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Pumps
Tanks Motors & Switches
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General Pump & Well
- What information is needed
to size a pump and tank to a well?
- What is a well?
- What is my water level?
- How do I know what my well
will produce in gallons per minute?
- What types of well pumps
are available?
Bladder Tank, Pressure Switch How to and Why
- Why do I need a bladder
tank?
- Explain how a bladder
tank works.
- How do I set my bladder
tank air pressure?
- How do I adjust my pressure
switch?
- The bladder tank
size conspiricy simplified!
- How do I check my Bladder
Tank to see if it's gone bad?
Galvanized Tanks
- How do I de-waterlog a galvanized
tank?
- How can I keep a
galvanized tank from waterlogging with a submersible pump?
- Why does a galvanized
tank waterlog?
Submersible Pump Motors
- What’s the difference
between two and three wire sub motors?
- What size wire should I
use for my submersible motor?
Water Quality
- What is hard water?
Sprinklers, Pumps, Tanks and Pressure Switch compatibility
- How do certain
pumps behave with pressure switches.
Diagrams of different types of pump/tank insallations
- Shallow well jet
pump. Hand driven well or drilled well.
- Deep well jet pump with two
pipe jet.
- Deep well jet pump with
single pipe jet.
- Air maker system
with a galvanized tank.
Q. What information is
needed to size a pump and tank to a well?
A. For me to find the right pump to put in any
well, I must have five (5) pieces of info.
- The casing (or well) diameter. Most wells today are 4
or larger.
- The static water level (distance to water from top of
well).
- The pumping rate of the well. How many gallons per minute
will the well produce?
- The total depth of the well, from top to bottom.
- What is the intended use of the water. Are you using it
for an average home, or home and a sprinkler system? Is
the well just for irrigation, farming etc? If you
do have a sprinkler system or the well is for irrigation,
I will need to know how many gallons per minute is needed
and at what pressure. The number of sprinklers or heads
will not tell me how much water you need. Telling me how
many acres your yard is or how big it is, does not help
at all in sizing the pump.
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Q. What is a well?
A. A well can be any excavation of the earth.
You can hand dig a hole in the ground and let water seep
in.
You can jet or drive a shallow well into the ground to a sand
formation, which has a screen at the bottom to let water in
and keep sand out. A well can also be a deep well in which
there is a screen installed to prevent sand from entering
the casing.
Or it can be a rock well where a screen is not necessary.
Most wells have an upper casing of either steel pipe or PVC
pipe. In a rock well the casing will only go as deep as needed,
then a hole is drilled into the rock to provide enough water
for the desired use. In the screened well the casing
will go to the water source and the screen will be just below
the casing.
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Q. What is my water level?
A. Your water level is the distance from ground
level or the suction inlet of the pump, to the top of the
standing water in your well.
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Q. How do I know what my well will produce
in gallons per minute?
A.Hopefully, the person who drilled the well did a
test to determine the gpm. If not, the only way to find out
is to do a pump test.
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Q. What types of well pumps
are available?
A.The three basic types of pumps are Jet, Centrifugal
and Submersible. The jet pump comes in two varieties, the
shallow well jet and the deep well jet. A shallow well jet
will connect to the well with 1 suction pipe. It will lift
water vertically 25 feet. This is true of Hand Pumps or Pitcher
Pumps.
The shallow well jet pump has the jet installed in or on
the pump. The deep well jet is used for wells that have
a water level deeper than 25 feet. It uses 2 pipes. One is
suction the other is return water to operate the jet, which
has to be installed in the well at the water level. The centrifugal
pump is used for sprinkling and boosting pressure in some
instances. It also can lift water no more than 25 feet. The
submersible pump, which is the most popular well pump, can
be used in shallow and deep well applications. The smallest
submersible for domestic use will fit into a 3" well
or larger. The 4" is the most popular and comes in horsepower
ranges from 1/3 to 10 horsepower. top
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Q. Why do I need a bladder tank?
