well pressure question

[farmerpsv]

Hey all,
i have this shower that sometimes wants to give water and sometimes is stingy (ie, water pressure is never optimal, and sometimes is pathetic). was painting the basement floor the other day, so i stopped to take a gander at the pressure tank and pump. the static pump pressure reads 50psi, i took a pressure reading on the expansion tank and it is at 40psi. the tag on the tank says "do not exceed 100psi or you'll blow your house up" (or some such thing). my questions are, can i improve the house water pressure by increasing the tank pressure? does the tank pressure have to be lower than that of the pump to prevent backflow? that seems logical, but i know things don't always follow my logic.
thanks,
paul

 

[ByronBob]

You should be able to easily go up to 60psi by adjusting your high pressure switch. That would help but I don't know if that would solve the problem totally.

 

[beenthere]

Usually the pressure is in a range of hi-lo at about 15 psi. I go to a hi of 60 psi on my pump.

 

[Freds]

There's a kick on, kick off setting screw on my pump. Maybe your pressure is dropping real low before the pump kicks on. That's why sometimes your pressure is OK and sometimes it isn't... because your showering with whatever pressure happens to be in the tank. Does your pump ever kick on while taking a shower and does the pressure increase?

 

[farmerpsv]

Fred,
sometimes the pressure comes up and sometimes it doesn't. it looks like i may need to fiddle with the kick on screw and increase the pressure setting on the pump. would it not also follow to up the pressure in the tank? 40psi strikes me as on the low end, and if i do increase the tank pressure, shouldn't it be below that of the pump?
paul

 

[WVBill]

Look at the questions and answers starting about half way down on This web page . They should give you a good idea about what to check/reset and how.

Note: I have no affiliation with Flexcon other than that's the kind of well tank I have.....

 

[RobertN]

Many residential pressure switches come preset for 40/60 psi.

From my well expierience here at home...

Check the shower head. It may be getting clogged by mineral, calcium ect deposits. We have a low-flow shower head. If it gets a little mineral buildup on top of the low-flow setup, it is pretty pitiful for a shower stream.

I have iron in my water. My pressure was low, although the gauge read ok... I checked it with a second gauge and found the gauge on the well to be off. I shut things down and pulled the gauge off. The orifice for the gauge was gummed up with deposits. Pulled the pressure switch off; it was gummed up too. Replace the gauge and cleaned the pressure switch. Made minor adjustments, and it worked fine.

The bladder in the pressure tank can go low on air too. If you drian the pressure tank, and check the air pressure on the bladder, it should be in the 30-40psi range(refer to the specifics on you particular pressure tank...).

A year ago, our pressure went whacky. Turned out the original installer did not place all the covers in proper place on the pressure switch. One of those tiny tree frogs crawled in there and shorted across the power leads! Had to replace the switch... It was acting as you describe...

 

[ByronBob]

Paul whats the pump kicking on at? For most of us the range is 40psi to start and 60psi to stop. If you have a gauge does it read those settins while kicking on and off.

To do this yourself turn a faucet on and check it out. If your settings are not near the 40/60 split try that first.

I don't know why the bladder needs pressure but it should be between 35-40psi to work best. The well guy told me that and I never questioned why

 

[johnbilt]

I spent some time on this when I replaced my tank this year. Check with your local plumbing store, but I believe the air pressure at the tank should be set 2 lbs lower than the switch turn-on point. This allows a margin of pressure to allow the switch to operate properly.

My switch is a 30/50 psi. My tank pressure is set at 28psi.

I will search for the website info and post it here later...

John

 

[johnbilt]

Here's a website on pressure tanks. The tank must be drained of water pressure before setting the precharge. It should be about 2psi below the cut-in pressure at the pump switch.

http://www.aquascience.net/tanksizing.htm

John

 

[turnkey4099]

Othes have given references to sites for very good information/directions. Just a comment on house pressure.

There are 3 sstandard settings
20-40
30-50
40-60

20-40 is rare for good reason - really too low for good operation of sprinklers, showers, etc.

30-50 A good setting BUT. At the low end while it is adequate for a nice shower it is nothing to brag about.
Mine is set 30-50 and I do have a problem with some sprinklers.

40-60 - In my mind it is the best. Strong pressure throughout the range.

Settings over 60 (cut-out) are not recommended for residential use. It causes excess wear on fixtures.

Harry K

 

[reb]

On the advice of a plumber whose experience was primarily city housing construction, I used 3/4" copper from my well to the house. My pressure switch is set for 20/40# and I find the flow barely adequate, tho the shower is ok. On my previous house, I used 1 1/4" copper from the pump and tank and had no volume or pressure problems with a 20/40# pressure switch. For those building new, I recommend using at least 1" pipe from the pump and pressure tank. It is hard to retrofit, so I will probably have to change my pressure switch.

 

[farmerpsv]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply and for the info. im headed to the basement to see what i can see.
paul

 

[turnkey4099]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( On the advice of a plumber whose experience was primarily city housing construction, I used 3/4" copper from my well to the house. My pressure switch is set for 20/40# and I find the flow barely adequate, tho the shower is ok. On my previous house, I used 1 1/4" copper from the pump and tank and had no volume or pressure problems with a 20/40# pressure switch. For those building new, I recommend using at least 1" pipe from the pump and pressure tank. It is hard to retrofit, so I will probably have to change my pressure switch. )</font>

You shouldn't have to change the pressure switch - they are adjustable. 20-40 is definitely IMO way too low for adequate service. Jack it up to 30-50 at least and readjust the pre-charge.

Harry K