How to Find & Use the Air Inlet Valve for Putting Air into a Water Pressure Tank
InspectAPedia® -
Water Tank Air Valves or Schrader Valves for Adding Water to the Pressure Tank, how to find and use the air valve
How to fix or replace a leaky water tank air valve or Schrader valve or "tire valve"
How to use the air inlet valve on a water tank to adjust the air pressure, a step in curing water well pump short-cycling
Questions & answers about finding and using the water tank air valve to adjust the pressure tank air charge
This article describes the location, use and repair of water tank air valves or schrader valves for adding air to the water pressure tank - the water tank air inlet valve. It's no coincidence that on many water pressure tanks you'll see what looks just like a tire valve (the black capped device at the red arrow in our photo just above). This air valve provides an easy way to adjust the air charge in water pressure tanks.
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An explanation of what water tank air valves are, what they look like, how to find them, is at WATER TANK AIR INLET VALVE. If your well pump is short cycling (WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING) this little air valve and a bicycle pump may be all you need to correct the trouble.
Readers of this document should also see Water pump and pressure tank repair diagnosis & cost an specific case which offers an example of diagnosis of loss of water pressure, loss of water, and analyzes the actual repair cost.
Captive air water tanks that use an internal bladder to keep water and air separate, such as the Well-X-Trol™ water
pressure tank, will display an air valve, usually on top of the water tank, and often red in color such as shown
in this photograph.
Older steel water tanks and even some modern bladder type tanks also may include an air input valve or "schrader valve"
to permit air to be pumped into the tank, but it may be located in various locations.
In these installations the air valve may be located anywhere on or near the water tank such that air pumped into the
valve will flow into the water tank itself.
You should not normally need to use the air valve on a water tank with an internal bladder, other than possibly an adjustment at initial installation. Even then, usually the factory air charge is the correct one for most well pump systems.
To use the water tank air valve to put air into a water pressure tank that does not use an internal bladder, see
Step by step details on using the air inlet valve to add air to a bladderless (non-bladder type) water pressure tank are at WATER TANK AIR ADD AT AIR VALVE
But logically you'd expect to see such a valve (if it's present at all)
in a location where air inserted into the valve (say from a tire pump or from a can of compressed air) will flow into the water tank and not just out into the building water supply piping or water pump.
See WATER TANK AIR, HOW TO ADD for step by step details of when, why, and how to add air to a water tank.
Here is a close up view of the typical air valve or schrader valve located on the top of a bladder type captive air
water tank. These tanks come from the factory with air pre-charged and you do not normally need to change the air volume or
pressure in these tanks.
Notice that the warning label surrounding this air valve indicates that "WARNING! Removal of cap by persons other than authorized dealer may void warranty". This is because the
manufacturer is not going to accept responsibility if you over pressurized the tanks's internal system and cause damage.
Furthermore, over pressurizing any tank of any type beyond its working pressure is very dangerous and can cause the
tank to rupture or explode. That's why we require a pressure relief valve on any pressurized tank, even a water tank.
Guide to Repairing Leaky Water Tank Air Valves
Sometimes when we remove the cap from a water tank air valve, or more likely when we try pumping air into the water tank at the water tank's air valve, we're troubled by water (or air) leaking back out at us from the valve - making us sorry we touched it in the first place.
If the air valve or "tire valve" or Schrader valve on your water tank is leaking water or air there are a few wonderfully easy steps you can take. We describe how to clean an air valve to get it to stop leaking, a simple emergency way to stop a leaky air valve on a water tank, and how to replace the valve stem core if that's needed.
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Water Supply & Drain Piping, Wells, Pumps, Water Supply Equipment
Access Water Energy, PO Box 2061, Moorabbin, VIC 3189, Australia, Tel: 1300 797 758, email: sales@accesswater.com.au Moorabbin Office: Kingston Trade Centre, 100 Cochranes Rd, Moorabbin, VIC 3189
Australian supplier of: Greywater systems, Solar power to grid packages, Edwards solar systems, Vulcan compact solar systems, water & solar system pumps & controls, and a wide rage of above ground & under ground water storage tanks: concrete, steel, plastic, modular, and bladder storage tanks.
