Well Pump Expansion Tank

   / Well Pump Expansion Tank #1  

Pettrix

Platinum Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
622
Location
High Desert Southwest
I got a new expansion tank for my well pump. Inside there is a plastic like cap and when I pushed on it, nothing happened. Is that supposed to come out or move? I don't want to install it and find out that I needed to remove the inside or something wasn't correct with it. It also looks like it's off center and not centered in the hole where the water line enters.

I took some pics to show what I am talking about.




Tank 2.jpg


Tank.jpg
 
   / Well Pump Expansion Tank #2  
I got a new expansion tank for my well pump. Inside there is a plastic like cap and when I pushed on it, nothing happened. Is that supposed to come out or move? I don't want to install it and find out that I needed to remove the inside or something wasn't correct with it. It also looks like it's off center and not centered in the hole where the water line enters.

I took some pics to show what I am talking about.




View attachment 1970590

View attachment 1970591
My suggestion is call the company that made the tank and talk to a tech person! Let us know the outcome! ☮️
 
   / Well Pump Expansion Tank #3  
You could go with Alan's suggestion. My pressure tanks are significantly larger than yours. At the top of mine is an air fill like you'd find on your car or tractor tires. The appropriate pressure before you add water is a nominal 30 psi. Actual preferred pressure depends on your system pressure, the tank instructions should clarify. The lower opening is the water input. Mine is a 1 1/4 pipe thread to mate with my supply.
 
   / Well Pump Expansion Tank #4  
Actual preferred pressure depends on your system pressure, the tank instructions should clarify
I think the usual setting is 2-3 PSi below low pressure cut on.
The op's picture is an odd one, least to me. I've never seen a pressure tank without a schrader valve to charge it. That second pic, is it looking down actually inside the tank?
 
   / Well Pump Expansion Tank #5  
Yes, as Roadworthy said, there should be a Schrader valve there. And as mrmikey already noted, it should be charged to 2-3 psi below your well pump pressure switch cut-in pressure, when the system is de-energized.

I'm not sure what you have going on there, but a condom of some type over the Schrader valve is normal, to keep it clean, as these things go many years between re-checking in most applications.
 
   / Well Pump Expansion Tank
  • Thread Starter
#6  
That second pic, is it looking down actually inside the tank?

Yes, the 2nd pic is looking inside the tank from the bottom, where the water line connects to.

These smaller tanks are for constant pressure VFD well pumps. They don't require large tanks.
 
   / Well Pump Expansion Tank #8  
That piece that you refer to is a reinforced piece at the bottom of the bladder or it's where the bladder was formed...possibly both. I presume it's there so that you don't wear a hole in the bladder and lose your air charge should the 1" nipple protrude into the tank too far or if someone starts poking things into the tank.
 
   / Well Pump Expansion Tank #9  
The tank's minimal docs say they're pre set at 40 psi from the factory. I think I'd leave it alone.
That's a normal way to deliver them, but doesn't imply they shouldn't be adjusted. 40 - 60 PSI is a very common well pressure switch setting, and it's easier for a plumber to relieve a few PSI during installation, after checking with a gauge, than to haul a compressor or pump down to the basement to charge the thing. And if you're one still running 30 - 50 PSI, also easy enough to let 12 psi out thru the valve.

This doesn't apply to the OP, if he's running a constant-pressure rig, but for everyone else, this is important:

Having your tank bladder over-charged can result in both short cycling AND massive pressure losses before cut-in. Round numbers for demonstration, let's say you have a 40 - 60 PSI well pump switch and a tank bladder pre-charged to 50 PSI. Turn on the system, and the well will charge everything up to 60 PSI cut-out, before turning off. Then you use some water, and get nice linear pressure down to 50 PSI, at which point pressure in your plumbing almost immediately plummets toward zero, as the bladder is completely expanded and there's no water left to push out of the expansion tank. If you're taking a shower, you'll notice great pressure, then a total loss of water, then it comes rushing back with a bang. Not good.

Having your tank bladder under-charged doesn't cause this problem, hence the recommendation to run 3 psi below cut-in. However, going too low also reduces useable tank volume, what they call the "draw-down" capacity, between pump re-starts. This is because there is less air space remaining in the tank, when the bladder is under-charged. So, even though there's water left in the tank, there's no bladder left to push that volume.

Setting the bladder right at cut-in would maximize the draw-down capacity, but run the risk of pressure loss right at cut-in. Hence the advice to pre-charge to 3 psi below cut-in.

For OP: I've never rigged a constant-pressure pump, they weren't a thing back when my family owned a plumbing business. But I would strongly suspect that one would want to set the bladder pressure (empty tank) right at your constant pressure setting, or just a few PSI below it, for the same reasons: maximizing draw-down while preventing pressure cycling.
 
   / Well Pump Expansion Tank #10  
The plastic thing in the bottom is part of the tank, leave it be.
On a constant pressure system, the air charge should be 70% of the running pressure.
 

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