A. Back in the old days when galvanized tanks were
the rage, people would have to drain their tanks periodically
when they became waterlogged (full of water and very little
or no air). This condition makes the pump motor cycle more
rapidly which is the motors worst enemy. Since a motor requires
about 4-5 times the current to start than it will run at,
a lot of heat is created in the motors windings. If the motor
runs for a while the fan will pump air across the windings
and cool them down. Or in the case of a submersible pump,
cool water passing over the motor will cool it’s windings.
When the tank waterlogs, the motor starts sooner and shuts
off sooner. Air in the tank is necessary because it will compress
and act like a spring to force water out of the tank. Water
is not compressable, and that is the reason for the tank.
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Q. Explain how a bladder tank works
A. When a bladder tank is installed, before putting
power to the pump. The tank has a pre-charge of let's say
38 lbs. Ideally the pressure switch should be set to turn
the pump on at 40 lbs. and off at 60 lbs. or more. What physically
happens is; with no faucets open the pump is turned on. The
pump will try to send water somewhere. The tank is the only
place the water can go (since water cannot be compressed like
air can). The bladder is being pressed against the inlet\outlet
at the bottom of the tank with the 38lbs. The inlet\outlet
in the tank can't take in any water until the pump over comes
the 38 lbs. of pressure that is already in the tank. Now at
38.000000001 lbs, the tank starts letting in water and at
60 lbs. the pump shuts off. The tank has now taken in its
total cache of water.
Since the builders - centers started calling tanks by their
physical size instead of their equivalency to galvanized tanks.
The size can be about anything. In reality a 40 gallon galvanized
tank and a 40 gallon equivalent bladder tank can physically
give about 6 gallons of water between 40 and 60 lbs. The builders
- centers sometimes call this 40 gallon a 20 gallon because
that is what it will hold if you cut a big hole in the top
and filled it up with water. Of coarse nobody really cares
what a bladder tank can hold from top to bottom, because that's
not how one works.
As you open the faucet at 60 lbs. the pressure is going to
go down gradually. When the tank reaches 40 pounds the pump
kicks back on. At that point the system pressure is at 40
psi, and there is a 2 lb cushion to keep the tank from bottoming
out and stopping the water flow temporarily. Now the pump
starts pumping and trying to either keep up with water demand
or getting ahead of demand and sometimes getting to 60 lbs
and starting all over again.
The main reason for a tank is to keep a pump from cycling
and damaging the pump motor.
There are constant pressure devices that will keep a constant
pressure in your house and keep the system from cycling the
pump too much. They are called Cycle
Stop Valves, they are inexpensive compared to constant
pressure pumps and they work in conjunction with a tank. When
using a CSV you can use a much smaller tank. This will offset
the price of a much larger tank and save you money.
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Q. How do I set my bladder tank air
pressure?
A. A bladder tank comes from the factory with pressure in
the top of the tank. This air pressure will just about never
be what the label says it’s supposed to be. So adjustments
are necessary.
Pressure switch’s that tell your pump motor when to start
and stop are normally factory set at either 20PSI on and 40PSI
off or 30 - 50, 40 - 60. I personally like 40 - 70. That gives
a little more water between pump cycles. Regardless of the
high pressure setting, the on pressure setting is the
one that matters to the bladder tank. If your tank has 30lbs.
in it and you want your pump to turn on at 30lbs. You will
need to let out two pounds making the bladder tank air pressure
28PSI. The same with 20 on or 40 on. Make the
tank pressure two pounds less than the on setting of
the pressure switch.The reason for this is to have the pump
turn on just before the tank reaches it’s air pressure setting.
This prevents the tank from going completely empty when the
air bladder hits the bottom of the tank. If this were to happen,
the pressure in your plumbing would immediately go to zero
since there is no more water to be pushed out of the tank.
This condition is not desired when your in the shower. Of
coarse the pump will kick on at this point making the zero
condition only momentary, but nevertheless aggrivating.
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Q. How do I adjust my pressure switch?
A. Since Square D is probably the most popular pressure
switch on the market, that’s the one we will talk about.
The Square D pressure switch and a few other brands that have
copied Square D normally have two springs pushing down on
a plate supported on top by 3/8” locking nuts. These
nuts can be adjusted to set the desired on/off pressure of
your pump motor.
If you are looking to increase the pressure switch settings,
you should first adjust the taller of the two springs.
