Another plumbing question... [Archive]

Iron Chef

03-06-2011, 6:00pm

Here's the situation: 3300sf home split into two systems (two water heaters, A/C units, etc). Well and septic with pressure tank. Slab and PVC pipe.

Pressure was always between 50 and 60PSI. A week ago, it went up to 100psi and just sat there. The pressure out of the faucets seemed no different...in fact I knew nothing was wrong until I took a casual glance at the gauge. Now, the pressure on one side of the house is fine, the other is very low. Pressure gauge on the tank now reads 80 PSI.

Can PVC withstand 100PSI?

Thoughts on what might be wrong?

Calling plumber tomorrow but thought I'd ask here first.

TIA. :cheers:

JRD77VET

03-06-2011, 6:01pm

Sure the guage is good?

edit--- Doubling of the pressure ( 50-60 to 100 ) would give a noticible difference in water flow and felt pressure.

lspencer534

03-06-2011, 6:04pm

Sure the guage is good?

:iagree:

Iron Chef

03-06-2011, 6:17pm

Sure the guage is good?

edit--- Doubling of the pressure ( 50-60 to 100 ) would give a noticible difference in water flow and felt pressure.

:iagree:

Not sure about the gauge honestly. But water pressure had no noticeable difference.

Sea Six

03-06-2011, 6:20pm

JRD77VET

03-06-2011, 6:22pm

Not sure about the gauge honestly. But water pressure had no noticeable difference.

That leads me to believe the guage itself is faulty.

You have any knowledge of pipe thread sizes? ( so you can replace it yourself )

oahuyahoo

03-06-2011, 6:26pm

I'd watch carefully water pressure at 100 psi in PVC unless you are using schedule 40 or greater. You have a customer pressure valve at the house which prevents fluctuations, no matter what happens at the street this valve keeps your pressure constant. If it is faulty and they do go out, then you would have fluctuations.

Y2Kvert4me

03-06-2011, 6:50pm

When you say 2 systems, you have 2 well pump/pressure tank setups, and only one is a problem?

Iron Chef

03-06-2011, 8:45pm

I doubt seriously the pressure changed *that* much.

Temporary increases (although I'm skeptical if it would be in the 100psi range) are possible (i.e. surges) but not a long-term increase over several hours.

I'm just reading what the gauge says.

That leads me to believe the guage itself is faulty.

You have any knowledge of pipe thread sizes? ( so you can replace it yourself )

Sure I do, but replacing the gauge won't solve what is now a lack of pressure in the house.

I'd watch carefully water pressure at 100 psi in PVC unless you are using schedule 40 or greater. You have a customer pressure valve at the house which prevents fluctuations, no matter what happens at the street this valve keeps your pressure constant. If it is faulty and they do go out, then you would have fluctuations.

There is no street valve. This is a well.

When you say 2 systems, you have 2 well pump/pressure tank setups, and only one is a problem?

No...one well with pump and one pressure tank. After the tank and softener, the system is split (I'm assuming so because one hot water heater handles one half of the house and a second handles the other).

snide

03-06-2011, 8:52pm

Busted bladder in the pressure tank.

...Whitepower...

03-06-2011, 8:53pm

How old is the house and is the original system/tank?

Iron Chef

03-06-2011, 8:54pm

How old is the house and is the original system?

6 Years old and yes it is original.

JRD77VET

03-06-2011, 8:57pm

I'm just reading what the gauge says.

Sure I do, but replacing the gauge won't solve what is now a lack of pressure in the house.

There is no street valve. This is a well.

No...one well with pump and one pressure tank. After the tank and softener, the system is split (I'm assuming so because one hot water heater handles one half of the house and a second handles the other).

Oh, more information :D

Was not aware of the lack of pressure.

Get the plumber out and have him check the pressure tank. Snide may be correct with the busted bladder.

Ours had a small leak and it caused the well pump to run more than normal. By the time we caught it, the pump was already too far gone.

Our bill for pulling 480' of well pipe, a new pump, 500' of four stand well wire, use of the well drillers truck, new pressure and labor came to just under $4000 :crazy:

Y2Kvert4me

03-06-2011, 8:59pm

Busted bladder in the pressure tank.That's what I'm thinkin too. :yesnod:

:cheers:

...Whitepower...

03-06-2011, 9:00pm

6 Years old and yes it is original.

Interesting.. A gauge shouldn't fail that quickly.

Then again i was over at a friends house with Bart this weekend and he was tearing into a waterheater that had a heating element fail, and the water heater couldn't have been more than 5 years old so stanger things have happened.

Iron Chef

03-06-2011, 9:00pm

Busted bladder in the pressure tank.

Hmmmmmmmmmm....if so, wouldn't that mean that the pressure in the entire house would be down as opposed to just some rooms?

JRD77VET

03-06-2011, 9:05pm

Hmmmmmmmmmm....if so, wouldn't that mean that the pressure in the entire house would be down as opposed to just some rooms?

The air bladder in the tank allows "X" amount of gallons in before the pump kicks off. Then as you use water, the bladder pushes the water out ( as it allows your well pump to cool down )

When the bladder is compromised, the well pump is constantly turning on to pressurize the holding tank. ( never getting a chance to cool down. That overheats the windings which causes more amperage draw to run. )

Maybe you have a problem at one of the water heaters or at some other junction/fitting.

