Safe pressure setting for tank pressure switch?

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I also have a well and was unhappy with the shower pressure, and raising the tank pressure only helped a little, so this is what I found.
First, i found the shower was getting clogged with sediment, like Jeff Handy mentioned above, at the little screen where it screws onto the hose. If you had sediment inside the shower head theres no way that screen is not clogged IMO. I now unscrew and clean that every month.
2. I found that the whole house filters need to be changed more often, so if you get filters installed keep that in mind.
3. Our tankless heater is supposed to be flushed every three months. We didn’t do that and when we finally did, it helped the pressure.
4. I bought this shower head pretty cheaply on Amazon, and as Rickwhoo says, it has really great pressure. Also those beads in the handle soften the water.

I bought 2 of these and they have some serious pressure. They are cheap and work great. I'm sure there are better made ones but I will wait for these to die before replacing them.

View attachment 24265
Leave the pressure alone and try a new shower head. My wife says these cheapo shower heads I suggested hurt...
 
It is not the pipe or the tank that limits the pressure. I find any higher than 80 PSI makes it hard to keep toilet valves and faucet washers working. Pipe will be rated 100+ and the tank 150. A WX203 only holds about 7 gallons of water. If it is filling in a few seconds the pump will probably make 80 PSI no problem. But you won't know until you try. Turn it up and see if can get to 80 easily. And running any less than 1 minute is not good for the pump. You either need a larger tank or a Cycle Stop Valve to work with the small tank.
 
It is not the pipe or the tank that limits the pressure. I find any higher than 80 PSI makes it hard to keep toilet valves and faucet washers working. Pipe will be rated 100+ and the tank 150. A WX203 only holds about 7 gallons of water. If it is filling in a few seconds the pump will probably make 80 PSI no problem. But you won't know until you try. Turn it up and see if can get to 80 easily. And running any less than 1 minute is not good for the pump. You either need a larger tank or a Cycle Stop Valve to work with the small tank.

Do you mean if the pump runs for less than 1 minute before reaching its cut-in pressure?

One of the men who was here to give me an estimate for a water softener and filter noted that our tank was undersized for our house, but didn't say anything further. It's a 3 level house (finished basement with 2 above ground levels), 3 1/2 bath. How would we benefit from a tank larger than the WX203 that is installed?
 
I also have a well and was unhappy with the shower pressure, and raising the tank pressure only helped a little, so this is what I found.
First, i found the shower was getting clogged with sediment, like Jeff Handy mentioned above, at the little screen where it screws onto the hose. If you had sediment inside the shower head theres no way that screen is not clogged IMO. I now unscrew and clean that every month.
2. I found that the whole house filters need to be changed more often, so if you get filters installed keep that in mind.
3. Our tankless heater is supposed to be flushed every three months. We didn’t do that and when we finally did, it helped the pressure.
4. I bought this shower head pretty cheaply on Amazon, and as Rickwhoo says, it has really great pressure. Also those beads in the handle soften the water.

Where exactly is this screen located? If I just unscrew the shower head from the fixture coming out of the wall, it will be inside the showerhead?

I recently soaked our showerheads in vinegar to get the deposits out of the holes where water sprays out. Once they were unclogged, the pressure dropped since it was now the same amount out of water coming out of fewer holes.
 
Do you mean if the pump runs for less than 1 minute before reaching its cut-in pressure?

One of the men who was here to give me an estimate for a water softener and filter noted that our tank was undersized for our house, but didn't say anything further. It's a 3 level house (finished basement with 2 above ground levels), 3 1/2 bath. How would we benefit from a tank larger than the WX203 that is installed?

Yes. When running at max amps a pump/motor needs to run for at least one minute, two is better, and running continuously is best for them. Otherwise they can't dissipate the heat caused at start up. Your pump is producing about 14 GPM, which is why it is filling the 7 gallons held in a 32 gallon pressure tank is less than 30 seconds. You would need a tank at least twice that size, four times that size would be better, and as big as a house is best. Of course these size tanks are usually not practical or affordable.

