In article , Harry K writes
I suppose that depends where you come from. If you come from places where mains pressure hot water storage is not the norm then that is not the case. A lower pressure tank can always be made for less than a high pressure one.
And a sight glass to show when it's needed. A skinny pump is best. The volume needed isn't high, and 100 psi is easier if the tube isn't large.
Jerry
The propane on-demand heater I've got works with 18' of head fed through a 3/4" garden hose, but not with 16'. I know this because the 55-gal barrel sits on a 16' tower, and the heater doesn't work when the barrel's less than half full.
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Isn't it wonderful how much traffic a really /practical/ problem generates? :-)
Jerry
The message from Jerry Avins contains these words:
Injecting a little oil to seal the air from the water should slow down the loss, too.
snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote: [diy water storage tank]
Just a thought about how you ought to build this thing. Think about winter. If you get cold enough weather for water to freeze, you will want to allow for a way to drain it all off before that happens. You may also want to be able to arrange that the water is kept out of the collection tank during winter. Otherwise, you could easily have lots of burst piping, maybe a ruptured tank. Could get irritating. Socks
PVC and copper pipe is smooth enough inside so a floating plug can be fashioned with very little clearance. I don't think I would want even potable oil in mt watter supply.
Jerry
Your view of pressures is not consistent with reality. Consider that many tires take a static
50-60 psi and all are at least 35psi rating; when you hit a bump psi goes high. Bicycle tires normally run these days from around 50 psi to 125 psi. At my house the city pressure is 70-80 psi and no one has a problem with the pressure. Any metal pipe can easily take a pressure of at least 100 psi and any water heater is designed for an even higher bursting pressure. Really cheap poly pipe is made for 80 psi, better grades are rated at 120 psi and higher. And of course almost all lawn hoses will take a minimum pressure of 70=80 psi and most are fine with quite a bit more (especially if you don't leave them pressurized in the sun at 105 degrees. Even food grade polyethylene (very soft plastic) will take 40-50 psi as long as you don't let it get hot.As for tank costs, a 20 gallon air tank rated for
125 psi can be bought for less than $25. And you can buy new empty 5 gallon propane tanks that will take very high pressure for $20.
Whose particular view of reality is that? Are you familiar with the practices of hot water storage throughout the world? You may notice that at least one of the cross posted groups in this thread is UK specific so you have gained the experience of someone who lives in that area.
Here, hot water, if stored, is generally contained in either copper or stainless steel 'cylinders' to avoid the effects of corrosion. Copper is expensive and so low pressure tanks are made thinner and therefore cheaper. It is not common practice here to store hot water in bicycle tyres or propane tanks.
How about putting a synthetic rubber ball in the pipe between the water and the air?
Just fill the stand pipe with tennis balls. Make sure the pipe is slightly wider than the balls.
If the friction is low and the pipe smooth, that ought to work pretty well.
Jerry
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That was my distance to the system, 1/4 mile of pipe between my house and the well, no other connections.
Harry K
Of course the best method if a hammer is encounted is to just put in a standard surge tank. They are small, cheap and have a bladder. Install and forget.
Harry K
Sounds like bare-faced assertions to me. Care to post any links that show that normal households use such unneccessarily expensive systems? Those are the systems we are discussing, not huge commercial types.
ln any case your concern is unwarranted as the OP is using an ON-DEMAND system. No storage.
Harry K
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Is there anything else between the house and the well? A pump and storage tank, maybe? At my place, the pump is at the bottom of the well and the pressure tank in the house. No possibility of hammer there.
Jerry
Pressure tank (huge) at the well head. That system used to serve 4 houses. I finally drilled my own to get off of it as I wound up the de facto non paid maintenance man.
Harry K
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