Y2Kvert4me

03-06-2011, 9:07pm

Hmmmmmmmmmm....if so, wouldn't that mean that the pressure in the entire house would be down as opposed to just some rooms?Depends. You need two people to test this, but the tank is normally pressurized with compressed air. It is this air pressure that delivers a constant water pressure to the faucets, toilets, etc. When that fails, pressure will be all over the place, depending on whether the well pump is running or not at that given time.

Have someone turn on a bunch of faucets, flush toilets, while you stand and watch the gauge. It shouldn't vary much if all is well. If it radically drops in this test, but then builds back up, the tank bladder is definitely suspect.

:cheers:

xXBUDXx

03-06-2011, 9:19pm

Interesting.. A gauge shouldn't fail that quickly.

Then again i was over at a friends house with Bart this weekend and he was tearing into a waterheater that had a heating element fail, and the water heater couldn't have been more than 5 years old so stanger things have happened.

After digging further, both elements were bad. :beer:

MattW

03-06-2011, 11:14pm

After digging further, both elements were bad. :beer:

Bart, what was the water source (what city/town etc) and who made the elements? Just wondering, you know I have a professional interest...

Iron Chef

03-07-2011, 5:28pm

And I feel a little stupid. The low pressure was traced to a blocked up cartridge in my whole house water filter. Funny thing is, I'm very diligent about changing them out, and I just swapped out this one in December. They're usually good for 6 months, and I've had them last over a year, so it never occurred to me that it could be blocked.

Pressure is actually at 50psi. The gauge on my pressure tank is bad. He also said that you can run 70-80psi safely in these home systems, so I'm going to Lowe's this weekend to buy a new regulator and pressure gauge.

Very nice guy and seemed to know his stuff. $85 for the service call. Oh well...shit happens. :banghead:

BuckyThreadkiller

03-07-2011, 5:35pm

Glad it's nothing major. I'm told plumbing problems can be a real pain in the ass.

Iron Chef

03-07-2011, 5:40pm

Glad it's nothing major. I'm told plumbing problems can be a real pain in the ass.

Uh...yeah.

:leaving:

mrvette

03-07-2011, 5:47pm

Glad it's nothing major. I'm told plumbing problems can be a real pain in the ass.

NO, pain in the shitter...as in toilets that won't flush.....

I"m going to take a damn 150 psi hose to mine, tired of crap spinning around forever but leaving a turd on the water......

I don't care if it IS corn.....

floaties need go DOWN.....

:leaving::waiting:

Millenium Vette

03-07-2011, 5:54pm

Iron Chef

03-07-2011, 6:09pm

FRISKY

03-07-2011, 6:13pm

Pressure is actually at 50psi. The gauge on my pressure tank is bad. He also said that you can run 70-80psi safely in these home systems, so I'm going to Lowe's this weekend to buy a new regulator and pressure gauge.

Very nice guy and seemed to know his stuff. $85 for the service call. Oh well...shit happens. :banghead:It isn't that easy to boost pressure on a well system.

You will need to make sure the pump can handle the higher pressure. In addition to pressure the pump will have longer run times and won't be as efficient.

You will probably need to replace the over-pressure relief valve on the pressure tank with one rated higher than standard.

The air pressure pre-charge in the pressure tank will need to be changed to a higher pressure that corresponds to the rise in pressure, and if the pressure tank uses an air-bleed, that will need to be changed also.

BuckyThreadkiller

03-07-2011, 6:26pm

NO, pain in the shitter...as in toilets that won't flush.....

I"m going to take a damn 150 psi hose to mine, tired of crap spinning around forever but leaving a turd on the water......

I don't care if it IS corn.....

floaties need go DOWN.....

:leaving::waiting:

Got a root problem Gene? I had a house once with big azz trees and the roots would grow along the pipe and up into and through the wax seal to get to the water in the bowl. it was hideous when I pulled the porcelain. Had to clean an almost solid mass of fiberous nastiness out but it sure made the crapper flush better.

lspencer534

03-07-2011, 7:12pm

It isn't that easy to boost pressure on a well system.

You will need to make sure the pump can handle the higher pressure. In addition to pressure the pump will have longer run times and won't be as efficient.

You will probably need to replace the over-pressure relief valve on the pressure tank with one rated higher than standard.

The air pressure pre-charge in the pressure tank will need to be changed to a higher pressure that corresponds to the rise in pressure, and if the pressure tank uses an air-bleed, that will need to be changed also.

Damn! All this time I thought all it needed was a flux capacitor.

mrvette

03-07-2011, 7:22pm

Got a root problem Gene? I had a house once with big azz trees and the roots would grow along the pipe and up into and through the wax seal to get to the water in the bowl. it was hideous when I pulled the porcelain. Had to clean an almost solid mass of fiberous nastiness out but it sure made the crapper flush better.

No, not that issue here, seems to be the lines are clean, but I tempted to pull the cleanout cap on the front of the house, and watch if the turds pass by in the pipe, at a good velocity, maybe through a glass so they don't jump up and hit me in the face.....never trust a turd.....

:hurray::seeya: