Have I properly diagnosed a faulty water pressure gauge? If so, in the plumbing industry, is there a brand that is regarded to be "one of the best" in quality, and if possible, made in the USA? It seems I've had to replace the pressure gauge twice in just over three years which seems, to me, a bit excessive.
I have a 13-year-old residential well with a Franklin Electric 1 hp submersible pump (originally installed in 2005), what I believe to be an Amtrol 81 gallon tank installed no more than two years ago, and a pressure gauge that I believe was replaced with the tank.
For what it's worth, I am a quadriplegic with paralysis in all four limbs and unable get close enough to the well to see the readings on the pressure gauge and had to enlist the help of my wife, therefore these values are approximates.: –) Also I live in South Florida with all the well components in the backyard exposed to the elements including full sun all day long and today the temperature was 88°F.
Okay, so my pressure gauge was reading 82-59 psi and I could not believe those values were correct. I have a Square D pressure switch and don't have the model number at the moment or remember if it was even adjusted at one point or another. Before thinking about having anyone adjust the pressure switch, I decided to have my wife drain the tank and see what the pressure of the tank was, just out of curiosity, and observe the pressure gauge. So we took the following steps: 1. Shut the power off to the well. 2. Drained the tank by opening the spigot which is mounted approximately 22 inches above the pipe feeding into the tank. I did not think to shut the valve off between the well and the house nor did I think to bring out a few 5-gallon buckets to determine the drawdown capacity of the tank which would have been interesting. 3. So with the tank drained the pressure gauge was still reading 18 psi. And using a digital tire pressure gauge the tank was reading 39.5 psi.
This data leads me to believe that 1. The pressure gauge is faulty and unable to read zero psi. 2. By subtracting the cut in and cut out readings displayed on the gauge by 18 (41-64 psi), I most likely have a 40/60 pressure switch which is functioning correctly. 3. The air pressure of the tank is probably correct and reading slightly above what I believe to be the 38 psi pre-charged level with the sun beating down on it. Am I missing anything?
Interestingly, there is a label on the tank indicating it's an Amtrol model number DP-81, manufactured on 12-5-2015, however, I cannot seem to find any more information about it on the web. Even if I search for that model number on the Amtrol website no results are found. I would think even if the tank was discontinued something would be mentioned. Strange.
I have a 13-year-old residential well with a Franklin Electric 1 hp submersible pump (originally installed in 2005), what I believe to be an Amtrol 81 gallon tank installed no more than two years ago, and a pressure gauge that I believe was replaced with the tank.
For what it's worth, I am a quadriplegic with paralysis in all four limbs and unable get close enough to the well to see the readings on the pressure gauge and had to enlist the help of my wife, therefore these values are approximates.: –) Also I live in South Florida with all the well components in the backyard exposed to the elements including full sun all day long and today the temperature was 88°F.
Okay, so my pressure gauge was reading 82-59 psi and I could not believe those values were correct. I have a Square D pressure switch and don't have the model number at the moment or remember if it was even adjusted at one point or another. Before thinking about having anyone adjust the pressure switch, I decided to have my wife drain the tank and see what the pressure of the tank was, just out of curiosity, and observe the pressure gauge. So we took the following steps: 1. Shut the power off to the well. 2. Drained the tank by opening the spigot which is mounted approximately 22 inches above the pipe feeding into the tank. I did not think to shut the valve off between the well and the house nor did I think to bring out a few 5-gallon buckets to determine the drawdown capacity of the tank which would have been interesting. 3. So with the tank drained the pressure gauge was still reading 18 psi. And using a digital tire pressure gauge the tank was reading 39.5 psi.
This data leads me to believe that 1. The pressure gauge is faulty and unable to read zero psi. 2. By subtracting the cut in and cut out readings displayed on the gauge by 18 (41-64 psi), I most likely have a 40/60 pressure switch which is functioning correctly. 3. The air pressure of the tank is probably correct and reading slightly above what I believe to be the 38 psi pre-charged level with the sun beating down on it. Am I missing anything?
Interestingly, there is a label on the tank indicating it's an Amtrol model number DP-81, manufactured on 12-5-2015, however, I cannot seem to find any more information about it on the web. Even if I search for that model number on the Amtrol website no results are found. I would think even if the tank was discontinued something would be mentioned. Strange.
