Any last minute advice for well pressure tank change?

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Cwilliams2000

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I am planning to replace the tank I just realized last week had failed in my house (waterlogged). Its a pro source 50 gallon, I bought a well xtrol 62 gallon, I also bought a new T as well as the valves around it and a new pressure switch and gauge. The total was abotu $760 which was far from cheap but I feel like I got a good deal and good brand. I am planning to assemble the T and connections with teflon tape on the threads and megaloc on top to hopefulyl assure a leak free connection.

The old tank worries me since I think it had a slow leak, so I am planning to drain what comes out, then release the pressure valve on top and then drill the top and stick a rod through the inside to hopefulyl pierce the bladder and let the rest drain out.

Any other tips or things to think abotu as I do this, I am planning to do it tomorrow night.

My other worry is hopefulyl I can unscrew the threaded copper connection into the exisiting plumbing, if not I bought a new fitting, but I am hoping with two large wrenches they will come apart fairly easily.
 

Craigpump

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Maybe you will get lucky and the water behind the bladder will drain out completely. If not, what you can do is cut a hole large enough to get the hose for a wet vac in there and suck out the water a little at a time.

What do you mean unscrew the copper fittings? If they are sweated / soldered to the pipe, you won't be able to move them.
 

Cwilliams2000

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The final connection is a 1 1/4" to 1" threaded male and that goes into a threaded shut off valve. If I can get that one apart then I just have to thread everything together which would be easier not sure if they will come apart cleanly though.
 

Cwilliams2000

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Tis done! Definitely a pain getting the water out of the old tank but I was fortunate and all the connection points were able to be unscrewed cleanly, so I replaced the tank, tee and check valves and other bits. No leaks looks good and finally the pump doesn't run for 15 seconds at a time any longer, hopefully my pump still lasts for a long time.
 
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Cwilliams2000

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Ok so I clearly jinexed myself. So this morning I went down to find a small puddle under the well pipes. I really as surprised since I felt like I really took my time, cleaned every threaded fitting, 3 wraps of tape, and megaloc on top, and really got them nice and tight. Well....turns out it wasn't any of the new piping, but in fact was a 90* elbow that must have got some flex when I was moving things around a little.

I ended up cutting it out, and replacing it with a sharkbite coupler then a 90. I wanted to solder, but its easter weekend, and I have had excellent luck with them before.

Not this time, in fact I was so pissed off I can't describe it well enough here but you can get it. I took my time, chamfered the edge, cleaned all the pipe with acetone on the outside to make sure there was no residue on the older pipe, everything lined up nice.

Turn on the water, things look good, start to reach full pressure and I see a fine mist on the wall to the side, I am like... wtf???? I take a close look since I can't see where the water is coming from.

The shitbite, if you can excuse me this one time, is split on the side, not where you put the pipe in but actually along the mold line, I was absolutely furious since I had planned for the water to be off about 15 minutes, had to go back to the depot about 40 minutes away too and back again and the new fitting seemed ok.

I know I see this all the time but this is not acceptable at all for quality control since these cost about 4x a regular fitting price. I will call them Monday,

But this story sure tells me that even when the new work looks great and you take your time, the only stuff can be a pain, and then on top of that what a waste of time with a broken fitting. I actually bought 2 when I went back just in case.


Hopefully this is the end, and I can forget about the well, even just for a month would be nice!
 

Valveman

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Things like that happen to me so often that I wear soap on a rope around my neck, so I can just finish the shower after something breaks and gets me wet. Lol

You did very well to get it going again. But if you really don’t want to have any more problems, you should figure out how to stop the pump from cycling on and off so much. That is most likely the cause of the busted bladder in the tank and will soon cause even more problems as cycling is also the biggest killer of pumps.
 
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