Questions about 62 year old well tank

[WellWaterisbest]

Hey! New here, just created an account to ask a question. Some context before I get into the question. We’ve been living in our home for the past 20 years using this well system without any chlorinators or water softeners. Just a regular galvanized hp tank with an inlet and outlet straight to the house and the water does have a bit of calcium in it but other than that it’s very good and “crisp”. Well is about 150ft deep with the pump at 120ft. We did replace the submerged pump once in our lifetime so far and that was a while back, prob around 2008. Anyway according to the writing on a concrete block covering the well hole this well is 62 years old, the tank may be too, I’m not sure as I don’t remember us every replacing the tank. Reading up a little on how hydro pneumatic tanks work, there is supposed to be a snifter valve to replenish the air in the tank which I don’t see one. There is an avc however, although it’s leaking but without a snifter it’s basically useless right? Or am I wrong? There is a Schrader valve to replenish the air manually but the avc leaking is what prompted me to research a bit more. So my questions are this.
1: Is it missing a snifter valve?
2: Which is the check valve in the picture?
3: What's this big stud and bolt on the bottom of the tank for?

Edit: I took a second look at the fittings before the pressure switch and the the fitting closest to the pressure switch looks to be copper underneath so I’m guessing that’s the union and the one further down the line to the right is the check valve? There’s no capped off holes to where a snifter valve would go. It’s all smooth all the way around.

 

[LLigetfa]

Some pump installers would use two bleeders where the top one acts as the snifter.

I drew a box around the check valve.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[WellWaterisbest]

Some pump installers would use two bleeders where the top one acts as the snifter.

I drew a box around the check valve.
View attachment 75165

Really that’s it? I just took a second look and underneath it looks like it’s copper. Is it supposed to be? What’s the one to the right of it? Also I forgot to mention. In the 20 years we used it, there was never no schrader valve, the hole used to be capped off with a plug and every month or so we’d drain the water and let the atmospheric air pressure in by unscrewing that cap. Never pressurized. We always had a whole bunch of water and a small draw down, the pump would cycle on and off a lot basically water logged. I added the schrader a couple months ago to manually pressurize it to around 20psi and since then there’s still the air in there, but the avc never releases any excess pressure.

 

[LLigetfa]

Really that’s it? I just took a second look and underneath it looks like it’s copper? Is it supposed to be?

My guess is it is brass or bronze, not copper.

What’s the one to the right of it?

I would need to see it close up and from a different angle. It looks like it might be a swing gate check but it is not installed right side up.

 

[WellWaterisbest]

My guess is it is brass or bronze, not copper.

I would need to see it close up and from a different angle. It looks like it might be a swing gate check but it is not installed right side up.

My guess is it is brass or bronze, not copper.

I would need to see it close up and from a different angle. It looks like it might be a swing gate check but it is not installed right side up.

got some more photos. The first is my approx draw down. Second is the check valve up close and third is from the back side of it and you may be right, its probably bronze. Fourth is the coupling to the right. And the last is the schrader valve I installed, as well as there’s a lower bung but it’s capped off.

 

[Reach4]

Cool. Some search terms for you: AVC (air volume control), snifter, bleeder.

You have a "conventional" galvanized pressure tank.

 

[WellWaterisbest]

Cool. Some search terms for you: AVC (air volume control), snifter, bleeder.

You have a "conventional" galvanized pressure tank.

Does everything look right? I don’t see the snifter valve. Also what’s that big bolt at the bottom? Just a drain?

 

[Bannerman]

Also what’s that big bolt at the bottom?

A handhole. The cover may be removed to access the inside of the tank to view the tank interior and flush out sediment accumulation from within the tank.

 

[Valveman]

The one with the flow arrow is the check valve. The one that says 1 1/2 is just a dresser coupling or compression coupling. You may have had two bleeders down the well instead of a Schrader on the upper check valve. If so, either they or the check valve is not working, as your tank gets waterlogged often. Good for you to drain it and add air every month, as that is the only thing that is saving your pump from being cycled to death. Yes that tank could be 60 years old. I haven't seen one with a clean out in a long time. Do you remember any bleeders on the pipe 5'-10' down when you pulled the pump?

 

[Reach4]

This kind of tank does not have a diaphragm between the air and the water. That has the advantage that it can somehow reduce H2S, although that might need an excess of air that gets expelled from a working AVC. It also can convert some dissolved ferrous iron to solid ferric iron that can settle out or get mechanically filtered out.

The downsides are that the air dissolves away into the water, and must get replenished. Also, the size is bigger for a given amount of drawdown during a cycle. The great majority of installations today use an air precharged pressure tank. The air-precharged well pressure tanks did not come out until the 60s. I don't know when the precharged tanks became the more common to install.

Usually when you replace a galvanized tank with a precharged tank, you have to take steps to stop the air from coming in. In your case the air is apparently stopped already. If you put in a precharge tank, it is usually best to remove the check valve. There is a check valve at/in the pump.

The precharged tank does slowly lose air that diffuses through the diaphragm. That small air loss needs to be replenished about every 1 to 5 years.

 

[WellWaterisbest]

The one with the flow arrow is the check valve. The one that says 1 1/2 is just a dresser coupling or compression coupling. You may have had two bleeders down the well instead of a Schrader on the upper check valve. If so, either they or the check valve is not working, as your tank gets waterlogged often. Good for you to drain it and add air every month, as that is the only thing that is saving your pump from being cycled to death. Yes that tank could be 60 years old. I haven't seen one with a clean out in a long time. Do you remember any bleeders on the pipe 5'-10' down when you pulled the pump?

Ahh okay so instead of having the snifter right before the check valve they put a bleeder on the well pipe closer to the surface, say 5 feet from the surface and a second one 20 feet lower than the first. I wish I could tell you that I did see two bleeders but I don’t even remember, so they could be there maybe just not working properly. As far as water quality it doesn’t smell like sulfur or anything, just a lot of calcium white spots on the shower door.

 

[LLigetfa]

This is not a case of "if a little is good, a lot is better". If the well is distant from the tank and a snifter is placed at the tank, you could end up with too much air for the AVC to remove. Also, too much air in the line could make an up-thrust situation worse since there is too much flow through the pump before the pressure gets high enough to stop up-thrusting.

 

[Valveman]

Ahh okay so instead of having the snifter right before the check valve they put a bleeder on the well pipe closer to the surface, say 5 feet from the surface and a second one 20 feet lower than the first. I wish I could tell you that I did see two bleeders but I don’t even remember, so they could be there maybe just not working properly. As far as water quality it doesn’t smell like sulfur or anything, just a lot of calcium white spots on the shower door.

You really cannot switch to a diaphragm style tank without making sure there are no bleeders down the well. But usually if you take the pipe loose at the well head and the pipe down the well is standing full of water, then there is no bleeder further down.