Well pump to pressure tank pipe extension.. HELP

[JPelks]

Hi guys,

first time poster, long time observer/learner.
Bought my first home, gutted the basement and now I’m redoing the plumbing.. it was a mess!


Question: I have a 1” galvanized pipe coming in from the submersible well pump... I need to extend the pipe 8 feet to where my new pressure tank will be. I know connecting dissimilar metals is not best practice....

do I just give in and use galvanized? Copper, PVC or poly? It is the red line in the image attached

I appreciate all of your time. Thank you!

 

[Reach4]

Question: I have a 1” galvanized pipe coming in from the submersible well pump... I need to extend the pipe 8 feet to where my new pressure tank will be. I know connecting dissimilar metals is not best practice....

Confirm the new pressure tank is the only one remaining, and you are moving the pressure switch to be at the new pressure tank.

do I just give in and use galvanized? Copper, pvc or poly? It is the red line in the image attached

You are probably right that the existing pipe is galvanized, but it's easy to confirm that with a magnet.

Make the extension from plastic, such as CPVC or PEX, or copper. Consider upsizeing from what the galvanized is. You can use brass between materials. Performance-wise PVC and poly are good, but the literal reading of IPC forbids poly and PVC indoors for new stuff. No good reason IMO, and I suspect that in practice those are allowed before the pressure tank.

Don't use plastic female threads where you can avoid it.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Michael Young]

Hi guys,

first time poster, long time observer/learner.
Bought my first home, gutted the basement and now I’m redoing the plumbing.. it was a mess!


Question: I have a 1” galvanized pipe coming in from the submersible well pump... I need to extend the pipe 8 feet to where my new pressure tank will be. I know connecting dissimilar metals is not best practice....

do I just give in and use galvanized? Copper, pvc or poly? It is the red line in the image attached

I appreciate all of your time. Thank you!

screw on a brass adapter and go pex the rest of the way. the brass is a dielectric. and pex is plastic, so you don't actually need a dielectric

 

[JPelks]

Confirmed, I am removing the old pressure tank. Relocating the tee and pressure regulator to the new tank..
Overall, do you think copper(type L) and a dielectric bushing is the preferred choice to extend this? I plan to use some pex already but that’s a little further down the line...

Thanks for the input, much appreciated!

 

[Michael Young]

Confirmed, I am removing the old pressure tank. Relocating the tee and pressure regulator to the new tank..
Overall, do you think copper(type L) and a dielectric bushing is the preferred choice to extend this? I plan to use some pex already but that’s a little further down the line...

Thanks for the input, much appreciated!

That tank tee is brass. it's already a dielectric. The fitting is brass. it is already considered a dielectric. The pipe is plastic. You don't need dielectric fittings on plastic pipe.

 

[Valveman]

If you use a PK1A with the 4.5 or 10 gallon tank you could install it up on the wall and not have a big tank in the way. Since you are new to wells you just as well learn how to make them last by eliminating the cycling. There are lots of other advantages for using a Cycle Stop Valve, but the best one is the strong constant pressure to the house. If you are new to county living you will not like the varying pressure from that big pressure tank as the pressure to the house will always be varying between 60 and 40.

 

[Michael Young]

If you use a PK1A with the 4.5 or 10 gallon tank you could install it up on the wall and not have a big tank in the way. Since you are new to wells you just as well learn how to make them last by eliminating the cycling. There are lots of other advantages for using a Cycle Stop Valve, but the best one is the strong constant pressure to the house. If you are new to county living you will not like the varying pressure from that big pressure tank as the pressure to the house will always be varying between 60 and 40.

I'm not a fan of cycle stop valves. I've read positive and negatives on using a cycle stop. Tell us more about it man. I love the concept, but steered towards the tried and true because I'm an old timer and suspicious of all this newfangled stuff

 

[JPelks]

Hey guys,

good news! After a lot of swearing(meant “sweating”but autocorrect fixed it) I finally have clean water!


Turned out my 1” incoming pipe was copper so I just extended that copper run to my new pressure tank and filters. From the output of the filters, ran 3/4” to the softener…. I then became impatient and started Sharkbiting and pex-Ing my way through.

new resin in softeners, and changed out the regen disk to match my new hardness levels after the filter install.

I must say.. quality water is taken for granted. I am so grateful to feel clean after showering now. Thank you all for the help!

I looked into the csv idea but figured my well pump has cycled since 1978 without issues so whatever, I didn’t want any constant back pressure in the system to wreak havoc on any old plumbing. Plus, I didn’t have much time for the research. Water pressure feels great and I don’t even notice the 20psi pressure drop between cycles. I assume that’s due to using the 1” and 3/4” copper everywhere I could.



TWO NEW QUESTIONS THOUGH:

1.) where can I find a cheap 1” npt water totalizing meter? I’d like to know approx how many gallons are ran through my filters before changing. Any other way to do this is fine too, that was just my only thought.

2.) my pressure tank was set to 44psi and i didn’t let the air down to 38psi.. does that mean I just get a little less draw down?




Once again, thank you all!!

 

[Reach4]

I find water meters on Ebay that specify NPT, but not NPS.

It may be that those, such as https://www.ebay.com/itm/274826758317 that don't specify thread are usually NPS.

2.) my pressure tank was set to 44psi and i didn’t let the air down to 38psi.. does that mean I just get a little less draw down?

Let's assume that your pressure switch is set for 40/60. You get a little drop in draw-down, and you get a brief sudden loss of water pressure as the pressure switch turns on the pump, and the pump responds.

 

[JPelks]

I find water meters on Ebay that specify NPT, but not NPS.

It may be that those, such as https://www.ebay.com/itm/274826758317 that don't specify thread are usually NPS.

Let's assume that your pressure switch is set for 40/60. You get a little drop in draw-down, and you get a brief sudden loss of water pressure as the pressure switch turns on the pump, and the pump responds.

Thank you for your response, as I’m still learning all of this. So do you think it’s critical to drain my tank and set it correctly? The switch should be set to 40/60 as you stated.

here’s a picture of the progress so far!

 

[Valveman]

You would notice if the tank had too much air charge. The water would stop coming out of the faucets for a second before the pump started. Your tire gauge and water pressure gauge maybe may not be reading the same. Glad you got it working and have good water. But no way that 44 gallon tank that only holds 10 gallons of water has lasted since 1978. Pump must have been replaced at some time as well? If your 40 to 60 pressure seems better now, it would be so much better at a constant 55 PSI from a CSV that you would no longer even need soap in the shower. Plus the water hammer from your pump cycling on and off is worse for your pipe than the back pressure the CSV can make.

 

[JPelks]

You would notice if the tank had too much air charge. The water would stop coming out of the faucets for a second before the pump started. Your tire gauge and water pressure gauge maybe may not be reading the same. Glad you got it working and have good water. But no way that 44 gallon tank that only holds 10 gallons of water has lasted since 1978. Pump must have been replaced at some time as well? If your 40 to 60 pressure seems better now, it would be so much better at a constant 55 PSI from a CSV that you would no longer even need soap in the shower. Plus the water hammer from your pump cycling on and off is worse for your pipe than the back pressure the CSV can make.

Hi Cary,

Thanks for the breakdown. Believe it or not, it was actually a 20 gallon tank with a 30/50 switch from 1978! Bought the house from original owner, she said nothing has been replaced and gave me all the original pump documentation.. The house was vacant for 15 years though.

Needless to say the pump is running on borrowed time. I don’t notice much water hammer while the pump cycles, although there has to be due to physics.. when the pump finally quits, I’ll probably give the csv a try.

thanks again and best regards,
Justin