Frugality at its finest

[LLigetfa]

I have terrible water quality that wreaks havoc on everything between the well and and the softener. The pressure switch is no exception. I've had to change out the switch before when mineral buildup under the diaphragm would keep the switch from turning on.

About 8 years ago I installed an EPS from Cary and hoped that by not having a diaphragm, it might be immune to this. Well... it is not, although it did last longer than the Square D switches I had before. One of the great features of the EPS is no nuisance low pressure trips. On the Square D, the low pressure trip point is not adjustable per se, in that it follows around 10 PSI below the cut-in. Due to the micronizer acting as a dole valve, high water draw would/could drop the pressure far enough below cut-in. When that would happen, the lever on the side of the switch would need to be held "just so" until the pressure climbed high enough. Try explaining that to the wife over the phone when out of town. The beauty of the EPS was that it could be reset by toggling the breaker without having to go down into the crawlspace.

Being frugal to a fault, I knew the EPS was on its way out as it was reading the pressure wrong but I was just compensating by changing the setpoints. As it degraded over time, I just kept bumping up the pressure settings until it reached the max. I figured then that it was time to order up a new EPS but unfortunately, it went downhill faster than I anticipated. The wife really got on my case today for having chosen standard shipping and not paying for faster shipping. What's a cheapskate to do? I wasn't about to go buy another Square D at this point.

I looked at the Square D I had with low cut-off and figured out that I could lobotomize it. I removed the little metal piece that trips it and so now it is a standard pressure switch.

A dollar saved is a dollar earned and I just earned 40 bucks in less time than it would take to drive to the store.

 

[LLigetfa]

I have an idea to connect the new EPS to the top of my HP tank where there is only air rather than at the Tee at the tank inlet where the terrible water is. I would put only a pressure gauge on the Tee to monitor the incoming pressure while the pump runs. Presently the Tee is so badly clogged that the pressure there is higher than the tank pressure while the pump is running. I plan to clean out the Tee.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

I have an idea to connect the new EPS to the top of my HP tank where there is only air rather than at the Tee at the tank inlet where the terrible water is. I would put only a pressure gauge on the Tee to monitor the incoming pressure while the pump runs. Presently the Tee is so badly clogged that the pressure there is higher than the tank pressure while the pump is running. I plan to clean out the Tee.

That would be on the tank that does not have the AVC air release, I think.

Interesting idea.

 

[LLigetfa]

That would be on the tank that does not have the AVC air release...

No, that would be on the first tank that has a normally functioning AVC, making the HP tank act more as a pressure tank and less as a contact tank. I would not put the sense line on the proposed second downstream tank with modified AVC.

 

[Reach4]

No, that would be on the first tank that has a normally functioning AVC, making the HP tank act more as a pressure tank and less as a contact tank. I would not put the sense line on the proposed second downstream tank with modified AVC.

The AVC is on the top port of the the first tank, and the pressure switch sense will be on the same port via a tee? Or the AVC gets a tapped hole, and that is the modification?

Have you considered adding a port in the piping letting you use a pump to recirculate an acid (e.g., vinegar or Iron Out) during clean-out sessions? Kinda like they do with tankless water heaters.

 

[Valveman]

With an air maker system it will probably be fine. But the diaphragm in a pressure switch and even the threads on it and a gauge can let air out when placed on top of a tank. You can't keep air in a bladder tank when the switch is on the air side. But your system adds more air, so it should be OK.

 

[LLigetfa]

The AVC is on the top port of the the first tank, and the pressure switch sense will be on the same port via a tee?

The top of the HP-7 has a large bung on which there are two ports. One port goes through to the air trapped at the top. I currently have a pressure gauge there along with a shrader valve.

The other port feeds through the AVC drop pipe to only let out the air that the AVC float valve releases. I have a barb nipple on it to direct the air and small amount of water that sometimes spurts out to my vented sump pit.

 

[LLigetfa]

Nothing burns my frugal butt more than paying taxes and duty. I just got notice from UPS that the government is charging me $45. What the hell! I thought there was free trade between Canada and the US?

 

[Reach4]

It may be that you are paying for customs broker service rather than customs duty. Think "non-tariff barriers".

 

[LLigetfa]

In hindsight I should have had it shipped to a US address and drove across to pick it up. Problem with that is a lot of eCommerce sites will refuse the credit card when the ship-to: and bill-to: are in different countries.

 

[LLigetfa]

It may be that you are paying for customs broker service rather than customs duty. Think "non-tariff barriers".

You were right. I was not charged duty, only sales tax and the broker fee. Of course, I also had to pay tax on the broker fee.
If I had it shipped to a US address and drove across to get it, it would have cost me far less since they usually let me through without having to pay tax on purchases under $100. The borderboxes.com service charges $8 US for a single package and then there is the toll bridge fee of around $2. Usually I combine other shopping when I go across so the bridge toll is moot.