Pr0t0c01
New Member
Hello everyone, I've been a long time lurker of these forums. My wife and I decided to build a "garage house" last summer. My friend and I built every last part of it, to include the septic, well, electric service and electricals.. you name it. I even cut the trees, rented the equipment and we did the dirt work. Only thing I hired for was the pour and finish of the slab, but did the forms, rebar and foam.
So here we stand a little over a year of going into this, all out of pocket and I finally got the water running a second time after unhooking for way to long to do drywall/paint (have been busy) and even wired up and installed a new water heater and hooked up our washer/dryer all in one unit for the first time in 5 years. Things are going well, but I figured it couldn't hurt to share my system and ask for some input to get the best out of it.
Well: 41ft deep, 2" steel well casing, 1" 25-30ft line, water table at roughly 8-9ft
Pump: Gould J5S 1/2HP
Switches: 30/50, one square D the other came on J5S, don't recall brand.
Filters: 3 in line, GE large filters, 20 Micron, 5 Micron, Charcoal
Water Softner: Whirlpool 44k
Tank: Utilitech 36 Gal (Primed to 28 PSI)
Water Heater: AO Smith 50 gal Electric, 6yr (not premium model)
Expansion Tank: Utilitech 5 gal (primed to 51 PSI)
I did the entire place in 3/4 PEX, necking down to 1/2 close to fixtures like the sinks and washer hookups. I've been having an issue with pressure being really crappy as the tank gets lower. So I emptied the system out and noticed the tank was precharged to 20 PSI even though it was supposed to have been 25 from factory. I may have messed with this originally a year ago when I didn't fully understand the pressure game played in these systems. I bumped it up to 28 for the 30/50 switches. However my Square D on the tank (immediately at end of tree on tank), wouldn't cut in until about 24-25, cutoff was perfect at 50. The pump switch would close perfectly at 30 but wait for the tank switch. So it seems my differential is off a bit with the tank switch.
I adjusted the #2 by 1 and 3/4 turns which seem to bring cut in up to about 28. I was going to bring it to 30 as it should and then lower #1 in hopes of returning to a 20 PSI differential. This is logical, correct? I don't recall messing with this switch but maybe I had at some point or my friend who was originally hooking it up with me. How likely is it that these switches we're that out of whack originally? I guess someone at the store could have returned it after screwing with it or could it get out of whack?
Right now the tank switch is still calling for more pressure after the pump switch shuts off. Is this a serious issue to have the switch stay closed like that in the meantime. Obviously I'd like them to be synced.
How often should my pump cycle? We are catching up on clothes that we purposefully didn't bring to the laundrymat since the wife was excited to do it here and save money again. This has of course cycled it a lot, but I don't want to prematurely burn out my pump.
All of the cycling has let me see the amount of condensation these pipes can put off, cause floors to get wet which I'd like to avoid to not damage my walls, cause mold, ect. I've installed insulation foam (the good kind) around both hot and cold, but what can be done for the tank, pump and filter housings? They eventually start dripping. Have been running a dehumidifier too to try to minimize the issue.
Will 36gal for a pressure tank be enough? I bought it brand new from a friend who ended up not getting a house so no longer needed it. Instead of $230 for it, I paid $100 cash so it was hard to turn down. It was also the largest unit Lowe's had in stock at the time, they were out of them when I was offered it for $100. I see they carry 42 and 46 gal tanks though now. Drawdown on this unit is 11.2gal at 30-50. I'm seriously thinking my wife won't be happy once the shower gets installed until we up it to 40-60 though. This will drop us down to 9.7 gal. I wonder if it is worth it or of I should just buy a bigger tank before jumping to 40-60?
We only have 2 sinks (kitchen and bathroom), a shower/tub eventually and a washer/dryer combo which is HE rated via 110v. The entire place is a 28x32 garage, so total plumbing length is less than 40 ft tank to faucets.
Last question... Is there any real downside or negative to using a factory 30/50 switch and adjusting it to 40/60? Are these switches actually the same just adjusted from factory or are the internals somehow different?
