Dual pressure switch / dual pressure tank issues

Question

I have an Airaider ez radon bubbler right after a filter and my pressure tank / pressure switch for my well.

The radon bubbler has its own pump and pressure switch.

After the radon bubbler is a very small pressure tank.

I have low water pressure on the second floor at one shower head.

The well pump is set to 30/50 however the radon bubbler system is set to 40/60.

The radon bubbler pump faulted out due to overheating. I cleaned the tank and it seemed to work ok for 48 hours

Should I try to replace the small 101 model pressure tank with a larger unit?

Also if the bubbler is set to 40/60 , should I replace the well pump pressure switch with a 40/60 model?

I noticed that when I bypass the radon bubbler my water stops while taking a shower etc.

The well pump pressure switch goes to zero and then slowly raises , the second smaller pressure tank is not bypassed when the radon bubbler is valved off but there is no pressure gauge before or after it anywhere else on the supply line.

If small tank is set properly for a 40/60 pressure switch is it causing the issue with my well pump not kicking on in time ?

Thanks in advance. I can upload pictures if it helps. I would like to solve the well pump issue first then try to get the bubbler back on line.

Answer 1

As far as I know, "radon bubblers" operate at no pressure (so you can bubble air through the water to remove the radon) and therefore the well side of this system needs only to provide adequate pressure to put water into the radon bubbler. 20/40 might do if it does not have a higher input pressure requirement. Since the pressure there is zero, there's no relationship between the incoming water pressure and the outgoing water pressure.

All the house pressure and flow comes from the pump & tank going out of the radon bubbler system (at least when it's operational) and that would be the one you'd want to be bigger, unless it was a variable speed / "constant pressure" pump - if set to 40/60, probably not.

If the well pressure goes to zero, it's likely that the well pressure tank is improperly set (too high) for the well pressure switch, not anything to do with the smaller tank, but perhaps that contributed to the radon system's pump overheating (if the well-water input was intermittent.) If the switch is actually coming on at 30 PSI, the tank pressure (with the system off and drained) should be about 27 PSI. The small tank should be set at 37 PSI if its pump comes on at 40 PSI. If you changed the well to 20/40 you'd change the air on the well system to 17.

Then again, running 40/60 into a small tank, that pump was probably cycling on/off a lot, and a bigger tank there (or an additional. bigger tank there, if the small one is in good shape) might well help the pump survive longer. Presumably consistent water input by correcting the well pressure tank setting might also help. I'd also correct the dubious plumbing job that left you with no pressure gauge on the 40/60 system.