Replumb from well pressure tank to increase flow to outdoor sillcocks

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Vinmassaro

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I'm trying to increase pressure to my outside hoses for lawn watering and noticed that the sillcocks are all after my whole house water filter and they are all 1/2". Because of this, when I run some impact sprinklers to water the lawn, the whole house filter gets dirty and clogged very quickly. The plumbing from my well pressure tank is 3/4" and the pressure switch is set to 40-60.

I attached a quick diagram below. I want to know if it looks OK and would be worthwhile to replumb from my well pressure tank with larger piping, so the sillcocks are fed before the whole house filter, hoping I'd see increased flow to run multiple sprinklers at the same time. I am thinking to go up to 1" copper from the tee and 1" PEX (for ease and cost) to increase flow as much as possible.

Does this look OK? A few questions:
1. Would it be worthwhile to replace my 1/2" sillcocks with Legend 3/4"?
2. My pressure tank is an Amtrol Well-X-Trol WX-203 Pro installed in 2008 and the pressure switch is set to 40-60. Can I increase to 50-70 or even 60-80 to maximize pressure and distance on my impact sprinklers?

Thanks in advance!

IMG_0906_small.jpg
 

Reach4

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That works. You could also tee off between the polyethylene pipe coming in and the tank tee.

The right side of the tee is probably 1.25 FIP and 1 inch MIP both, or : 1" MIP and 3/4" FIP both. So if you want 1 inch, maybe no adapter needed. You will want a valve for the line to the spigots also. A wye strainer could keep big stuff out of the sprinkler nozzle.
 
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Vinmassaro

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Great, I forgot to show the valve. Thanks for the tip on the wye strainer. I picked one up and will add it in.

Is there anything I should be concerned about when raising the pressure of my tank? I'd like to boost pressure as much as I safely can for my sprinklers, but not sure what that is. The tank was installed in 2008 so will I be pushing its life at this point? Any concerns for existing plumbing in my house? It is all copper plumbing and was built in 1958.
 

Reach4

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Is there anything I should be concerned about when raising the pressure of my tank? I'd like to boost pressure as much as I safely can for my sprinklers, but not sure what that is.
You could boost to as high as 60/80, but 55/75 would give some margin. The normal limit is for the toilet fill valves and other stuff.

Your Well-X-trol tank is rated for up to 150 psi working. If you raise the pressure switch setting, raise the air precharge to 2 psi below the new cutoff. Having the air precharge too low stresses the tank.

Make sure that the pump has enough headroom that there is no danger of the pump not turning off.

Also make sure your pressure relief valve does not open.
 
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Fitter30

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Instead of using the bull of the tee to feed the pex run. Run 1" to the house riser use 1 x1x3/4 tee. Valves only use full port for less pressure drop.
 

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You would then follow the irrigation water with an elbow. So is that straight through the the tee that much less loss when added to the drop of the elbow vs irrigating via the side (bull) port of the tee? He is already upping the size to 1 inch.
 

wwhitney

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From the Copper Tube Handbook Table 14.7 "Pressure Loss in Fittings and Valves Expressed as Equivalent Length of Tube, feet"
https://www.copper.org/publications/pub_list/pdf/copper_tube_handbook.pdf

1": 90 = 2.5' ; 45 = 1' ; tee side branch = 4.5' ; tee straight = 0'
1-1/4" (for comparison): 90 = 3' ; 45 = 1' ; tee side branch = 5.5' ; tee straight = 0.5'

So the tee side branch is almost twice the equivalent length of the 90 degree elbow. But the difference is only 2', so not a big deal overall.

Cheers, Wayne
 

Vinmassaro

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@fitter30 Thank you, that diagram helped. 2 questions:
  1. Is the 1" union required or can I just use 1" pipe from the well pipe adapter to the tee? When replacing the tank I would probably just cut it out instead of trying to reuse a union.
  2. I should still have a 1" valve after the tee and before the cleanout wye, right?
 

