Where are my plumbers at?

I have a question about my well pressure tank. Well for starters, the bladder in it is shot and is now weeping water from the welds in the tank. Second, some idiot installed the tank backwards so the drain petcock and pressure switch are virtually inaccessible.

anyways, the tank was factory set at 38PSI per the label on the side. But my pressure gauge on the tank outlet reads between 55-60PSI...isn’t the cut in pressure supposed to be within 2psi of the bladder pressure, I mean even the label says it? Can someone help me figure out wtf is going on here, it seems like the previous owner cranked up the pressure switch to try to fix poor water pressure and ended up trashing the bladder.

 

In reality, the past history is not important. The pressure tank needs replacement. You say its leaking a the welds and the bladder is shot.

Take the necessary steps to replace the tank. Follow the pressure on the new tank's label.

The original tank came pre-charged for a 40 psi water system. The tank can not be above the "cut-in" pressure. If it was above the "cut-in" pressure, then the water system (pump) would not turn on or "cut-in".

 

oh don't worry I am replacing it with a slightly larger tank because it is quite undersized, as well as replacing the pressure switch. Just wanted to make sure I had the right pressures, I think I got it now... I'm assuming the pressure switch is a 40/60 and the tank has to be charged to 38 PSI. There are about 14 fixtures (including toilets) in the house so 14*3 = 42 Gal...did I do that rough sizing right?

 

And unfortunately...unless I can find a tall skinny 44 Gal tank it looks like they are too large to fit where my existing tank is which means I'd still have an undersized tank at 32 Gal.

Final question...the water line coming into the house and attaching to the tank inlet appears to be a black plastic tubing. What is this stuff and where can I buy more? I only need a few feet of it so I can turn the tank facing right side out instead of ass backwards

 

possibly PEX but more than likely its what we called black poly pipe. looking at the clamps will be the easy way to tell we used to use it for underground sprinkler systems in the midwest. usually sold in rolls depending where u are u might be able to find a sprinkler installer and buy a piece from them.
my well pump switch is set for 40/60 kicks on when it goes below 40 and shuts off at 60 psi.



https://www.lowes.com/pd/HydroMaxx-...b63949b16ef81d451a2129f98bec9fdd&gclsrc=3p.ds

 

Yup that looks like it...it has standard stainless hex drive hose clamps on it. Could I replace it with PEX? I'm guessing I need to change out the fitting cause I believe it's just a barbed fitting right now.

 

Is anything different about your setup.

My well is 500' from the house with a rise of 20'

I used a higher pressure switch just for the push I would need to look at the tank but it is close to 30 years no problems yet.

 

Well is about 50' from the house with no significant change in elevation. Experiencing pretty bad water pressure in the house right now and the pump cycles on a lot (waterlogged tank). I've read there's nothing wrong with going to a bigger tank as long as you can fit one, it can increase the life of the pump. This existing tank seems to be about half of the size it should be based on the quick calculations I've read about (multiply # fixtures by 3). Which makes sense...a lot of the stuff in this house was clearly half assed when it was built and repairs were either not done at all or done on the cheap.

 

I have to laugh my friends with city water are jealous of my water pressure .

It does not hurt to clean the screens in the faucets and look for crushed and kinked pipe.

 

If you want more capacity without enough space for a larger pressure tank.

Consider 2 smaller tanks connected in parallel, then stack them vertically.

 

Interesting...I can fit the next size up (32 i think?) but I can't fit the 40+ gallon cause they are too wide

 

Yeah the water is hard...I think many screens are clogged, but even the ones I've cleaned out the water pressure still isn't great

 

Take 2 - 20 gallon tanks. Build a support frame. Set one 20 gallon tank on the floor. Set the other 20 gallon tank on the support frame ABOVE the tank sitting on the floor. Connect the tanks in parallel.

Poof......you now have a 40 gallon pressure tank.

 

Finally getting around to doing this and I have a question about grounding. So in the top left you can see a stranded metal ground wire attached to the cold supply line for the house. This goes back to the ground bus in the main breaker panel. I would like to switch my tank outlet to pex for a couple reasons: 1) tank is installed backwards so there is no access to the shutoff, drain, or fittings 2) so much easier and less hassle then trying to use a bunch of different elbows and sweating all the fittings. My question is will this ground still be maintained through the liquid in the lines if I switch to pex from the outlet to the pressure gauge?