A Cycle Stop Valve only fills the tank at 1 GPM, so it could be set to take 7 minutes to fill your "undersized tank". Your tank is 7 times larger than it really needs to be, if you had a CSV. A larger tank would benefit in keeping the pump from cycling more than its limits. A Cycle Stop Valve is better, even with a small tank, as it completely eliminates repetitive cycling. Plus a CSV would give you strong constant 50 PSI pressure instead of 40 to 60 PSI over and over as with only a pressure tank.

See the video in post #2.
 
Thanks for all the tips/advice. There's a lot to think about that I didn't have to consider when on city water. I removed the flow regulator from our shower heads and the kitchen sink faucet/sprayer. That made a considerable difference. Also removed and cleaned the aerator from the kitchen sink fauce/sprayer. It's like brand new now...at least 2x the water flow and much better pressure. Can't remove the other aerators on the other faucets yet b/c you need a special tool from Moen so I had to order it, but I can tell for certain they are clogged. Gunk and deposits were coming off on my fingers while fiddling with them.

It appears the previous owners didn't do any of that kind of maintenance over the previous 5 years.

I'm sure the tankless water heater has never been flushed, so I'll need to hire someone to do that I guess.
 
Yes. When running at max amps a pump/motor needs to run for at least one minute, two is better, and running continuously is best for them. Otherwise they can't dissipate the heat caused at start up. Your pump is producing about 14 GPM, which is why it is filling the 7 gallons held in a 32 gallon pressure tank is less than 30 seconds. You would need a tank at least twice that size, four times that size would be better, and as big as a house is best. Of course these size tanks are usually not practical or affordable.

A Cycle Stop Valve only fills the tank at 1 GPM, so it could be set to take 7 minutes to fill your "undersized tank". Your tank is 7 times larger than it really needs to be, if you had a CSV. A larger tank would benefit in keeping the pump from cycling more than its limits. A Cycle Stop Valve is better, even with a small tank, as it completely eliminates repetitive cycling. Plus a CSV would give you strong constant 50 PSI pressure instead of 40 to 60 PSI over and over as with only a pressure tank.

See the video in post #2.

Looking at the well-x-trol website, I used their sizing guide. For 10 GPM flow rate and 1 minute pump run time at 50/70, they suggest the WX-250. Could go higher to WX-251 and get 12-15 GPM. In contrast, the WX-203 is 7 GPM at 50/70.

So it seems the larger tank can deliver a better flow rate at a higher pressure setting? Is this a worthwhile investment? The WX-203 that we have installed is $389. The WX-250 is $495. The WX-251 is $759.
 
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Again, see the video in post #2. Even the 62 gallon size WX251 only holds about 15 gallons of water. Plus, the larger the tank the longer you will be close to 50 PSI when using a 50/70 switch. You only need a 4.5 gallon size tank when using a CSV to stop the pump from cycling, and it will stay at a constant 60 PSI instead of bobbing up and down between 50 and 70 over and over. The PK1A kit that comes with the 4.5 gallon size tank is $395.00 and will do a better job than a tank the size of your house.

See these.
https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/pk1a-pside-kickhttps://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/reviews
 
Again, see the video in post #2. Even the 62 gallon size WX251 only holds about 15 gallons of water. Plus, the larger the tank the longer you will be close to 50 PSI when using a 50/70 switch. You only need a 4.5 gallon size tank when using a CSV to stop the pump from cycling, and it will stay at a constant 60 PSI instead of bobbing up and down between 50 and 70 over and over. The PK1A kit that comes with the 4.5 gallon size tank is $395.00 and will do a better job than a tank the size of your house.

See these.
https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/pk1a-pside-kickhttps://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/reviews

Interesting. So would that kit totally replace the currently installed WX-203 tank that is currently installed or just be installed alongside it?
 
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The PK1A kit with the 4.5 gallon tank can replace the WX203 and even much larger tanks. The CSV and small tank will do a much better job than a tank the size of your house. Here is a video of how to change it out.

