick in to pull the pump on and I can hear air bubbling up into the tank in the in the garage. Also, one of the outside faucets that I believe comes directly off of the well, the other 2 I have are part of the house plumbing system, this one isn't, will spit a good amount of air out after it has purged the water that's in the hose, then after a while it will get begin flowing water again. Does this mean that I possibly have a bad check valve at the well? Or is there something else that I should check?

 

[Reach4]

Is the pump a submersible (down the well)?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Valveman]

You need a new Air Volume Control or AVC. It is the fitting that sticks out about half way up the side of the tank.

 

[Wiredhot]

Is the pump a submersible (down the well)?

Yes, its is approximately 400' deep. I also forgot to mention that we had the pump replaced in 2015.

 

[Reach4]

You might post a photo that shows the bottom of the pressure tank, the pressure switch, the piping from the well to the pressure tank, and anything sticking out the side of your pressure tank.

Another way to get air into the water is for the water level to be down to the pump intake. I hope it is not that.

 

[Wiredhot]

It'll be a bit before I can get home to get those pictures. When we replaced the pump, the water level was approximately 150' above the pump so, if my math works out it was at 250' below grade. And it has been doing this since we bought the house in 2013. I'm just finally getting fed up with it enough to do something about it. I know, I know, I'm a bit of a procrastinator. But then again, we all have or faults....

 

[Reach4]

If you have an air volume control (AVC) on the side of the tank, that would be great. Here is one on the side:

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/wellmate-hydro-pneumatic-water-pressure-tank-questions.71500/ shows an AVC accessed from the top.

 

[Wiredhot]

Well Like I said.... "I'm a bit of a procrastinator!".... Update is has been fixed!

The problem was there is a Schrader style valve on the piping coming out of the well pump where it turns horizontal. The seat in the core of that Schrader valve was GONE! I was able to put a new core in, as you would with a tire and problem solved. No more air in the lines, no spitting at the faucet, and no bubbling in the tank in the garage!

 

[Valveman]

Well Like I said.... "I'm a bit of a procrastinator!".... Update is has been fixed!

The problem was there is a Schrader style valve on the piping coming out of the well pump where it turn horizontal. The seat on the core of that Schrader valve was GONE! I was able to put a new core in, as you would with a tire and problem solved. No more air in the lines, no spitting at the faucet, and no bubbling in the tank in the garage!

I am afraid that won't solve your problem. The spring on the core for a well Schrader valve is much weaker than the spring for a car tire core. You may have stopped any air from getting in. You need to hear some bubbling from the tank when the pump comes on. The AVC just lets any excess air out before it blows out a faucet. But if you stopped all the air from getting in the pump will start cycling quicker and more often because the tank is getting more and more waterlogged.

 

[Reach4]

I am afraid that won't solve your problem. The spring on the core for a well Schrader valve is much weaker than the spring for a car tire core. You may have stopped any air from getting in.

It's possible that he put the right kind of valve in place, but I agree, that since he did not make the distinction, he probably did not.

Wiredhot, if you put a cap on one of those snifter valves for a tank with an AVC, it has to be one that passes air. The caps used for tires do not pass air, and in fact, the cap is supposed to be the primary seal for a tire. The symptom of the wrong valve will be short cycling, although the wrong valve will work around your symptom of air in the water inside. The expected symptom of a failed seal on a snifter valve would be significant water leakage when the pump is running. Too much air in the house is not a symptom of a failed snifter valve.


If you have an AVC to release air, the snifter valve would admit air. There would be a check valve between the pressure tank and the special Schrader snifter valve. The snifter valve would often be on the upstream edge of the check valve casting. To read about this type of system, "snifter valve" would be a good search term in a search engine. There is also a drain-back part of that system maybe 10 ft down the drop pipe.

A thing about your original symptom from your first post was to have an outside faucet teed in out in the yard. The problem with that is that the pump would not know when to start when you used the yard hydrant. The check valve would keep the pressure switch from seeing a pressure drop. But there could be some work-around, such as running water in the house while watering the garden with the yard hydrant. But given that hookup, the air from that yard hydrant would be expected. The appearance of significant air inside points to a failed AVC.

That "conventional tank" system has some advantage: it mixes air into the water, and that can help be rid of some H2S (sulfur smell). It also has no diaphragm or bladder to fail. It has some disadvantages too, and is less common today than the pre-charged pressure tank.