This spring will move the on/off setting evenly. That
is to say a 20/40 setting can easily become a 30/50, 40/60
or anything in between. To raise the pressure, turn
the tall springs nut clockwise a few turns. Turn on
a faucet and watch your gauge. ( a good working gauge is necessary
) When the pump starts, the pressure on the gauge is your
on pressure. Close the faucet, and let the pump shut
off. This pressure is the off pressure. To decrease
the on/off pressure, turn nuts counterclockwise.
To increase the off pressure, turn the short springs nut clock
wise a few turns and run water to re cycle the pump.
Keep adjusting for desired off pressure.
I don’t recommend setting switch higher than 70 PSI for many
reasons.
Some bladder tanks will not allow much more than the 20 psi
differental. Don’t top out the bladder. This will shorten
it’s life dramatically
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Q. The bladder tank size conspiracy
simplified!
When you buy a bladder tank, some folks (like me) will tell
you that it is equal in size to a galvanized tank. Why do
we do that, you ask? The reason is simple. When you install
a galvanized tank, let's use a 42-gallon. It will be completely
empty when you first start the pump. The entire inside of
the tank will be full of air. When water enters the tank,
the air in that tank is compressed into the top 25 percent
or so of that tank. That air now acts like a spring. When
you open a faucet, the spring (air) pushes water out of the
tank at the same pressure that reads on your gauge. Now, since
you started filling the tank at zero pressure when the pump
first started and you now have a pressure switch that is going
to turn the pump on at a pre set pressure of say 30 pounds,
the tank is not going to empty. The tank will only be about
½ empty. What happens to the rest of the water? It
stays in there. Now you shut off the faucet, the pump runs
the pressure back to say 50 pounds and shuts off at ¾
full. The actual amount of water that was taken out and put
back during this cycle was 6.2 gallons.
Lets do the same thing with the 42-gallon equivalent bladder
tank. You install it on the system. The bladder is at the
bottom. The entire tank is pre charged to 28 lbs. The pump
is turned on. The tank does not take in any water until the
pump exceeds the 28lbs. At 28lbs the tanks bladder takes in
water to the tune of 6.2 gallons and the pump shuts off at
50lbs. Open a faucet, the compressed air (spring) now pushes
water out of the bladder at the pressure reading on your gauge
until the pump gets to 30lbs. At this point the pump starts
up and starts refilling the bladder just before it is completely
empty, giving you 6.2 gallons of water. If for some reason
your pump did not start at 30lbs, the tank would keep emptying
until it gets down to 28lbs, at which time there would be
no more water or system pressure. Just air pressure, trapped
above the bladder.
That’s the reason we use the equivelency sizing instead
of physical size!
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Q. How do I check my Bladder Tank
to see if it's gone bad?
Most Bladder Tanks made today have a rubber bladder that
is filled with water from the Well Pump. It can eventually
rupture over time or from improper air pressure settings.
Others have a Bladder that holds the air and the water is
put in the tank around the Bladder collapsing it. In either
case, when the Bladder ruptures, water from the well will
start to steal a little bit of air from the tank with every
pump cycle. Eventually the tank will be full of water. If
you push the tank from the top slightly sideways to gauge
the weight of the tank, you should be able to see if it feels
full or nearly empty (which is how it should feel if it's
still working properly).
Another way to check your tank is to push the little stem
in the schrader valve which is usually on the top or near
the top of the tank. It will look just like the vavle on your
car's tire. By pushing the stem in, you should be letting
a little air out. If water comes out instead of air, your
tank is definately bad.
If neither of the above methods work for you, turn off your
pump and open a faucet somewhere to let all the water pressure
out of your plumbing system. Take a tire gauge and check the
air pressure in the tank. It should be two pounds less than
the turn on pressure of your pump. If it is not at this pressure
but you do have some pressure left, chances are the Bladder
is still good and you can add the proper amount of air and
keep using the tank. If you have no pressure left, there is
a good chance the Bladder has failed.
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Q. How do you de-waterlog a galvanized
tank?
