Recharging a Galvanized Well Tank

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Larry4025

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What is the procedure for recharging a galvanized well tank? About how often should it be recharged? Is there much of an advantage for me to switch to a pressurized tank? I have an older 82 gallon tank and a 1 hp submersible pump.
 

Bob NH

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You can charge the tank easily and it will have the same effect as a bladder tank of the same size. However, you will have to maintain the air in the tank.

Turn off the breaker to the pump. Run all of the water out of the tank. If it is waterlogged, you may have to work a bit to get it all out. Here is a sure way.

You need to add a port to the inlet pipe, or to the side of the tank if there is a plug in the side, to admit air to the tank.

Put air in the tank to about 2 psi less than the START pressure of your pressure switch. Then run water until the WATER is all out of the tank. Then add air again as necessary to 2 PSI less than the START pressure. Turn on the circuit breaker and let the pump fill the tank with water.

When the tank is full, figure out how full it is of water by tapping the tank or noting the cold water level. Mark the tank at that level. When you notice that the water level at shutoff is higher than that point, add 5 PSI of air to the tank, above the pump shutoff pressure. Check after a day or so and repeat as necessary.
 

Pumpman

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We deal with this type of tamnl all the time. Here's how we replenish the air cushion in the tank.
Turn the power to the pump off, open a nearby faucet and relieve the pressure in the tank. Next, remove the pipe plug on the side of the tank. Let the water drain out until it stops. The upper half of the tank is now full of air. Use either pipe thread dope or teflon tape on the threads of the plug and re install it. The tank is now ready to go.
Ron
 
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vaplumber

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Pumpman said:
We deal with this type of tamnl all the time. Here's how we replenish the air cushion in the tank.
Turn the power to the pump off, open a nearby faucet and relieve the pressure in the tank. Next, remove the pipe plug on the side of the tank. Let the water drain out until it stops. The upper half of the tank is now full of air. Use either pipe thread dope or teflon tape on the threads of the plug and re install it. The tank is now ready to go.
Ron

I have found some old tanks that do not have this plug in the tank. If this is a continuing problem I would replace the air volume control on the tank, but realize that you will have to adjust the pressure 2 or 3 times a year even if the air rewgulator is good.
 

Pumpman

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Many of the tanks in my area are fitted with AVC's. You are correct that even with an AVC, the tanks still waterlog after awhile. Some of the tanks have elaborate setups to add air to the tank, but draining is still the most effective. I would say that, on average, the tanks around here will go about 3 months, or so, before needing air added.
Ron
 

Bob NH

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"We deal with this type of tank all the time. Here's how we replenish the air cushion in the tank.
Turn the power to the pump off, open a nearby faucet and relieve the pressure in the tank. Next, remove the pipe plug on the side of the tank. Let the water drain out until it stops. The upper half of the tank is now full of air. Use either pipe thread dope or teflon tape on the threads of the plug and re install it. The tank is now ready to go."

You are starting off with atmospheric pressure in half of the tank. That approach gives only about 20% of the maximum drawdown capacity of the tank. The starting point should be just as for a bladder tank; with the pressure just below the START pressure of the pressure switch when the tank is empty.

If it is properly precharged and maintained, a non-bladder tank has the same drawdown capacity as a bladder tank. The only difference is that it requires more attention to air maintenance.

Putting in less than the optimum amount of air will require more frequent service. That's a good deal if you get a service call every time the tank is waterlogged.

The right solution is to get ALL of the water out of the tank; then pressurize the tank to about 2 psi less than the switch start setting. See my May 31 post on this thread.
 

prowlingbear

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You can charge the tank easily and it will have the same effect as a bladder tank of the same size. However, you will have to maintain the air in the tank.

Turn off the breaker to the pump. Run all of the water out of the tank. If it is waterlogged, you may have to work a bit to get it all out. Here is a sure way.

You need to add a port to the inlet pipe, or to the side of the tank if there is a plug in the side, to admit air to the tank.

Put air in the tank to about 2 psi less than the START pressure of your pressure switch. Then run water until the WATER is all out of the tank. Then add air again as necessary to 2 PSI less than the START pressure. Turn on the circuit breaker and let the pump fill the tank with water.

When the tank is full, figure out how full it is of water by tapping the tank or noting the cold water level. Mark the tank at that level. When you notice that the water level at shutoff is higher than that point, add 5 PSI of air to the tank, above the pump shutoff pressure. Check after a day or so and repeat as necessary.

I just followed Bob NH's instructions to the letter and the system is working like a clock!

Could not believe that the tank still had 35 gallons of water in it after hooking up hose and letting it run to what seemed to be empty. Then pressurized tank and got another 7 buckets of water out of the damn thing until I finally hit air. Recharged the tank with air to the level Bob recommended, fired up the new pressure switch, and its just like downtown!

Thanks a great deal.
 

Valveman

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Glad you got it working. Yes a pre-charge on an old galvanized tank will make it deliver much more draw down. But maintaining a pre-charge requires regular maintenance. Some places still need this type system to mix air with the water to cut down on sulfur or iron contaminates. But if the water doesn't need to be aerated, a diaphragm tank requires much less if any maintenance, as the air cannot get out of the diaphragm.
 
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