whats wrong with my Amtrol RP-15HP ?

[samtrol]

I will attach a video as well but it makes a constant loud sound the whole time its on and the gauge is always dancing between numbers and never stabilizes. I need to know if the pump is bad or the tank. Amtrol warranty department told my plumber that the warranty will only cover one of the 2 replacements and not both. Plumber said he cannot tell which of the 2 are bad.

I'd appreciate any help including from any Amtrol technicians who might be on here.

regards,
Sam

 

[Valveman]

Sorry I don't hear anything? Is the pump even on? The tank being bad won't keep the pump from delivering water. You can check the air charge in the tank with a tire gauge after turning off the pump and opening a faucet to drain all the water from the tank.

 

[samtrol]

were you able to play the video? with your sound on? you dont hear the constant knocking sound? thanks for the tip on the air charge measurement. I will give that a try.

 

[Valveman]

Just listened again. Can only hear a faint humming. Do you have water? Is the pump running? Those tanks have a 7 year warranty. Should say so on the side of the tank. The booster system with the electronic pressure switch was designed to fail in a short period of time. 84 months is the design length of time pumps are made to run. If you get more than 7 years it isn't cycling on/off very much. If you get less than 7 years, the way you use water is causing the pump to cycle on and off more than the average. Cycling on and off is what destroys pumps and tank diaphragms/bladders. Those electronic pressure switches look cool, but further shorten the life of a pump system as they don't last very long.

Go back with something like this using a Cycle Stop Valve to stop the cycling and a regular mechanical pressure switch. It will work with a 4.5 gallon size tank and will last 30 years if used with a good pump to start with.

 

[samtrol]

Amtrol is such a fantastic company. They are sending me a brand new unit (both tank and pump) since I was still under warranty. In fact my pump's warranty had expired but they're still helping me out there.

Anyway, can I combine that with the cycle stop valve @Valveman? Would any local plumber know about how to deploy the CSV correctly? Or do you know anyone especially qualified in Middlesex county Massachusetts?

 

[Valveman]

Funny! I tried to get Amtrol to use Cycle Stop Valves almost 30 years ago. When they tested it and realized it would basically put pressure tank manufacturers out of business, they wanted nothing to do with it. In fact, they wrote some propaganda piece about how much better is was to use a big pressure tank than one of those "pump control valve thingy's". I think they would be ashamed to show that article 25+ years latter, now that none of those predictions ever happened.

Even they are trying to do "constant pressure" with something that doesn't shoot their tank business in the foot. That "Guardian" electronic pressure switch is designed to turn the pump on/off with only 10 PSI between on and off instead of the normal 20 PSI difference. The company claims this 10 PSI bandwidth that makes the pump continually go on at 50 and off at 60 over and over is "constant pressure", as compared to the normal on at 40 and off at 60. On at 50 and off at 60 over and over is not "constant pressure". When pressed I think they call it "more consistent" pressure. Lol! What it really does is cut the draw down amount from the tank in half, causing you to need twice as large a pressure tank to get the same volume of water. But then you would need a tank four times larger to just cut the cycling in half and still, no matter how large a tank the pump continues to cycle on and off over and over as you use water. Plus the guardian electronic pressure switch is short lived and further advances the cause of planned obsolescence.

When I showed the picture of your system to others in my office they had the same reaction as I did. The pump on that system looks to be purposefully made to make it hard to use a Cycle Stop Valve. There are two outlets to the pump. One goes down to the tank and the other goes to the system. That is a special two outlet pump as most only have one outlet. Connecting the tank to its own pump outlet makes it hard to get the Cycle Stop Valve installed on the pump outlet and before the pressure tank.

However, just plug the outlet to the tank. Add a Cycle Stop Valve and a tee to the other outlet before going to the house. Then go back to the tank from the new tee. Not that hard to add a CSV to that system after all. Lol again.