Well Pump Tank

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Coalfire
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Post by Coalfire » Thu. May. 30, 2013 6:06 am

Have some plumbing leaking in the basement near pump tank. We have acidic water, everything after the neutralizer is good before it not so much. Anyway tank is 31 years old. I am going to change everything over to plastic, and for the connections at the tank I am going to use stainless steel.

Our well is rated for 15GPM currently we have the amtrol 202, with a draw down of 5.9 gallons. Was thinking of going up in size to maybe the 203 which gives 9.4 gallons or the 250 which gives 13 gallons.

Question is does the shape of the tank width vs height have anything to do with longevity, The 203 is 15 inches taller than our current tank with the same width is that diaphram stretching farther?

Advice on sizing/thought on tanks aprreciated

Thanks Eric

 
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Post by SMITTY » Thu. May. 30, 2013 9:53 am

I've never heard of the shape affecting anything - all I've heard is, go as big as you can afford, & you can fit in the space available. Better to have the pump running longer than having it kick on, kick off constantly - that's a pump killer.

I didn't think I'd get 5 years out of my well pump, but since I tripled the tank size, I'm on year 9 and the power draw seems to be about the same. Usually when the meter spins like hell that means failure is imminent. High draw to overcome worn components. The difference between my old pump and new pump in how fast the electric meter spins was huge.

 
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Post by whistlenut » Thu. May. 30, 2013 10:34 am

The larger the tank, the less the pump cycles. Less stress on the pump; it will last much longer, and the cost to jump up several sizes in not bad, either. You can manifold them if you are happier with smaller tanks, but size DOES matter I this case. :idea: :idea:


 
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Post by Cap » Thu. May. 30, 2013 3:42 pm

If the old tank isn't damaged or corroded, you can pipe two side by side in parallel. Even if one is taller than the other. A pressure switch shuts the well pump off & on so the taller tank will continue to fill even if the shorter tank is full BUT all of your piping must be equally installed in sizing, elbows, etc for best results.

 
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Post by grumpy » Sat. Jun. 01, 2013 7:40 pm

Yep, the bigger the better !

 
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Post by 2001Sierra » Fri. Jun. 07, 2013 8:45 pm

grumpy wrote:Yep, the bigger the better !
Amen to that! Really! Cycle the pump fewer times.

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