Well Tank Precharge

[Ron Goldstein]

Hi All,

I live 50 miles north of NYC, and we have a well system for water. I've owned this house for 25 years and never had this happen before. My pressuretrol is set for 30-50....30 pounds pressure--on.....50 pounds off. I realized that I had not checked the precharge for a couple of years, so just for kicks the other night I turned off the pump, and flushed the toilet until the system ran out of pressure. I measured the precharge at the schrader fitting and it was to my surprise 38 pounds. I tried 2 other pressure gauges, and all 3 were within 1 pound of each other. I let the pressure out to 28 pounds as per the manufacturer's label instructions on the tank.

A few days went by, and I checked the pressure again---You guessed it--it was back up to 38 again. This time I let all the pressure out---there was absolutely NO WATER in the upper part of the tank. I recharged it to 28 pounds. A few days went by, and I checked it again--this time there was 35 pounds. Does anyone know what is going on ???

One other thing.....with the well pump off and the main shutoff valve to the house closed, after I bleed off any pressure, my pressure valve stays at zero. If I open the main valve to upstairs, the pressure starts to creep up. Is this just the weight of the water in all the pipes pushing water back into the tank ????

Thanks,

RON

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[me]

Maybe someone in your family is full of hot air and they are blowing it up :) Otherwise I dont have a clue !!!!

[Ron Hardin]

I can't follow the description, but the pressure in the pipes eventually is set by the maximum height of the water above it regardless of anything else. Presumably the precharge pressure is without the water in the house being attached, otherwise it doesn't make sense to me.

It will take some time for the pressure from the house to leak back because the pipes full of water have to break the vacuum that holds their respective bits of water up by suckage.

[Don Phillipson]

It is not quite clear what the problem is:

1. Any problems with water supply at the tap?
2. Or do you measure a theoretical difference between your system's performance and the maker's specifications?

-- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)