Fitter30

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Can get rid of the union and put the valve in after the tee but there still will be pressure trapped in the line just make sure you open a faucet before closing the house valve before closing the house valve with pump shut off. 5 gallons of water will be trapped between pump check and shut off valves.
 

Jadnashua

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While you're reconfiguring things, get rid of any galvanized fittings in the potable water system. It looks like there are at least a couple of them there, but can't be certain. Over time, they will rust, and narrow the passageway through them prior to leaking.
 

Vinmassaro

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While you're reconfiguring things, get rid of any galvanized fittings in the potable water system. It looks like there are at least a couple of them there, but can't be certain. Over time, they will rust, and narrow the passageway through them prior to leaking.

I assume this is the fitting you are referring to. How should I replace this and transition from the black well tubing (not sure what this is called)?

IMG_1080.jpeg
 

Reach4

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I assume this is the fitting you are referring to. How should I replace this and transition from the black well tubing (not sure what this is called)?
If it is galvanized, it will attract a magnet.

The fitting that connects to the SIDR polyethylene pipe is a barbed insert adapter.
bma-100nl-2.jpg
Brass or stainless steel is best.

For your yard water repiping, you could actually tee off in the poly before the pressure tank.

While we are naming things, the manifold connecting the pressure gauge, pressure tank, relief valve and more is called a tank tee with a union.

There is something missing from your picture. The pressure switch. The pressure switch would ideally be on the tank tee too.
 
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Vinmassaro

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Ok, I have already completed the work, see some photos below. Also included a photo of the pressure switch. The electrical is a mess and I will be rewiring it back to the panel but that's a project for another day.

Wouldn't teeing before the pressure tank not have given me any pressure outside? Before the pressure tank is just the well.

IMG_1078.jpeg


IMG_1079.jpeg
 

Vinmassaro

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I should mention that I still have to connect my new 1" piping to a new 3/4" Legend sillcock, but setting my pressure switch to 50/70 and inflating the tank to 48PSI has made a world of difference already even going through the house filter. The switch was set to 40/60 before and the pressure in the tank was 28PSI when empty so that was part of the issue.
 

Reach4

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Wouldn't teeing before the pressure tank not have given me any pressure outside? Before the pressure tank is just the well.
You seem to have a check valve where the pressure switch currently attaches, so in that case, teeing would not have worked. Most recommend to not have a topside check valve, in which case teeing would have worked. You can often disable a check valve by removing its innards ( mainly poppet and spring).

Advantages of no check valve include keeping the line to the pump pressurized. A small leak will not suck in contaminates that way. Also, sometimes there is a bang when the pump turns on if you have a check valve.

For now, put a tire valve cap on that Schrader valve. That has a seal. Come to think of it, I am not sure which side of the check valve your Schrader valve is on.
 
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Valveman

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Yeah you don't need that check valve. You could put a CSV1A in place of the check valve and have a constant 65 PSI at the house all the time instead of seeing it go from 50 to 70 over and over. If 50/70 make a "world of difference", a constant 65 PSI from a CSV would make an even bigger difference. So much that you probably won't even need soap in the shower. :)

 

Reach4

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Incidentally, in the photo in #1, that end of the tank tee labeled 1-1/4 fip adapter either has a 1 inch FIP thread and the outside thread is 1-1/4 MIP, or it has a 3/4 thread and the outside thread is 1 inch MIP . I am suspecting the later.

Get your digital caliper out. 3/4 MIP is a little over an inch OD.
 

Vinmassaro

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Incidentally, in the photo in #1, that end of the tank tee labeled 1-1/4 fip adapter either has a 1 inch FIP thread and the outside thread is 1-1/4 MIP, or it has a 3/4 thread and the outside thread is 1 inch MIP . I am suspecting the later.

Get your digital caliper out. 3/4 MIP is a little over an inch OD.

Yes, it was 1" on the outside which was the size of the copper adapter I used.
 
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