Replacement pump tank ... Composite or Steel ????

This is a very helpful website. I have learned plenty by browsing through it the last few days. I grew up a city boy from California. I went from city water and city sewer to now having a well and septic at home, along with a well, septic and grease trap at our restaurant. So, seeing this website has been great.

Anyways, I had noticed that my well pump at home had been cycling rapidly whenever the faucet was turned on, shower, etc. In browsing the pages, I decided to check the schrader valve. Water came gushing out.. So, I guess I will be replacing that tank.

Now the tank has the date painted on, and its old. According to the date it was made in June of 68. Anyways, this thing is galvanized and its HUGE. Now no where does it say what the capacity is. I've called several companies locally and they have guessed it to be upwards of 86 or maybe 119. The previous owners liked to garden, as do we. Either way, it will need to be replaced. While searching online, I found some on **** made by WellMate ?? Its composite, made of fiberglass and resin sealed. I have also found that Lowes carries WellSaver Steel tanks for a similar price. Looking at the specs however, it looks like the composite tank will be easier to handle because it weights 95 lbs as opposed to 164 lbs for a similar 120 gallon steel tank. Now I need some guidance here as to what I should install. The tank is in a full basement with plenty of room to work with. Which will last longer, any drawbacks I need to be aware of ?? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks again..

Andrew

The tank may not be a bladder tank. I don't know what bladder tanks were made from in those days.

You can check the volume as follows. Measure the circumference and the height, in inches, with a tape.

Convert fractions to decimals and subtract 0.4 inch from the circumference to account for wall thickness.

Use the "water containing height", estimating how much the tank bottom is up inside the support, and take about 1/3 of the dome height.

The volume in gallons is circumference squared x height / 2903

So if you have a 75" circumference, and height of 60 inches, the volume will be:

Volume = 74.6 x 74.6 x 60 / 2903 = 115 gallons

No matter what tank you go with, you will be further ahead if you use a Cycle Stop Valve with your tank. This will keep the pump motor running instead of cycling on and off. This cycling is what destroys motors long before their time.

With a valve like this, you won't need a big tank. A tank as small as a 42 gallon equivelent bladder tank would be fine.

The big box stores are short on quality when it comes to pumps and tanks.

bob...

You may just need to recharge the tank

It sounds like you tank just needs to be recharged. Do a search on this site for recharging for information on how to replenish the air in a non-bladder type tank.

Hey you guys, thanks for all the helpful tips. Talk about learning while on the job I guess. I guess I assumed that I had a bladder tank, but it wasn't. I drained all of the water out of it yesterday and replaced the schrader valve. I recharged it with 20PSI and it now works great. As a matter of fact, it takes a long time before the pump comes on in between now. Thanks again everyone. That website was extremely helpful.