There are several ways to de-waterlog a galvanized tank. The
idea is to get all the water out of the tank and fill it back
up with air. This can be done by first turning off the electric
to the pump motor. Opening a valve at the bottom of the tank
(if you have one) and removing the plug in the side of the
tank to let air in while the water goes out the bottom. Note:
Never take the top plug out the the tank. It has been sealed
so as to not let any air out and once removed it is difficult
to reseal. Once the tank is empty, replace the plug in the
side using a good pipe dope or teflon tape. Close the valve
and turn the pump back on.
If you don’t have the valve at the bottom or the plug
in the side, you can open a faucet, prefferably an outside
faucet or laundry tub. You will have to install a schrader
valve into the tank somewhere, usually in the side opening.
This will allow you to connect an air compressor. Blow all
the water out of the tank by waiting until air comes out of
the open faucet. Then close the faucet and continue adding
air to about 15 lbs. less than the pumps pressure switch on
setting. Turn the pump back on. By adding the extra air, you
will have a much better drawdown than just by simply draining
the tank.
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Q. How do I keep a galvanized
tank from waterlogging with a submersible pump?
The non-tech way is to drain the tank every so often by opening
a valve at the bottom of the tank and removing the plug on
the side of the tank to let air in as the water is let out.
Opening a faucet in the house will not accomplish this task.
You must open a valve on the bottom of the tank (or remove
a plug if so equipped). The whole idea is to replace water
with air. Air is the spring that compresses and pushes water
out of the tank to the plumbing fixtures until the pump starts
and refills the used water.
The hi-tech way (has been around since I was a baby) is to
install a bleeder in the droppipe in the well or drill a small
3/16” hole to let water escape once the pump shuts off.
A check valve is installed in front of the tank with a tapped
1/4” hole on the pump side of the valve to install a
schrader valve (car tire valve with threads) which with the
cap removed will allow air into the pipes while the bleeder/hole
is letting water out. I recommend the bleeder/hole to be between
10 and 20 feet below the top of the well. With the above in
place, when the pump shuts off, the water will bleed from
the bleeder/hole letting air into the pipes through the schrader
valve. The pump kicks on and puts the air into the tank. When
the air gets down to the level of the the side opening in
the the tank, an air release valve lets the excess air out
by means of a float. As long as the bleeder/hole and the air
release valve are working the tank will not waterlog.
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Q. Why does a galvanized tank waterlog?
Galvanized tanks waterlog because well water is somewhat deficient
of oxygen. So each cycle of the pump when fresh well water
is introduced to the tank, it steals a little bit of air from
the tank. Before long (no set time, different in all cases)
the tank becomes waterlogged and the pump motor is hammering
on and off, trying its best to get hot enough to burn up.
Which it will before long.
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Q. What’s the difference between
two and three wire sub motors?
A. Since Franklin Electric has been the motor manufacturer
for practically every American submersible pump company in
the United States up until recently; the information below
will relate to only one brand of motor.
The two wire Franklin motor has three wires. Two of these
wires are black and connect directly to the power source.
The third wire is the green ground wire.
The three wire motor has four wires. A red (start wire) a
black, a yellow and the green ground wire. The red, black
and yellow all connect to their perspective terminals in a
control box which is installed above ground in a convenient
location. The green is connected to the ground terminal. The
other two terminals in the control box are the L1 and L2 connections
which accept the power from the electric company. In this
control box are a start capacitor, a relay and sometimes an
overload protector and run capacitor.
The two wire motor has a biac switch that energizes the start
winding in the motor to get it up to speed. When the motor
is almost at normal RPMs, the biac switch disconnects the
start winding for the remainder of that cycle.
The three wire motor uses the start capacitor along with the
start winding to get the motor nearly up to speed, then the
relay points open and disconnect the start winding and the
start capacitor until needed again. In the case of the run
capacitor, it is in line all the time and does not need a
relay to disable it.
When a pump gets locked up due to sand or grit, the three
wire motor depends on the start capacitor to have enough strength
to kick start the pump. But in the case of the two wire, if
the pump is locked up, the biac switch will kick the motor
in a reverse direction then back in the foreward direction
to try to break the pump loose. Of coarse if the pump is hopelessly
froze up, it will have to be pulled and serviced.
