Accumulator - another pressure question
My 2000 Monaco has a accumulator tank in the water system. Does the tank control or regulate the pressure when using the pump, or is it a pass through that delivers whatever pressure the pump delivers...
Forum Discussion
I guess I should've talked about pumps too. :) I didn't know you'd upgraded pumps. :B
The older pumps run at 100% speed and have a pressure switch. There's some hysteresis there, just like a thermostat in a house. You don't want the pump to be going on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off, so the switch has a few lbs. of difference between starting the pump and allowing it to drop pressure just like your furnace doesn't turn instantly on/off the same way. (Usually 2 or so degrees in the T-stat) The pressure difference can be 10~15 PSI or so, and that makes for a pulsing flow, and a chattering pump depending on what level of flow.
Now, the NEW pumps (The better ones) are microprocessor controlled with a solid state pressure sensor. Those will run the pump motor at anything from 5% to 100% speed depending on water flow. They maintain the pressure at an even amount, (close tolerance) and just speed up/slow down to keep up with demands from an open faucet as you turn the valve.
An accumulator won't hurt anything, but it's just redundant with a variable speed pump. The pump may even run a little oddly to maintain its set pressure against the tank's air bladder because there's no binary on/off switching going on.
The older pumps run at 100% speed and have a pressure switch. There's some hysteresis there, just like a thermostat in a house. You don't want the pump to be going on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off, so the switch has a few lbs. of difference between starting the pump and allowing it to drop pressure just like your furnace doesn't turn instantly on/off the same way. (Usually 2 or so degrees in the T-stat) The pressure difference can be 10~15 PSI or so, and that makes for a pulsing flow, and a chattering pump depending on what level of flow.
Now, the NEW pumps (The better ones) are microprocessor controlled with a solid state pressure sensor. Those will run the pump motor at anything from 5% to 100% speed depending on water flow. They maintain the pressure at an even amount, (close tolerance) and just speed up/slow down to keep up with demands from an open faucet as you turn the valve.
An accumulator won't hurt anything, but it's just redundant with a variable speed pump. The pump may even run a little oddly to maintain its set pressure against the tank's air bladder because there's no binary on/off switching going on.
