Drewmcg
New Member
Just moved into a house with an older well/tank, and have been trying to get up to speed. System was cycling constantly (lots of diming lights in the house). So:
I had the tank re-pressurized to 2 lbs psi below cut-in (which was set to 30, with 50 psi cutout).
That helped. I replaced a 10 inch X 2.5 inch filter between the well and water softener with a new, 5 micron filter (blown celluose?). After less than a week, I had almost no pressure in the second floor shower. So I replaced the (new, but now saturated) filter with a poly-spun 5 micron filter about a week ago.
Water pressure upstairs is better, but not great. So:
I changed the pressure settings on the tank to 40/60 psi, and re-charged the air pressure to 38 lbs. Not much improvement.
I in the process of draining the pressure tank to re-charge, I noticed a lot of black sentiment coming out of the drain house. It would come out for 30-45 seconds, then clear. I'd close the drain valve on the pressure tank, and reopen it and get more sentiment for 20 seconds or so before it would clear.
I also noticed when re-setting the pressure range and re-pressurizing the tank that in the one week since I'd had the tank re-pressurized from a waterlogged state, it had already lost pressure.
I started to experiment with the drawdown, and here's what I found:
CFR of pump = 10.5 GPM
Pressure tank = Sears Craftsman 30 to 36 gal total volume (its old, and I found conflicting info on google)
DRAWDOWN = 3.75 gals!
This last item is the main issue. With my pressure settings, my minimal drawdown should be 30 gals X .26 = 7.8 gals. (If its a 36 gallon tank, then I should be getting 9.4 gals drawdown). What gives? Where is the missing 4-6 gallons of drawdown? My pump is cycling twice as much as it should be with this tank/setting.
I pretty much figure that the bladder is shot on the tank, but should that make a difference in drawdown? I thoroughly flushed the tank, thinking sediment might have accumulated there, but could it have filled up with that much silt to reduce the effective volume to 3.75/.26= 14.4 gallons? That would be more than one-half!
I wonder if the system is missing a check valve on the submersible pump (or if that valve has failed). I have no information re. the depth of the well, though it looks like a 4-inch casing and two-wire, 230-volt pump.
Any ideas?
I had the tank re-pressurized to 2 lbs psi below cut-in (which was set to 30, with 50 psi cutout).
That helped. I replaced a 10 inch X 2.5 inch filter between the well and water softener with a new, 5 micron filter (blown celluose?). After less than a week, I had almost no pressure in the second floor shower. So I replaced the (new, but now saturated) filter with a poly-spun 5 micron filter about a week ago.
Water pressure upstairs is better, but not great. So:
I changed the pressure settings on the tank to 40/60 psi, and re-charged the air pressure to 38 lbs. Not much improvement.
I in the process of draining the pressure tank to re-charge, I noticed a lot of black sentiment coming out of the drain house. It would come out for 30-45 seconds, then clear. I'd close the drain valve on the pressure tank, and reopen it and get more sentiment for 20 seconds or so before it would clear.
I also noticed when re-setting the pressure range and re-pressurizing the tank that in the one week since I'd had the tank re-pressurized from a waterlogged state, it had already lost pressure.
I started to experiment with the drawdown, and here's what I found:
CFR of pump = 10.5 GPM
Pressure tank = Sears Craftsman 30 to 36 gal total volume (its old, and I found conflicting info on google)
DRAWDOWN = 3.75 gals!
This last item is the main issue. With my pressure settings, my minimal drawdown should be 30 gals X .26 = 7.8 gals. (If its a 36 gallon tank, then I should be getting 9.4 gals drawdown). What gives? Where is the missing 4-6 gallons of drawdown? My pump is cycling twice as much as it should be with this tank/setting.
I pretty much figure that the bladder is shot on the tank, but should that make a difference in drawdown? I thoroughly flushed the tank, thinking sediment might have accumulated there, but could it have filled up with that much silt to reduce the effective volume to 3.75/.26= 14.4 gallons? That would be more than one-half!
I wonder if the system is missing a check valve on the submersible pump (or if that valve has failed). I have no information re. the depth of the well, though it looks like a 4-inch casing and two-wire, 230-volt pump.
Any ideas?