The cost for a two wire pump or a three wire with/control
box is usually the same . But for my money, I will stick with
the two wire. It has been proven to last longer, it is easier
to install and you don’t have to look for a mounting
spot for the control box.
Two wire motors are available in 1/2, 3/4, 1 and 1.5 horsepower
only. Two horse and above are all three wire.
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Q. What size wire should I use for
my submersible motor?
Below is a chart from the Franklin Electric application manual.
It will give horsepower and wire sizes for maximum distances
allowed. The distances are measured from the main breaker
box to the submersible motor.
Click
to Enlarge
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Q. What is hard water?
A. Hard water is the most common problem found in the average
home. Hard water is typically defined as water having more
than 1 GPG (grains per gallon) of dissolved minerals in it,
generally consisting of calcium, magnesium carbonate, and/or
manganese. The amount of hardness in water is usually measured
in either PPM (parts per million) or GPG (grains per gallon).
17.1 PPM or 17.1 Mg/L = 1 GPG
OR
PPM or Mg/L divided by 17.1 = GPG
A couple of ways for you to find out how hard your water is,
would be to have it tested locally, or you can send a small
sample to us, (at least 8 oz) and we will gladly test it for
you free, even if you decide to purchase your softener elsewhere!
We will test your sample for hardness, Iron and Total Dissolved
Solids (TDS), and Email or phone the results back to you.
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Q. How do sprinklers, pumps,
tanks, timers and pressure switches work together?
A. Whether your using a Jet pump, Centrifugal pump or a Submersible
pump, you can use sprinklers either with a pressure switch
and a tank (bladder or otherwise) or you can use a sprinkler
timer to operate the pump in conjuction with the sprinklers.
Note: I don’t recommend the centrifugal with a pressure
switch. They are very hard to operate with a switch and very
sensitive to water level fluctuations. People do it all the
time, but I’m speaking from experience. The jet and submersible
will work well with presssure switches.
When using a timer to operate the sprinklers and the pump,
you will not have the option of having water available for
hand watering, car washing etc. Because the timer is the only
thing that controls the pump.
If you have a timer for the sprinklers or not, you can have
a pressure switch that will control the pump. The pressure
switch will turn the pump on and off at a preset pressure
usually with a 20 pound differential. These pressures can
be adjusted to match the sprinkler system. Along with the
switch, you must have a tank. The tank can be as small as
one gallon as long as you can adjust the switch to keep the
pump running during the watering cycle. Cycling of the pump
is very hard on the motor and will severly shorten it’s
life.
You can have the pump controlled by a tank and pressure switch
and have the sprinklers controlled by a timer. This configuration
isolates the pump from the sprinklers and makes hand watering,
car washing possible and also protects the pump from running
dead head against a bad solonoid valve that didn’t open.
If no water is used the pump just won’t come on.
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Q. How do certain types of
pumps behave with pressure switches?
A. Whether your using a Jet pump, Centrifugal pump or a Submersible
pump, you can use sprinklers either with a pressure switch
and a tank (bladder or otherwise) or you can use a sprinkler
timer to operate the pump in conjuction with the sprinklers.
Note: I don’t recommend the centrifugal with a pressure
switch. They are very hard to operate with a switch and very
sensitive to water level fluctuations. People do it all the
time, but I’m speaking from experience. The jet and submersible
will work well with presssure switches.
When using a timer to operate the sprinklers and the pump,
you will not have the option of having water available for
hand watering, car washing etc. Because the timer is the only
thing that controls the pump.
If you have a timer for the sprinklers or not, you can have
a pressure switch that will control the pump. The pressure
switch will turn the pump on and off at a preset pressure
usually with a 20 pound differential. These pressures can
be adjusted to match the sprinkler system. Along with the
switch, you must have a tank. The tank can be as small as
one gallon as long as you can adjust the switch to keep the
pump running during the watering cycle. Cycling of the pump
is very hard on the motor and will severly shorten it’s
life.
You can have the pump controlled by a tank and pressure switch
and have the sprinklers controlled by a timer. This configuration
isolates the pump from the sprinklers and makes hand watering,
car washing possible and also protects the pump from running
dead head against a bad solonoid valve that didn’t open.
If no water is used the pump just won’t come on.
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