Trade Skills Page

        These houses cant afford city high pressures or shocks from the well pump which is what started this leak.

       And while I have the pumped turned off and depressurized, I'll check the expansion tank pressure, the bladder pressure stores and releases the water into the home when called upon. I run this house at 40 lbs, the pump turns on at 35 lbs of bladder pressure, and turns off at 45 lbs of bladder pressure.

 

     You lose pressure from the tank each and every year and as the pressure approaches zero, not only does the pump have to turn on more frequently, the shocks from starting the pump are sent through out the piping system and get worse as the pressure approaches zero, leading to replacement of pumps and leaks under the home.

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       So to keep the rubber bladder from freezing and separating from the container, people will be convinced to bury the tank in the ground, but this prevents you from checking and adding air pressure and 7 years later a pump or more needs to be replaced. If you go above ground, serious insulation system is needed as you can see here. 

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       The system its self is rather simple, a hole is drilled and a casing is cemented in, all depending on depth. The hanging pipe and pump are secured to the top of the casing and sent first through a device to control the maximum pressure. From there the water passes through a mechanical switch, it should be turned on 5 lbs below the tank pressure setting, and turned off 5 lbs after the chosen pressure setting, (this keeps the stream of water at the faucet steady rather than going from faster to a slower rate as the pump turns on, that would indicate a loss of back pressure in the tank), and those mechanical controls are on top of the switch and set and read from the gauge, there should be a water outlet close by to both turn on and read the gauge at the same time. From there the water either goes into filling the tank, or sent to the house, or sits idlely by waiting to be used.

Keeping anything from freezing is crucial, the tank and the switch are the first two key components, and then any pipe with possible exposure to the cold.

 

Any and all measure are considered, and if a weak link is found, it is addressed, my last one was the bottom of switch froze and the switch froze closed, thus the added can of insulation.