Deep well pressure tank sweating a lot!!

[gordon21]

I just bought my first deep drilled well. 220' deep with the pump hanging at 208' 4GPM flow. The pressure tank is a 20 gallon unit with the pressure settings at 40/60. Today I was running the new well off a generator for about 20 minutes to test the pressure settings. The bottom 1/3 of the tank was covered in "sweat". Is this normal?? I assume the deep underground water is a constant 55-58 degrees. The outside temp at the time was probably in the high 40's. Should I be getting this much condensation from only a 10-15 degree temp differential?? At this rate, I am worried the tank will rust away in less than a year.

 

[Doc_Bob]

The bottom 1/3 of the tank was covered in "sweat". Is this normal?? I assume the deep underground water is a constant 55-58 degrees. The outside temp at the time was probably in the high 40's. Should I be getting this much condensation from only a 10-15 degree temp differential?? At this rate, I am worried the tank will rust away in less than a year.

Sounds like mine.
Bob

 

[Dusty]

You didn't mention where the tank was located. If in the basement, it will dry out once you are living and heating the new home. If it is outside in a unheated shed, then it will sweat whenever there is excess moisture in the air. Either way, there is nothing that you can do about it, so I wouldn't loose any sleep over it. The tank isn't going to rust out that fast, and if it will make you feel better, give the tank a good coat of automotive wax every few months and that should protect it.
Dusty

 

[gordon21]

It normally sits outside under one of those fiberglass fake rocks 4' high. The rock had been removed for 20 minutes or more. The humidity at the time was almost 100% since it had been raining all morning.

Thanks for the tip about a coat of car wax. I will lather that puppy up with paste wax.

 

[Dusty]

If it is under a rock, then the atmosphere will not have any effect on it until you uncover it. I would like to find one of those rocks used, because they are so expensive to buy them new. We had a perfect one until I backed the truck into it and it shattered on one side. It is still there, but doesn't look too good.

 

[SteelDust]

My pressure tank is a fiber reinforced plastic design, unlike my old metal one, I've never seen it sweat in 3 years of 100% humidity Western WA.

 

[Ken_CT]

My pressure tank is a fiber reinforced plastic design, unlike my old metal one, I've never seen it sweat in 3 years of 100% humidity Western WA.

SteelDust, although that tank probably cost a lot more than another steel one, you will never have to replace it.

 

[thingy]

Steel tank,,underneath a fiberglass fake rock,,,well,,it might not freeze in southern n.c.,,than again,,,a light bulb in there might be the difference,,,,,yeah,,condensation,,cold glass,,warmer air,,equals sweat,,,bottom of your tank is water,top part is filled with air,,,thingy,,,oh yeah,,,,wax it???

 

[Mike_Lipke]

New home??
New homes have almost double the humidity for the first several years.

 

[EddieWalker]

It's just like bring a cold soda outside on a warm day. You are bringing water out of the ground that is colder than the air surounding the tank. With high humidity, you are bringing the air tempature around the tank down to it's dew point.

Once the water in the tank warms up to the same tempature of the air around it, the condensation will disapear.

Having the fake rock around the tank should help I think. It should allow the air around the tank to be warmer, which means it can hold more moisture. To me, this means the cold water tempature in the tank wont have as much effect on the moisture and lessen the condensation that forms on the tank.

I'd expect this to be a very common effect, but probably not observed all the time. A full tank should warm up and lessen the effect, and it will be more common in the mornings on days you natrally have dew or fog.

It's not something I'd worry about.

Eddie