How do you replace a pressure tank and possibly the tank tee fitting?

Answer 1

Turn off the breaker to the well.Drain the house lines through the boiler drain located on the presure tank tee,using a garden hose.Take the information off the tank and go buy a new one at the pumbing or hardware store.

Note: For this to work with copper your tee must be metal.

You will need:1) a replacement tank2) Teflon tape3) the pipe needed to hook it up to the tee. I recommend copper.4) two male "street adapters" (copper / PVC pipe to threaded fitting)5) a hacksaw6) 150 grit sandpaper7) (for copper) Plumbing solder8) (for copper) rosin, and a rosin brush9) (for copper) a propane torch10) (for PVC) Purple Primer11) (for PVC) PVC cement

Procedure:1) Buy supplies2) Shut off the well.3) Shut off the valve from the tank to the rest of the house. If not available, turn on the faucet at the highest point in the house.4) Drain the system through the drain at the tank.5) Cut the pipe between the tank and the tee. Remove the old tank.6) Unscrew old pipe from the tee. Be gentle. If you mess up the tee, this job will get very big very fast.7) Locate where you want the tank to be.8) Cut the pipe to the correct length. (Measure twice cut once.)9) Solder one(!) street fitting onto the pipe. Thread it tightly into the tank. Don't forget the teflon tape.10) Thread the other, unused, fitting into your tee.11) Place the tank in place and fit the pipe into the fitting in the tee.12) If there is metal within 2" of the unfinished solder joint wrap a soggy rag around all plastic parts.13) Solder the pipe into the fitting.14) Charge the tank.15) Reset the system. Close valves you opened, open valves you closed.16) Turn the pump on. Check for leaks. If you find a leak on PVC TURN THE PUMP OFF! If the fitting isn't glued properly it could blow apart spraying everything with water.

Tips:1) Clean all fittings where you will glue / solder with fine sandpaper.2) Use flux on solder joints. The flux will create a good solder joint and will act as a lubricant when fitting the pieces.3) Don't use lead solder. Just don't.4) Be liberal with your glue. Excess glue may be ugly, but it's better than a leak. You don't get any extra points for using less. (The darn stuff usually goes bad before I use it all up, anyways.)5) When possible, twist the PVC glue joints to distribute the glue around the entire circumference of the pipe.