Water Well Pressure Tank Advice

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My home has a well with a submerged well pump and a 20 year old Amtrol Well-X-Trol WX-203 pressure tank. Lately the well pump has been short cycling when water is being used, so I inspected the tank today. Long story short, it looks like the pressure tank bladder is ruptured.

This is going to be my first purchase of a pressurized well tank. The reviews I've read on some plumbing and home improvement sites seem to be all over the map. Can anyone recommend a manufacturer/model of a reliable bladder type tank in the 35 to 50 gallon range? I'm looking at this Flotec in the 50 gallon size among several others, but before I buy one I thought I'd get some opinions. Thanks.
 
Frome the Flotec site:

"Air can leak out of the tank just as it can your car tires. If this happens, the water pressure can over-expand the bladder to the point where it fails. Tank pre-charge air pressure needs to be checked aand adjusted a MINIMUM of twice a year. More often is preferable. Failing to do this allows the water pressure to over-expand the bladder until it bursts."

At one time I had bladder and non-bladder tanks. It was always something. Good luck.
 
Get the biggest one you can. A bigger tank equals a larger surplus of pressure and less on/ off cycles for your well pump.
 
I too bought the same tank from Menards as KD0AXS and am very happy with performance so far. Been in place 2 years now.
 
Did you try to re-pressurize it? I had the same Flotec tank. It lasted 10 years or so but the bladder will need re-inflating every year or so.

They are actually the size they are listed as either. I don't know how they get the gallon rating out of them.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The new Amtrols are not equiped with a Schrader valve.


Great way to increase sales I guess unless their bladder is of superior construction.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The new Amtrols are not equiped with a Schrader valve.


Great way to increase sales I guess unless their bladder is of superior construction.
I just got a new Amtrol from a client in the water filtration business. It's about twice the size of the old one, but no way to inflate it. He often has to upgrade the tank size when he puts a filter system in, the average plumber hereabouts will skimp a bit if not watched.
 
Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
I recently replaced our pressure tank. I went with this 44 gallon tank from Menards and it works great. Looks like they're currently on sale for $199 too. The tank I replaced was a Flotec, which lasted about 10 years.


Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out. The Water Worker brand is made by Amtrol and sold through the big box home improvement stores like Menards and also Ace Hardware. I've seen mixed things about Water Worker, mostly the perception that it is a downmarket version of Amtrol's Well-X-Trol product line, and not contractor grade. The price sure looks good though, and the Menard's near me has one in stock.

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Did you try to re-pressurize it? I had the same Flotec tank. It lasted 10 years or so but the bladder will need re-inflating every year or so.


I did re-pressurize it, that's how I was able to deduce that the diaphragm is ruptured. I'm basically running it as an air-over-water pressure tank now, hopefully OK for a day or two until I get my new tank installed.

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The new Amtrols are not equiped with a Schrader valve.


Thanks for the tip on this. So you are saying there is no way to add or bleed off air pressure in the new Amtrol tanks? Amtrol's on line manual (see P. 5) , as well as the ones I've seen for sale on line, all show the air pressure inlet on top like mine, which has a Schrader valve.
 
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