Thanks for any and all advice and for all of the amazing posts on here that have helped me to plumbing in my sewer, waste water and well system. Looking forward to learning more.
So here we stand a little over a year of going into this, all out of pocket and I finally got the water running a second time after unhooking for way to long to do drywall/paint (have been busy) and even wired up and installed a new water heater and hooked up our washer/dryer all in one unit for the first time in 5 years. Things are going well, but I figured it couldn't hurt to share my system and ask for some input to get the best out of it.
Well: 41ft deep, 2" steel well casing, 1" 25-30ft line, water table at roughly 8-9ft
Pump: Gould J5S 1/2HP
Switches: 30/50, one square D the other came on J5S, don't recall brand.
Filters: 3 in line, GE large filters, 20 Micron, 5 Micron, Charcoal
Water Softner: Whirlpool 44k
Tank: Utilitech 36 Gal (Primed to 28 PSI)
Water Heater: AO Smith 50 gal Electric, 6yr (not premium model)
Expansion Tank: Utilitech 5 gal (primed to 51 PSI)
I did the entire place in 3/4 PEX, necking down to 1/2 close to fixtures like the sinks and washer hookups. I've been having an issue with pressure being really crappy as the tank gets lower. So I emptied the system out and noticed the tank was precharged to 20 PSI even though it was supposed to have been 25 from factory. I may have messed with this originally a year ago when I didn't fully understand the pressure game played in these systems. I bumped it up to 28 for the 30/50 switches. However my Square D on the tank (immediately at end of tree on tank), wouldn't cut in until about 24-25, cutoff was perfect at 50. The pump switch would close perfectly at 30 but wait for the tank switch. So it seems my differential is off a bit with the tank switch.
I adjusted the #2 by 1 and 3/4 turns which seem to bring cut in up to about 28. I was going to bring it to 30 as it should and then lower #1 in hopes of returning to a 20 PSI differential. This is logical, correct? I don't recall messing with this switch but maybe I had at some point or my friend who was originally hooking it up with me. How likely is it that these switches we're that out of whack originally? I guess someone at the store could have returned it after screwing with it or could it get out of whack?
Right now the tank switch is still calling for more pressure after the pump switch shuts off. Is this a serious issue to have the switch stay closed like that in the meantime. Obviously I'd like them to be synced.
How often should my pump cycle? We are catching up on clothes that we purposefully didn't bring to the laundrymat since the wife was excited to do it here and save money again. This has of course cycled it a lot, but I don't want to prematurely burn out my pump.
All of the cycling has let me see the amount of condensation these pipes can put off, cause floors to get wet which I'd like to avoid to not damage my walls, cause mold, ect. I've installed insulation foam (the good kind) around both hot and cold, but what can be done for the tank, pump and filter housings? They eventually start dripping. Have been running a dehumidifier too to try to minimize the issue.
Will 36gal for a pressure tank be enough? I bought it brand new from a friend who ended up not getting a house so no longer needed it. Instead of $230 for it, I paid $100 cash so it was hard to turn down. It was also the largest unit Lowe's had in stock at the time, they were out of them when I was offered it for $100. I see they carry 42 and 46 gal tanks though now. Drawdown on this unit is 11.2gal at 30-50. I'm seriously thinking my wife won't be happy once the shower gets installed until we up it to 40-60 though. This will drop us down to 9.7 gal. I wonder if it is worth it or of I should just buy a bigger tank before jumping to 40-60?
We only have 2 sinks (kitchen and bathroom), a shower/tub eventually and a washer/dryer combo which is HE rated via 110v. The entire place is a 28x32 garage, so total plumbing length is less than 40 ft tank to faucets.
Last question... Is there any real downside or negative to using a factory 30/50 switch and adjusting it to 40/60? Are these switches actually the same just adjusted from factory or are the internals somehow different?
Thanks for any and all advice and for all of the amazing posts on here that have helped me to plumbing in my sewer, waste water and well system. Looking forward to learning more.
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