PEX to pressure tank?

[Lunokhod]

Hi all,

First, I've visited this forum quite a bit to answer questions about my well setup and want to thank everyone for being such a good resource over the last few years.

Second, I'm wanting to add a 2nd pressure tank to my water system to alleviate some of the stress on my jet pump since we only have a 20 gal tank for our 2.5 bath home currently. Is there any reason that I can't just use a brass 1" MPT to PEX barb adapter to connect the tank to my existing system since it is secondary to the main tank with the pressure switch? I don't see an issue, but wanted to double check before diving in. Thanks in advance!

 

[Reach4]

Are you talking 4 ft of 1 inch PEX, or 20 ft of 3/4?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Lunokhod]

Are you talking 4 ft of 1 inch PEX, or 20 ft of 3/4?

I guess I don't understand the question... my thought was to run 1" pex from the tank to 1" x 3/4" reducer to tie into the rest of my waterline which is all 3/4" pex. Everything is located in the basement of my home so I think it'd be a simple connect...

 

[Reach4]

I guess I don't understand the question... my thought was to run 1" pex from the tank to 1" x 3/4" reducer to tie into the rest of my waterline which is all 3/4" pex. Everything is located in the basement of my home so I think it'd be a simple connect...

I don't think 20 ft of 3/4 inch pex between tanks would be a good idea because of the interaction. Pump may be turning on and off. When you say "the tank", I assume you are talking about your existing tank.

If you were thinking of some much better (shorter*bigger) interconnect between tanks, I would think that should be OK. You may have been picturing a better connection. You want to avoid the pump raising the pressure on the existing tank to shut off the switch, and then having significant water drawn away from the existing tank to finish filling the new tank.

If you were to make your connections at the midway point of two fairly equal tanks, I think that should work very nicely. If the new tank were bigger, that could work if you teed in the in and out lines proportionally closer to the big tank.

 

[Lunokhod]

Excuse the basic drawing, but I guess my thought was to tee off of the vertical 3/4" PEX line after the shutoff valve and before the filters and add a second tank right next to the existing one. My plan was for the new pressure tank to be bigger at 32 gal. I want to hook an mpt to barb adapter directly the elbow on the new tank at the bottom and use a 1" to 3/4" reducer to tie it back into the rest 3/4" lines. The current tank is part of a pump/tank combo unit so I can't just tie into the current one...

 

[Valveman]

From that distance there might be a little difference in pressure when the pump shuts off, but shouldn't hurt anything except the second tank may not be completely full when the pump shuts off. A 32 gallon tank only holds 8 gallons of water anyway, and having two would give you 16 gallons of draw. That pump probably does 16 GPM so you may get the one minute of run time recommended for the motor. However, you could have gotten up to eight minutes of run time with the one existing tank by simply adding a CSV1A to the discharge of the pump. The extra tank will only cut your cycles in half. The Cycle Stop Valve completely eliminates cycling while using more than 1 GPM, plus delivers strong constant pressure to the house. The extra tank will cut the cycles in half but make the time at low pressure twice as long.

If you have been on this forum before, surely you have seen this video?

 

[Reach4]

If you are going to do it, you could minimize the path like this.

 

[Lunokhod]

From that distance there might be a little difference in pressure when the pump shuts off, but shouldn't hurt anything except the second tank may not be completely full when the pump shuts off. A 32 gallon tank only holds 8 gallons of water anyway, and having two would give you 16 gallons of draw. That pump probably does 16 GPM so you may get the one minute of run time recommended for the motor. However, you could have gotten up to eight minutes of run time with the one existing tank by simply adding a CSV1A to the discharge of the pump. The extra tank will only cut your cycles in half. The Cycle Stop Valve completely eliminates cycling while using more than 1 GPM, plus delivers strong constant pressure to the house. The extra tank will cut the cycles in half but make the time at low pressure twice as long.

If you have been on this forum before, surely you have seen this video?

I have looked at CSVs, but with my current pump/pressure tank setup being one unit (Goulds J05L), where would I install it since the tank directly connects to the bottom of the pump? Isn't a CSV supposed to go between the two?

 

[LLigetfa]

Can you post a picture that shows how the existing tank is connected? I cannot see any connection.

Edit: I see it now.

 

[Lunokhod]

Can you post a picture that shows how the existing tank is connected? I cannot see any connection.

 

[Valveman]

I have looked at CSVs, but with my current pump/pressure tank setup being one unit (Goulds J05L), where would I install it since the tank directly connects to the bottom of the pump? Isn't a CSV supposed to go between the two?

Yes and it can be done. But those top inlet tanks are prone to bladder failures because of the top inlet. You could just disconnect it and use it as a stand for the pump and install a PK1A that has a tank with a bottom inlet. Or you could remove that tank, put the PK1A on the wall, and have a lot more room in there.