On Mon, 14 Nov 2005 06:50:46 -0500, Kent McPherson wrote:
I realize the 30-50 readings
are fairly standard. It could simply be a case of not knowing what to
expect from a well compared to a city water system. This is our first house
with a well. The water pressure is low compared to the city pressure and I
think I'm hearing that is normal. I'm thinking I'll just call the company
that put in the well pump/pressure tank and have them come check it out.
This house is 8 years old owned by only one previous owner who didn't do
much of anything in terms of maintenance. Maybe there is no maintenance to
this kind of system but might be worth a service call to get someone to look
at it and tell me it's OK.
Before I shelled out the $$ for a service call, I'd seriously consider
turning up the pressure in the pressure switch. You should be able to find
the instructions inside the cap of the switch, or if that's gone, possibly
finding a similar switch at HD or hardware store and jotting down the
instructions. They are very simple and, as long as you don't make major
changes in one operation, should allow you to raise the pressure safely to a
more suitable level. Of course, doing so means that you should raise the
pressure (should be 2-3 psi less than cut-in pressure) in your pressure tank
also - almost as simple as raising the water pressure. The only tool required
is a compressor - the kind found in auto emergency kits is what I use (never
tried, but understand a bike pump takes forever).
Procedure
1) adjust water pressure via pressure switch (don't proceed to step 2 until
you have the pressure you want)
2) kill power (required unless you have a shutoff that will allow draining
the tank without killing power) and drain pressure tank of water
3) pump air into the valve at the top of the tank until desired air pressure
is achieved
4) turn on power and repressurize system
BTW, since you said that the house is 8 years old and the former owner wasn't
the type to do maintenance, I'd suggest that while you have the cover off the
switch, take a look at the contacts to see if they're burned away. The
sparking when they make will eventually burn them out and you'll need to
replace the switch. That's pretty easy too - crescent wrench (maybe some
pliers to hold the pipe the switch is on to keep it from turning) and
screwdriver is all that's required as far as tools. Gotta turn off the power
and depressurize the system before changing it though. I dunno the lifespan
of a pressure switch, so I just check mine about once a year.
I'd still check the water softener, any filters and the fixtures to make sure
they aren't causing a problem, but if pressure is the only problem, you can
raise it easily enough yourself. I personally prefer 40/60, which is very
close to what I had when I was on city water. The house had a regulator
(don't have a clue what the pressure was set to) in the crawl space to drop
the pressure from whatever the city was providing. City pressure must have
been pretty high as the houses in the area all had regulators installed when
they were built (late '60s).
My personal experience (I'm a do-it-yourselfer) with pressure switches is
that some keep the same range (for example 30/50 to 40/60), others will allow
you to *also* change the range (for example 30/50 to 30/60). It depends on
the particular kind you have. Of course the actual pressures will depend on
how far (and which) nut(s) you've turned, I was just providing examples of
what can be done. The only tool required is a crescent wrench - you could use
a socket set instead, but the switches I've had experience with would
possibly require a deep well socket to fit over the screw and still reach the
nut.
When I bought my new washer, I asked the installer about pressure and he
recommended that the pressure NOT be over 80 psi.
Don't have a water softener myself, but do know that they require
maintenance. You might look online for the company that makes yours and see
if you can get a copy of the instructions. The softening resin has to be
recharged - the softening resin I use for tropical fish is recharged using a
brine (salt) solution. I would think that this could pose a problem for a
person on a sodium restricted diet (replacing calcium ions with sodium ions),
but I really don't know. For all I know, the ones systems used for homes use
some other ion replacement - never looked.
Later, Mike
(substitute strickland in the obvious location to reply directly)
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