Q. What types of well pumps are available?

A. The three basic types of pumps are Jet, Centrifugal and Submersible. The jet pump comes in two varieties, the shallow well jet and the deep well jet. A shallow well jet will connect to the well with 1 suction pipe. It will lift water vertically 25 feet. This is true of Hand Pumps or Pitcher Pumps.

The shallow well jet pump has the jet installed in or on the pump. The deep well jet is used for wells that have a water level deeper than 25 feet. It uses 2 pipes. One is suction the other is return water to operate the jet, which

has to be installed in the well at the water level. The centrifugal pump is used for sprinkling and boosting pressure in some instances. It also can lift water no more than 25 feet. The submersible pump, which is the most popular well pump, can be used in shallow and deep well applications. The smallest submersible for domestic use will fit into a 3" well or larger. The 4" is the most popular and comes in horsepower ranges from 1/3 to 10 horsepower.

Q. Why do I need a bladder tank? A. Back in the old days when galvanized tanks were the rage, people would have to drain their tanks periodically when they became waterlogged (full of water and very little or no air). This condition makes the pump motor cycle

more rapidly which is the motors worst enemy. Since a motor requires about 4-5 times the current to start than it will run at, a lot of heat is created in the motors windings. If the motor runs for a while the fan will pump air across

the windings and cool them down. Or in the case of a submersible pump, cool water passing over the motor will cool its windings. When the tank waterlogs, the motor starts sooner and shuts off sooner. Air in the tank is necessary because it will compress and act like a spring to force water out of the tank. Water is not compressable, and that is the reason for the tank.

Q. Explain how a bladder tank works A. When a bladder tank is installed, before putting power to the pump. The tank has a pre-charge of let's say 38 lbs. Ideally the pressure switch should be set to turn the pump on at 40 lbs. and off at 60 lbs. or more. What physically happens is; with no faucets open the pump is turned on. The pump will try to send water somewhere. The tank is

the only place the water can go (since water cannot be compressed like air can). The bladder is being pressed against the inlet\outlet at the bottom of the tank with the 38lbs. The inlet\outlet in the tank can't take in any water until the pump over comes the 38 lbs. of pressure that is already in the tank. Now at 38.000000001 lbs, the tank starts letting in water and at 60 lbs. the pump shuts off. The tank has now taken in its total cache of water.

Since the builders - centers started calling tanks by their physical size instead of their equivalency to galvanized tanks. The size can be about anything. In reality a 40 gallon galvanized tank and a 40 gallon equivalent bladder tank can physically give about 6 gallons of water between 40 and 60 lbs. The builders - centers sometimes call this

40 gallon a 20 gallon because that is what it will hold if you cut a big hole in the top and filled it up with water. Of coarse nobody really cares what a bladder tank can hold from top to bottom, because that's not how one works.

As you open the faucet at 60 lbs. the pressure is going to go down gradually. When the tank reaches 40 pounds the

pump kicks back on. At that point the system pressure is at 40 psi, and there is a 2 lb cushion to keep the tank from bottoming out and stopping the water flow temporarily. Now the pump starts pumping and trying to either keep up with water demand or getting ahead of demand and sometimes getting to 60 lbs and starting all over again.

The main reason for a tank is to keep a pump from cycling and damaging the pump motor.

There are constant pressure devices that will keep a constant pressure in your house and keep the system from

cycling the pump too much. They are called constant pressure valves. They are inexpensive compared to constant pressure pumps and they work in conjunction with a tank. When using a CPV you can use a much smaller tank. This will offset the price of a much larger tank and save you money.

Q. How do I set my bladder tank air pressure?

A. A bladder tank comes from the factory with pressure in the top of the tank. This air pressure will just about never be what the label says its supposed to be. So adjustments are necessary. Pressure switchs that tell your pump motor when to start and stop are normally factory set at either 20PSI on and 40PSI off or 30 - 50, 40 - 60. I personally like 40 - 70. That gives a little more water between pump cycles. Regardless of the high pressure setting, the on pressure setting is the one that matters to the bladder tank. If your tank has 30lbs. in it and you want your pump to turn on at 30lbs. You will need to let out two pounds making the bladder tank air pressure 28PSI. The same with 20 onor 40 on. Make the tank pressure two pounds less than

the on setting of the pressure switch.The reason for this is to have the pump turn on just before the tank reaches its air pressure setting. This prevents the tank from going completely empty when the air bladder hits the bottom of the tank. If this were to happen, the pressure in your plumbing would immediately go to zero since there is no more water to be pushed out of the tank. This condition is not desired when your in the shower. Of coarse the pump will kick on at this point making the zero condition only momentary, but nevertheless aggrivating.

