Need help diagnosing water pressure tank

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Demacc

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Hi all, I'm having trouble with low water pressure and was hoping for some help in diagnosing it.

I recently moved into a new house and had great pressure for about a month, up until I had a water softener installed. It's one of those big salt softener types by Culligan like this one, plus an inline filter. Since then water pressure has been steady but not as good as before, and is especially lower in the kitchen faucet, which is the furthest away from all the water works in my basement. I had Culligan send someone to check it out and his diagnosis was that pressure loss occurs after exiting the pressure tank, ergo it should be replaced. That's poised to cost me ~$700 so I'm looking for some pointers or a second opinion before I bite that bullet.

Anyway, here's the various odds and ends and some of the technical details I've been able to work out:

- The pressure tank is a Well-X-Trol WX-203, installed in 2002 according to the label.

- I'm not sure I fully understood what the Culligan guy said he thinks the problem is. Apparently the tank's diaphragm can become stuck and is causing the exit valve to be physically obstructed, thus the loss in pressure. Can't quite picture this in my head, but I hope this makes sense. Maybe he meant a piece of the diaphragm flaked off and is blocking the outlet? Is that possible?

- When he was looking at it (and according to writing on the receipt) he said the tank seemed heavy so must be full of water. Empty pressure is about 28.5 psi, full pressure is 51 psi. When I tap it above the diaphragm line it sounds hollow and it doesn't spray water from the release valve so I'm guessing the diaphragm is still airtight? Can it be partially waterlogged? Everything online seems to say that if the diaphragm fails it will just fill up to the top.

- Pressure switch is apparently calibrated to 30/50 as evidenced by the psi. This is in line with what it says on the cover, although the gauge goes from ~54 to ~74. It's a pretty old gauge so I'm guessing it's just inaccurate. Don't know if that makes a difference but there you have it.

- Turning the softener's bypass on/off doesn't cause any changes in pressure, so evidently something happened during installation but the softener itself isn't the issue.

- The pipes connecting the well to the pressure tank and immediately leading out of it are galvanized. I've read that these can get clogged pretty bad by hard water, however, the pressure used to be better before the softener installation and that part of the piping wasn't replaced. After the galvanized pipe leaving the tank (~2-3'), the rest of the plumbing is all PEX pipe.

- Finally, there is a fork in the pipe, right after the galvanized part and before the filter and softener, the other end of which leads to a hydrant in my barn. The pressure in my barn is still very good and as far as I can tell hasn't changed much, if at all (though I don't have actual readings, just eyeballing). Shutting off the barn line does not affect the pressure in the house.

I think that's pretty much it, can try to supply further details if needed. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Is the filter before or after the softener and does the filter serve the barn aswell
 
I always figure needing about 10 PSI extra when going through a filter and/or softener. A WX203 should hold about 7 gallons of water. If you can measure out about 7 gallons before the pump comes on, the tank is still good. The gauge should read zero when the tank is empty. If the gauge still reads 28 PSI when the tank is empty, then it is always reading 28 PSi too high. So if you are seeing 54/74 on the pressure now, it is really only 26/46 to the house.

If the gauge does not go to zero when the tank is empty, you need a new gauge. And if you are really only getting 26/46 to the house, that is why the pressure is low. Most people run 40/60 these days, and I usually up that to 50/70 when there is a softener or filter.

Even if you turn up the pressure to 50/70, the pressure will still vary from 50 to 70 for every 7 gallons of water you use. When it is at 50 you have 5/7s of the pressure that you have when the tank is full to 70. A Cycle Stop Valve would make it hold a constant 65 PSI while you are using water. A Cycle Stop Valve would make much stronger shower pressure than when the pump is continually cycling between 50 and 70, not to mention making the pump, tank, switch, check valve, and every thing else last longer.
 
Is the filter before or after the softener and does the filter serve the barn aswell
It's before the softener, after the fork so it doesn't filter the barn. I tried taking out the cartridge in it to see if this did anything but got no change in pressure. Other than that there isn't really a way to bypass it like the softener.

I always figure needing about 10 PSI extra when going through a filter and/or softener. A WX203 should hold about 7 gallons of water. If you can measure out about 7 gallons before the pump comes on, the tank is still good. The gauge should read zero when the tank is empty. If the gauge still reads 28 PSI when the tank is empty, then it is always reading 28 PSi too high. So if you are seeing 54/74 on the pressure now, it is really only 26/46 to the house.

If the gauge does not go to zero when the tank is empty, you need a new gauge. And if you are really only getting 26/46 to the house, that is why the pressure is low. Most people run 40/60 these days, and I usually up that to 50/70 when there is a softener or filter.

Even if you turn up the pressure to 50/70, the pressure will still vary from 50 to 70 for every 7 gallons of water you use. When it is at 50 you have 5/7s of the pressure that you have when the tank is full to 70. A Cycle Stop Valve would make it hold a constant 65 PSI while you are using water. A Cycle Stop Valve would make much stronger shower pressure than when the pump is continually cycling between 50 and 70, not to mention making the pump, tank, switch, check valve, and every thing else last longer.
I was able to get close to 10 gal (2 x 5 gal buckets) out of it, which on paper seems to correspond to its drawdown at 30/50. Should it really only be 7 gal? If there's more, does that mean it's under-pressurized or leaking?

With the well off and the tank drained the gauge reads 32, so looks like the switch might be running at about 22/42! I'm a bit confused though - if the tank reads 28/51 psi, doesn't that mean the pressure is indeed at 30/50? In any case I guess I'd better try going up to 40/60 to see if that fixes the issue.
 
To me it just seems odd that AFTER the filter and softener were installed you started to have problems. Could be a coincidence. But I dont believe in those.
 
I know! And does their diagnosis really explain the water pressure? I thought the pressure tank is just there as a reserve, why would it cause a drop in pressure if it was broken?

While I'm here I figured I'd ask if it's advisable to adjust the pressure switch while the water is on. What I was thinking of doing was
1. Drain tank, pump it up to ~38 psi
2. Turn on water, adjust switch until pressure is ~60 psi

Would that work or should I stick to adjusting the switch while the water's off and just drain it until I get it right?


Edit: Oops, just realized that wouldn't work because the pump wouldn't turn back on unless I drained it. Nvm.
 
Last edited:
Yes it's the one on the water line, I figured it's inaccurate.

Anyway, cranked it up an extra 8-10 psi and the pressure is almost back to normal I'd say. Guess the entire softener assembly, extra piping and split was just sapping my pressure. A bit miffed that they also wanted to make off with my pressure tank, oh well.

Thanks for the help guys!
 

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