Pentek Intellidrive Issue-Water from pressure relief

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Buzzaro

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Hey everyone,
I just moved into a new (to me) home that's got a Pentek Intellidrive system. It's a 15gpm well that pumps into a 2500 gallon storage tank and the house is supplied from that with the pressure tank in the garage. The issue I'm having is that water sprays out of the pressure relief valve at the storage tank during the pressure cycle. Not a small amount but like a hose bibb on full blast. I tried screwing in the adjustment on the relief valve a little but that doesn't seem to help. The pressure shown on the Pentek always varies from the analog dial gauge on the line near the pressure tank. The transducer is in a port right next to the analog gauge. Usually the analog gauge reads about 20psi higher than the digital readout on the Pentek but sometimes reads 10psi lower. Rarely are they the same. I checked the settings on the transducer and it's set to read from 0-100. The internal set point was set at 60psi but I lowered it to 53psi. I tried 50 but sometimes it wouldn't trigger the cut in and I'd lose water to the house so I bumped it up a couple until it seems to work and I can get this all sorted out. This type of system is new to me so I am not sure what to check. Right now I am leaning towards the a bad transducer because the pressure relief valve and and analog gauge both seem to indicate a higher pressure than what the Pentek is telling me. Anything else to look for and ways to test it?
Thanks

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Valveman

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It could be the transducer. It could also be in the drive itself. If the pressure is not staying at the set pressure most likely one of those things is the problem. However, if the pressure is being held constant as it should be, the pressure relief valve may need replacing. Pressure relief valves are not made to be used all the time. Slow reactions from the VFD drive can make a pressure relief valve be used too much anyway.

When you get tired of the problems and expense of the VFD changing over to a Cycle Stop Valve system makes it much more dependable and less expensive.
 

Reach4

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I would get rid of the pressure relief at the well head, and put one close to the pressure tank. You can pipe its output outside.
 

Valveman

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Doesn't matter where the pressure relief valve is with a VFD. If/when the VFD fails to maintain control of the pressure the relief valve will pop off.
 

VAWellDriller

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I think I missed something or am missing something. So why is there a drive and a pressure tank on the well pump that is just filling a 2500 gallon storage tank? And you said it sprays from the pressure relief on the storage tank; did you mean at the well head? Also, do you have a seperate pump that draws from the storage tank, if so, what controls it, and if so is the plumbing at all connected with piping / valves between the 2 pumps. Maybe it would help for you to describe the system from start to finish in a little more detail.
 

Buzzaro

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I think I missed something or am missing something. So why is there a drive and a pressure tank on the well pump that is just filling a 2500 gallon storage tank? And you said it sprays from the pressure relief on the storage tank; did you mean at the well head? Also, do you have a seperate pump that draws from the storage tank, if so, what controls it, and if so is the plumbing at all connected with piping / valves between the 2 pumps. Maybe it would help for you to describe the system from start to finish in a little more detail.

Sorry, I'm sure I left out a bunch of details. The system is a well that fills a storage tank that is controlled by a float switch in the tank. Then the VFD controls a second pump that's in the storage tank which supplies the pressure tank/house. This setup is pretty common out here where there are a lot of low production wells (1-5 gpm). Typically though they are setup with a standard pressure switch. There's a new building code out here which requires new construction to have fire sprinklers throughout the house and they are required to have a minimum flow (30 gpm or something) for a minimum time. The VFD is being used as a way to achieve that flow and pump it requires while still being able to handle the lower flows of typical household use. At least that's what I remember and my rewording of what the well guy told me during the drawdown test when I was in escrow.
 

Reach4

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orry, I'm sure I left out a bunch of details. The system is a well that fills a storage tank that is controlled by a float switch in the tank. Then the VFD controls a second pump that's in the storage tank which supplies the pressure tank/house.
Which system has the pressure release that spews water?
 

Buzzaro

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It could be the transducer. It could also be in the drive itself. If the pressure is not staying at the set pressure most likely one of those things is the problem. However, if the pressure is being held constant as it should be, the pressure relief valve may need replacing. Pressure relief valves are not made to be used all the time. Slow reactions from the VFD drive can make a pressure relief valve be used too much anyway.

When you get tired of the problems and expense of the VFD changing over to a Cycle Stop Valve system makes it much more dependable and less expensive.

Thanks. I am going to try replacing the transducer for now. I had a well guy out today that said the same thing you did, transducer or drive. He was leaning towards the transducer because it otherwise seems to be functioning as it should. We pulled the transducer off and the port was clogged. We cleaned it out and tried cleaning the transducer but it didn't help. I could run it in pump out mode and it worked just fine. The well guy also mentioned your CSV's. Are you the one that invented them? He said he knew the inventor. Anyhow, I used one of your CSV's for a creek pump system I put together a couple years ago. As far as I could tell, it seemed to do everything I wanted it to.
 

Valveman

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Glad you got it working. But studies show you will spend up to 3 times more than alternatives maintaining a VFD for the first 15 years. This is by design as marketing and increased cash flow are far more important in promoting products like a VFD than anything. Technical superiority means reducing something down to its simplest and longest lasting form like the CSV, which saves the consumer a lot of money. This is exactly why manufacturers heavily market VFD's and will say anything to keep you from trying a product that is disruptive to their industry like a CSV.
 
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