Compression Tank Change-Out

Paul Rohrs_5

Didn't the old timers ever put it valves? The only valves on this old converted gravity system was a a couple globe valve and a ballvalve several decades ago when they updated the cold feed.

Our mission was to change-out the compression tank. How to do that without draining the whole house? I was thinking of prepping the union (from the tank to the feed)with a valve and minimizing our water loss.

Matt suggested the Freeze kit (Ridgid) That was a very welcome idea indeed. It took a few minutes to freeze the line, but then the union came off and on went the new ballvalve. The rest was pretty much Standard-Operating-Procedure.

Love to hear about how you guys deal with the lack of valves on existing systems and don't want to spend the day filling and purging a job that should only take a couple hours.

Regards,

PR

<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=353&Step=30">To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"</A>

Ray Landry_2

I am a big believer in the more valves the better! esp on a cumbersome system to purge like that! I have a freeze machine and use it all the time in instances like this its sooo sweet! good lookin install btw how come u didnt just go w/ a #60 though?

Al Gregory

Take the presure off and pull a vacume. 99 out of a 100 times wont spill a cup full. Sometimes you can tell by looking at it that its to risky but most of the time it works fine. Used to change many a B&G bearing assembly that way.

[Deleted User]

Yeah...How come???

And, what as wrong with the old tank?

My favorite trick is PFM.

You shut off the make up to the system. Close all vents and other open points, releive the pressure from the lowest drain cock until the system just begins to GLUG. Close the drain cock.

You are now holding all the water in a neutral vacuum condition. You can quickly change out low point drain cocks, add ball valve for equipment isolation etc...

You've got to be prepared and also be prepared to get wet in case everything goes to hell in a hand basket. For the most part, it works great. Usually, you might lose a pint of water. If you break the vacuum, you WILL get wet.

ME