Well Priming

[MinnesotaEric]

just tap in another pressure tank to the system with a 1 way check valve and a manual on/ off valve to bypass the 1 way valve when the time comes ... keep the new valve closed and let the water fill the new tank thru the 1 way valve ....

part 2 ... install another on/ off valve to the bleed port and have it inside the house ...

result ... when you run out of water ( air lock ) ... simply open the new valve at the new tank full of pressurized water ... it will try to fill the well pipes ... then open the new bleeder valve to let the air out... the system will fill with water .... when full , turn the well pump back on and close the bleeder valve , then close the manual valve to the new pressure tank ...

Good idea. The reason we don't use a check valves is because of winterization of the plumbing. Up until this winter, nobody has spent a winter at this house for 20 years and so everything went into deep freeze including the top few feet of the well itself.

 

[Zerk]

Bleeding my system takes a long time. I usually discover the air when the shower stops.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Bleeding my system takes a long time. I usually discover the air when the shower stops.

After 30 years of opening up, we've found every possible low point in the pipes, slopped the copper and added drain valves.

It all adds to the "charm" of the basement ceiling.

 

[Zerk]

After 30 years of opening up, we've found every possible low point in the pipes, slopped the copper and added drain valves.

It all adds to the "charm" of the basement ceiling.

I am not talking about the pipes in the house. I mean in the pump and pressure tank. If the pump gets to much air, it quites sucking up water, water gets hot, and you lose water pressure in the middle of the shower.

Not sure why it takes so long, But I have spent lots of time bleeding off air at the pump. This is with a shallow well pump. Not sure how the other styles are. But pump keeps running never getting up to pressure, water in pump gets hot. Which is bad. Pump is cooled by water.

This happens if the water level drops in the well too. Could happen if the pipes going down had a hole above the water table.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I don't know how this would work with your well but around here I usually prime water pumps with a wet/dry vacuum. It just eliminates a lot of headaches.

I would take a sledge hammer and knock a few more bricks out of that hole. It doesn't need to be that small.

 

[jaotguy]

Good idea. The reason we don't use a check valves is because of winterization of the plumbing. Up until this winter, nobody has spent a winter at this house for 20 years and so everything went into deep freeze including the top few feet of the well itself.

also the reason for the manual on/off valves to drain the system if needed ...

 

[turnkey4099]

just tap in another pressure tank to the system with a 1 way check valve and a manual on/ off valve to bypass the 1 way valve when the time comes ... keep the new valve closed and let the water fill the new tank thru the 1 way valve ....

part 2 ... install another on/ off valve to the bleed port and have it inside the house ...

result ... when you run out of water ( air lock ) ... simply open the new valve at the new tank full of pressurized water ... it will try to fill the well pipes ... then open the new bleeder valve to let the air out... the system will fill with water .... when full , turn the well pump back on and close the bleeder valve , then close the manual valve to the new pressure tank ...

Keep in mind though that the water in that tank has been stagnant for however long. Not something you want contaminating the system. My interlock with the community well is 1/4 mile long, same problem and both users understand that, if used, run a sprinkler connected to the nearest standpipe for a good half hour.

We had to bleed all the fire sprinklers in the jail for maintenance. Stuff coming out was black and stank

Harry K

Harry K

 

[Zerk]

Sprinklers stay sprinklers stay stagnant longer then most water systems.

 

[turnkey4099]

Sprinklers stay sprinklers stay stagnant longer then most water systems.

And that water, if stagnant, does not feed back into the system, if it did it wouldn't be stagnant.

Harry K

 

[Zerk]

I was on my smart phone and didn't finish my thougts. I was at my camp, where water stays in the pressure tank when I am not there. It comes out rusty when it sits, but so far has not killed me.

So 2nd homes or camps may go weeks or months, where a sprinkler I suspect goes longer.