air unloader on pitless receiver tank leaking

jaykay59

jaykay59

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air unloader on pitless receiver tank leaking. Would someone explain its purpose
and possible reason for leaking. Thanks
 
A pitless receiver tank is simply the pressure tank. However, it is mounted above the well casing in the ground instead of being in the basement. The air unloader has what looks to be a 'weep' hole which is seeping water. If I put my finger over it there's actually a pressure buildup which causes the water to squirt out.
 
It's been a long time. I had one at my own house back in the 70's. It's called a PAT tank. Made by Whitewater Mfg. I think. The tank also has plastic stars inside that supposidly kept the tank from waterlogging; (not such a great idea) it didn't work. The hole your talking about I believe is a schrader valve which is where you would add air when the tank needed it. If it's leaking water, your probably way overdue.

bob...
 
You're right. PAT(pitless adaptor tank) manufactured by Whitewater Mfg. It also has a schrader valve which is not leaking. The hole of which I'm referring is actually a drilled hole in the threaded cap on the air unloader pipe. I guess I'll just turn off the pump, relieve the pressure and pull the threaded cap off just to see what's there.
What are 'plastic stars'?
 
It's been too long, I can't remember what the rest of the workings of that tank was, I remember something beside the schrader but just can't remember what it was for. I was the only one I knew who had one. My customers wouldn't go the extra expense for one.

The plastic stars were made to float on top of the water to seperate the air from the water to keep it from waterlogging. It didn't work well though.

bob...
 
Ok, now I remember. The unloader had a float that kept the air at the proper level if the air maker system was working. Not all were installed with bleeders. That's what the stars are about in my previous post. The one pictured in Ranchers link shows an air maker and the float to keep the level correct. And like he said, if it's leaking water, your tank is totally waterlogged.

bob...
 
When you refer to the tank being 'waterlogged', what exactly do you mean?
 
jaykay59 said:
When you refer to the tank being 'waterlogged', what exactly do you mean?
Click to expand...
We mean there is no air above the water, it's the air that pushes the water out of the tank. Air is compressible, water is not.

Rancher
 
Turned off the pump and drew down the water. The air vent(unloader) stopped
leaking water, which made sense. However, when I put my finger over the hole there was air under pressure. Therefore couldn't be waterlogged. Turned the water back on and let it fill. The tank pressure matched the pressure gauge in basement exactly (which it should). But once the tank was filled it started leaking again. So like a true do-it-yourselfer I smacked the pipe with a big hammer. Immediately it stopped leaking. I'm guessing that maybe there's a check valve of some sort that was hung up. Anyway, it just goes to show that if you have a big enough hammer...
Thanks to Rancher and Speedbump for your posts.
 
What is in that air release valve is a schrader valve stem. The guts of the air fill on your tire. The water having minerals in it over time gums it up and it starts leaking water.

bob...
 
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