Accumulator - faulty?

[Tim Good]

So the pressure in my freshwater system has slowly got worse and worse until just running the tap would cause the pump to run immediately with no accumulated pressure. I was fairly sure that accumulator bag has broken and that accumulator was really just doing nothing.

After a lot of hard work getting to the unit and removing it I thought I might as well dismantle it and have a look. It all looks okay to be quite honest and the bag albeit a little old seems to be airtight.

I’m beginning to think that perhaps there was nothing wrong with it and perhaps it just needed re-pressurising. Although I do recall checking that last year and found it ok. Perhaps it wasn’t and perhaps it was ok all the time.

 

[PCUK]

The pump supplies the pressure, not the accumulator. The accumulator simply stores pressure to smooth the flow.

 

[VicS]

Before you reinstall it pressurise it well above the normal operating pressure and check that it holds the pressure .
If it is OK adjust the pressure to 2 to 3 psi below the pump cut in pressure.

 

[Clancy Moped]

This maybe could be the problem I encountered, on the tap I had small nozzle on the tap outlet end, inside was a small gauze filter this contained what look like very small stones, I cleaned that out and and was back in business.

Edit: this bit.

 

[vyv_cox]

You can set up your accumulator without needing a pressure gauge. Open a tap and begin pumping air into the accumulator. The water pump will begin to pause, increasingly longer periods as air pressure increases but then for shorter periods as the air pressure exceeds water pressure. Stop pumping air and release a little until water pump pause time is maximised again.

 

[Graham376]

Had a similar problem with mine, thought the bladder had holed. Removed the Schrader valve but no water came out after several hours. New valve sorted it.