Q. How do I adjust my pressure switch? A. Since Square D is probably the most popular pressure switch on the market, thats the one we will talk about. The Square D pressure switch and a few other brands that have copied Square D normally have two springs pushing down on a plate supported on top by 3/8 locking nuts. These nuts can be adjusted to set the desired on/off pressure of your pump motor. If you are looking to increase the pressure switch settings, you should first adjust the taller of the two springs. This spring will move the on/off setting evenly. That is to say a 20/40 setting can easily become a 30/50, 40/60 or

anything in between. To raise the pressure, turn the tall springs nut clockwise a few turns. Turn on a faucet and watch your gauge. ( a good working gauge is necessary ) When the pump starts, the pressure on the gauge is your on pressure. Close the faucet, and let the pump shut off. This pressure is the off pressure. To decrease the on/off

pressure, turn nuts counterclockwise. To increase the off pressure, turn the short springs nut clock wise a few turns and run water to re cycle the pump. Keep adjusting for desired off pressure. I dont recommend setting switch higher than 70 PSI for many reasons.

Some bladder tanks will not allow much more than the 20 psi differental. Dont top out the bladder. This will shorten its life dramatically

Q. The bladder tank size conspiracy simplified! A. When you buy a bladder tank, some folks (like me) will tell you that it is equal in size to a galvanized tank. Why

do we do that, you ask? The reason is simple. When you install a galvanized tank, let's use a 42-gallon. It will be completely empty when you first start the pump. The entire inside of the tank will be full of air. When water enters the tank, the air in that tank is compressed into the top 25 percent or so of that tank. That air now acts like a spring. When you open a faucet, the spring (air) pushes water out of the tank at the same pressure that reads on your gauge. Now, since you started filling the tank at zero pressure when the pump first started and you now have a pressure switch that is going to turn the pump on at a pre set pressure of say 30 pounds, the tank is not going to

empty. The tank will only be about empty. What happens to the rest of the water? It stays in there. Now you shut off the faucet, the pump runs the pressure back to say 50 pounds and shuts off at full. The actual amount of water that was taken out and put back during this cycle was 6.2 gallons. Lets do the same thing with the 42-gallon equivalent bladder tank. You install it on the system. The bladder is at the

bottom. The entire tank is pre charged to 28 lbs. The pump is turned on. The tank does not take in any water until

the pump exceeds the 28lbs. At 28lbs the tanks bladder takes in water to the tune of 6.2 gallons and the pump shuts off at 50lbs. Open a faucet, the compressed air (spring) now pushes water out of the bladder at the pressure reading on your gauge until the pump gets to 30lbs. At this point the pump starts up and starts refilling the bladder

just before it is completely empty, giving you 6.2 gallons of water. If for some reason your pump did not start at 30lbs, the tank would keep emptying until it gets down to 28lbs, at which time there would be no more water or system pressure. Just air pressure, trapped above the bladder. Thats the reason we use the equivelency sizing instead of physical size!

Q. How do I check my Bladder Tank to see if it's gone bad? A. Most Bladder Tanks made today have a rubber bladder that is filled with water from the Well Pump. It can eventually rupture over time or from improper air pressure settings. Others have a Bladder that holds the air and the water is put in the tank around the Bladder collapsing it. In either case, when the Bladder ruptures, water from

the well will start to steal a little bit of air from the tank with every pump cycle. Eventually the tank will be full of water. If you push the tank from the top slightly sideways to gauge the weight of the tank, you should be able to see if it feels full or nearly empty (which is how it should feel if it's still working properly).

Another way to check your tank is to push the little stem in the schrader valve which is usually on the top or near the top of the tank. It will look just like the vavle on your car's tire. By pushing the stem in, you should be letting a little air out. If water comes out instead of air, your tank is definately bad.

If neither of the above methods work for you, turn off your pump and open a faucet somewhere to let all the water pressure out of your plumbing system. Take a tire gauge and check the air pressure in the tank. It should be two pounds less than the turn on pressure of your pump. If it is not at this pressure but you do have some pressure left, chances are the Bladder is still good and you can add the proper amount of air and keep using the tank. If you have no pressure left, there is a good chance the Bladder has failed.