Understanding AccuPurge Valve and Sand Separator

[Tim Fastle]

I just purchased a lake house and am moving stuff in this weekend. The well is fairly new, 5-7 years and the pressure tank and equipment seems to be a fairly clean install. It has an Lakos AP-75 AccuPurge valve and some sort of a sand separator (I assume something like a Lakos Sand Master - It's all wrapped in insulation and can only see the Valve but based on the shape it looks to be a canister about 2' long with about a 6" diameter). I have had wells on my properties for many years but never dealt with a sand issue or sand separator and hoped to get some insight and a bit of advice.

I did read about separators a bit and it sounds as if the water is pumped from the well into the top of the separator and a vortex slings the particles out and down to the bottom and the clean water exits the top and on it's way, and the valve, based on how it's scheduled, periodically opens and flushes the sand out of the separator. Assuming this is basically correct, when the controller goes into "flush mode" I assume it opens a valve that allows the water to exit the bottom of the separator and flush the sand away for whatever period of time it is scheduled to be open. Is this correct? This system has the flushed water piped to a tank behind the building that is used for gravity fed irrigation of some grass and trees.

It seems to me that if the valve is programed to open for 1 minute then I should hear water run into the tank for roughly that long, but it sounds like water is pretty much always trickling into this tank and then out to the gravity fed system. Is that how it operates, a little bit always runs out the valve (coming out of the irrigation line it usually looks like about a rate if 10-15 gallons/ hour or so)? I suspect water is only supposed to come out when it opens and then not again until it cycles again. Anyone familiar with these have any thoughts on it?

Lastly, my plan is, when I leave the property for home, to just turn the well power off. That way if a pipe breaks I am not pumping water for days or weeks before I come back. There is nothing that requires water to be fed to it in my absence. Should I also turn off or unplug the Purge Valve while I am gone? If I do will it keep it's program or will I need to reprogram it when I return? Or, is there a reason I should leave the entire system on (which I would rather not for the reason I mentioned above)?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Tim Fastle]

I ended up talking to a well guy and he said that it's likely the ball valve in the unit is leaking and that is not uncommon with those. It should only have water coming out the drain when it recycles and it shouldn't be for very long (a minute or two). He suggested an interesting idea to avoid having to replace the valve unit which are quite expensive. It was to put a manual pvc ball valve in the drain line for the AccuPurge and keep it closed. Basically doing the job of the one that is leaking. And then, to purge the sand separator you open the PVC ball valve and hit "test" on the AccuPurge and it will cycle through a purge. Then close the PVC valve again. He said for a little water to monitor the purge for sand and it's pretty easy to figure out how often you need to do this and it's often as little as once a week or even a month. Since this will be a lake house and not a lot of water usage that's what I am going to try.

So, if someone else out there has this problem there's an option!

 

[Sponsor]

 

[TVL]

My AP-75 purge valve is setup for program <9> and <E> as frequency. Program <9> means the purge valve will be activated ONCE every 24 hours and <E> indicates the valve will open for 25 seconds once the purge cycle is activated.

 

[TVL]

If I do will it keep it's program or will I need to reprogram it when I return?

The unit will maintain your settings even if power is lost!

The unit has 4 AA batteries inside. The batteries will NOT run a program when power is lost or disconnected. However, if power is lost to the unit during a purge cycle, the battery backup will ensure the valve is closed after the cycle is complete.

And yes, the Ap-75 will still remember the user setup whenever AC power is removed even if the batteries have been removed or dead.

I have not yet had to replace my ball valve, but they are available. The following site shows one and I would think it could be found a little cheaper elsewhere??

https://cannonwater.com/lakos-3-4-ball-valve-replacement-kit-for-ap-75-mbv-valve-only-no-controller/