Cheating on water tests: Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - make sure your water test is valid
Smart Tank, Installation Instructions, Flexcon Industries, 300 Pond St., Randolph MA 02368, www.flexconind.com, Tel: 800-527-0030 - web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://www.flexconind.com/pdf/st_install.pdf [Copy on file as /water/Smart_Tank_Flexcon.pdf ] -
Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation, Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf, [Copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect_Jet_Pumps_1.pdf ] -
Typical Deep Well Two Line Jet Pump Installation, Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf, [Copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect.pdf ] -
Cooperative Extension, School of Forest Resources, web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/XH0002.pdf
Water pressure tanks - how to diagnose the need for air, how to add air, stop water pump short cycling to avoid damage - water storage water pressure tank safety.
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
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The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 2010, $69.00 U.S., is available from Carson Dunlop, and from the InspectAPedia bookstore. The 2010 edition of the Home Reference Book is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. InspectAPedia.com ® author/editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume.
Crystal Clear Supply provides portable ceramic water filter purifiers and portable reverse osmosis water treatment equipment - see http://www.crystalclearsupply.com/category_s/7.htm
Handbook of Disinfectants and Antiseptics, Joseph M. Ascenzi (Editor), CRC, 1995, ISBN-10: 0824795245 ISBN-13: 978-0824795245 "The evaluation of chemical germicides predates the golden age of microbiology..." -
This well-focused, up-to-date reference details the current medical uses of antiseptics and disinfectants -- particularly in the control of hospital-acquired infections -- presenting methods for evaluating products to obtain regulatory approval and examining chemical, physical, and microbiological properties as well as the toxicology of the most widely used commercial chemicals.
Potable Aqua® emergency drinking water germicidal tablets are produced by the Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., Jackson WI 53037. 800-558-6614 pharmacalway.com
Principles and Practice of Disinfection, Preservation and Sterilization (Hardcover)
by A. D. Russell (Editor), W. B. Hugo (Editor), G. A. J. Ayliffe (Editor), Blackwell Science, 2004. ISBN-10: 1405101997, ISBN-13: 978-1405101998.
"This superb book is the best of its kind available and one that will undoubtedly be useful, if not essential, to workers in a variety of industries. Thirty-one distinguished specialists deal comprehensively with the subject matter indicated by the title ... The book is produced with care, is very readable with useful selected references at the end of each chapter and an excellent index. It is an essential source book for everyone interested in this field. For pharmacy undergraduates, it will complement the excellent text on pharmaceutical microbiology by two of the present editors."
The Pharmaceutical Journal: "This is an excellent book. It deals comprehensively and authoritatively with its subject with contributions from 31 distinguished specialists. There is a great deal to interest all those involved in hospital infection ... This book is exceptionally well laid out. There are well chosen references for each chapter and an excellent index. It is highly recommended." The Journal of Hospital Infection.: "The editors and authors must be congratulated for this excellent treatise on nonantibiotic antimicrobial measures in hospitals and industry ... The publication is highly recommended to hospital and research personnel, especially to clinical microbiologists, infection-control and environmental-safety specialists, pharmacists, and dieticians."
New England Journal of Medicine: City Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Covers the many methods of the elimination or prevention of microbial growth. Provides an historical overview, descriptions of the types of antimicrobial agents, factors affecting efficacy, evaluation methods, and types of resistance. Features sterilization methods, and more. Previous edition: c1999. DNLM: Sterilization--methods.
When Technology Fails, Matthew Stein, Chelsea Green Publisher, 2008,493 pages. ISBN-10: 1933392452 ISBN-13: 978-1933392455, "... how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing". Mr. Stein's website is www.whentechfails.com/
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