 
The PK1A kit with the 4.5 gallon tank can replace the WX203 and even much larger tanks. The CSV and small tank will do a much better job than a tank the size of your house. Here is a video of how to change it out.



Thanks for that! I'd probably let a professional handle it though haha
 
The PK1A kit with the 4.5 gallon tank can replace the WX203 and even much larger tanks. The CSV and small tank will do a much better job than a tank the size of your house. Here is a video of how to change it out.



Just out of curiosity, is there only one company that makes CSVs?
 
After 20 years our patents expired in 2013, so now we have a couple of companies copying our stuff. But there is only one original Cycle Stop Valve. Your "professional" is going to sell you whatever he makes the most money with, not what is best for you. The CSV is a disruptive product as it makes pumps last longer and use smaller pressure tanks. For that reason so called "pump professionals" will do or say anything to keep you from having a CSV. They had rather you pay them to fix the pump every 5-7 years on average instead having a CSV that would make your pump last 30+ years.

Educating yourself is the only way to keep from getting taken for a ride.

See what others like you have to say about it here. Reviews – Cycle Stop Valves, Inc
 
After 20 years our patents expired in 2013, so now we have a couple of companies copying our stuff. But there is only one original Cycle Stop Valve. Your "professional" is going to sell you whatever he makes the most money with, not what is best for you. The CSV is a disruptive product as it makes pumps last longer and use smaller pressure tanks. For that reason so called "pump professionals" will do or say anything to keep you from having a CSV. They had rather you pay them to fix the pump every 5-7 years on average instead having a CSV that would make your pump last 30+ years.

Educating yourself is the only way to keep from getting taken for a ride.

See what others like you have to say about it here. Reviews – Cycle Stop Valves, Inc

Thanks! What would you say to this guy?

"I'll jump on this one. Cycle stop valves are a crock and most of what is on that web site is misleading information with little or no actual facts to back any of the claims up. Cycle stop valves have been around for a very long time now. The concept is nothing new at all and you have to ask yourself why 99% if well and pump installers are not using this so called miracle valve? I'll tell you why. With a cycle stop valve in place any time someone cracks a faucet or runs any small amount of water which is pretty normal in most homes. Like getting a glass of water for instance. With the cycle stop valve the pump will run every time a faucet uses more than about a half a gallon of water. So where is this thing reducing cycle times? How about a full out draw on the system, say a couple of hoses running? Well, with a cycle stop valve the pump runs the entire time the hoses are running. With a standard tank system the pump also runs the entire time the hoses are running. The scam artists that promote this thing do so because probably 80% of well tank systems are installed using a tank that is too small for the pump which will cause problems with cycling but had the installer properly sized the tank a tank system will outperform a CSV any day of the week. Also try and find a single pump or tank manufacturer that endorses them or is offering them in their product lines. It's old and dated technology at best and a scam at worst."

https://www.plumbingzone.com/f2/cycle-stop-valves-15455/
 

LOL! I could say a lot. But my Momma taught me not to say things like that in public.

An engineer for Goulds pumps told me in 1998 that Goulds had blacklisted the CSV in 1994. The quote from the engineer was..."We have tested these valves and they make pumps last longer and use smaller pressure tanks. This company makes pumps and pressure tanks, so anyone who mentions a CSV will be terminated immediately".

All the major pump manufacturers tested the CSV back in 1994. Their engineers knew the CSV works so well it could put pump companies out of business, which is exactly why you won't see any pump or tank companies promoting Cycle Stop Valves. Makes the guy you quoted and several others on the Internet look pretty foolish. Really there is so much wrong in that quote it would take a web page to explain it. Luckily you can go to www.cyclestopvalves.com and read articles and watch videos for a few hours. If any of it was untrue I would not be able to say it. But it is all true and the pump companies know they can't do a thing about it.

Reviews from people who actually have a CSV are much better than random gibberish from people who don't have a clue what they are talking about. That thread was from someone saying how good CSV's work ten years ago. See these from about 500 other people who know what they are talking about. Reviews – Cycle Stop Valves, Inc
 
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