Amtrol pressure tank vs their Big Box lines

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Mike Reilly

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Hi,
I noticed in a 2013 thread that the parent company Amtrol only offers a diaphragm type in that line only [is this still true]? After researching them, I see that they also make the "Water Worker", "H2OW-TO", and "Water Source". All come out of 905 Hickory Lane in Mansfield Ohio. My H2OW-TO HT30 tank is now whistling inside pretty loud whenever refilling and 5 minutes after. It is 4 years and 4 months old. I don't think I want another H2 brand. There is no water coming out of the Schraeder valve yet, but whenever draining the tank, the pre-charge no longer exists. AND my water filter started turning rust orange. Do you think it is a bladder rupture?

As I nosed around, I see an Amtrol WX-203 for pretty much the same price as it's sub-brands [H2.. & W/Worker]. Does this sound like a no-brainer to you?
UPDATE: The price just changed overnight. Went from $166. to $337. Guess I shoulda clicked on Cart while I had the chance. Still would like your input on my tank problem though.

Many thanks.
Appreciatively,
Mike
 
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Reach4

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Does this sound like a no-brainer to you?
Don't be so hard on yourself. ;)

I expect this is for a well. Note there is a Pumps and Tanks Well Forum. Part of a pressure tank's job is to make the well pump to not have to run so often. The pump should run for a minute or more at a time. The figure that helps you pick the right size tank is the drawdown. If your pump pumps 8 GPM, you should have at least an 8 gallon drawdown. Check your pump curves. A "7 GPM" pump may pump 9 GPM or so depending on the head.

You are proposing to replace a "30 gallon" tank with a "20 gallon" tank. That tank you propose has a rated 5.6 gallon drawdown at 40-60 PSI. Plus, there is a little unused capacity due to the precharge margin. So changing to a better model is good. However downsizing in the process is probably not good.

I agree that your old tank needs replacing, and that you have diagnosed well.
 

Texas Wellman

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I can't answer your question directly but I find in life that most items sold by Big Box Stores are custom made for whatever price point the BBS has requested. In other words, most of the items sold in big box stores made by name-brand companies are a little cheaper and less well made than their premium counterparts. Most often made overseas without the same quality controls as their domestic counterparts. I find that the big box tanks usually last just until after their warranty is up.

My suggestion is to find the largest bladder tank you can afford made by WellXTrol and install it. It should last a long, long time.
 

Craigpump

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Water worker or any of the other off brand BBS tanks are going to actually cost you more than a Well X Trol.

Stop and think about what your time, fuel, aggravation and a new pump with labor costs.....
 

Valveman

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Think back a little further and try to figure out what makes a bladder or diaphragm tank fail in the first place. The only moving part is the diaphragm. If you cycle the pump on and off 100 times per day, you have flexed the tank diaphragm 100 times a day as well. Cycling is not only bad for the pump, but will break a tank diaphragm just like bending a wire back and forth until it breaks. Every time you double the size of pressure tank you cut the cycling in half. Decreasing the size of pressure tank increases the number of cycles.

There are ways to eliminate cycling and still use a very small and inexpensive pressure tank. Of course this will make your pump and tank last much longer, so you will not hear about it from pump manufacturers or anyone who makes their living selling pressure tanks. If you eliminate pump cycling, even cheap built tanks will last much longer.
 

Mike Reilly

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valveman,
Thanks for the info. I will look further into it for sure. I just got this back together so tearing it back apart right now is not very appealing YET [;-) Plus my tank is quite close to the wall with only 8" of copper tubing protruding through the foundation wall to the tank tee coupler. Will take a lot of thought yet.

Update: I found that this Water Worker tank had a 5 yr. warranty. It was almost 4-1/2 years old. I called the Amtrol/Well-X-Trol rep for WI and MN about upgrading. Had a great talk with him; really good guy. He said it sounds simple to just get a refund and put that towards an X-Trol. Doesn't work that way. The W/Worker store is the only place that can honor that warranty. Home Depot, Menards, etc are not allowed to order an X-Trol tank. Likewise, an X-Trol installer can't turn in your W/Worker tank for warranty. This is all because of distribution legal protection and contracts.

His advice was to take the tank back to the B/Box store for an exchange. Here is his reasoning. Quote: "Our name line, Amtrol/Well-X-Trol are the best tanks on the market today. The Water Worker line we build for the Retail stores are made a little lighter here and there. This does NOT mean that they are bad tanks. They are VERY good tanks. They're just not as good as our X-Trol line". Now his most bold, confident statement: "I feel very strongly that our Water Worker, etc tanks are probably the SECOND best tanks on the market today". Strong statement.

So, at any rate, I cut the tank from the plumbing and dragged it to Menard's along with the receipt [ALWAYS keep receipts]. They pulled a new boxed tank off the shelf and off I went. No extra questions asked. Very professional. I'm pleased.

This time though, I put a nice 1" galvanized coupler between the tank and the tee. Next time will be a breeze! It turned out to be a blessing though that I had to take all the piping apart. When I started to turn the faucet [drain] off of the tee, it fell right off. It was then I remembered that our hardware store down the road was sold out of the galvanized male adapter fitting I needed. So I temporarily grabbed a black/gas pipe fitting to replace later. Way to forget, huh? Really ducked a tragedy here. If that faucet would have blown off while we were gone or sleeping. Whew!!

T'care guys,
Mike
 

Craigpump

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I've yet to see a Water Worker or the WP series tank (also made by Amtrol) last more than 7 years, in fact most barely make it past the 5 yr warranty. Most of the time they have short cycled the pump so bad by then, I get to replace it too.

Like the old Fram filter commercial said, pay me now or pay me later.
 

Mike Reilly

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I've yet to see a Water Worker or the WP series tank (also made by Amtrol) last more than 7 years, in fact most barely make it past the 5 yr warranty. Most of the time they have short cycled the pump so bad by then, I get to replace it too.

Like the old Fram filter commercial said, pay me now or pay me later.

craigpump,
I like your avatar & truck. Pretty much all we worked on was G.M. commercial trucks. First as a technician, then, for the last 27 years, as the service mgr. Now retired; sometimes I miss it, sometimes I don't [;-)
 

Wondering

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I have a 20 gal Well-X-Trol tank that was put in 15 years ago with a new pump. Pump would only run about 25 seconds to fill tank at a 40/60 setting. At that time Lowes had Water Worker so I bought a 62 gal tank and added with my 20 gal. So far, no problems with either tank and only problem with the pump was a split in the pipe above where it connects to the pump. That really wasnt with the pump, just the pipe. The pump is a 3/4 hp Flint/Walling sub.
This set up keeps 2 houses (3 houses if my brother has trouble with his pump/well) going plus a pasture full of cows so I can't complain.
 

Craigpump

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Thanks Mike, I love the truck but had to put an engine in it at 150,000 miles. My mechanic talked me into a Jasper, I'll never do that again.

Wondering, consider yourself lucky, there's always an exception to a rule.
 

Mike Reilly

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Yes, Jasper can run hot and cold as far as consistency goes. Usually good people though. One of the only independent rebuilders that also pays labor on top of supplying another engine. Pretty rare. We mostly tried to stick with our G.M. and franchised engines [like CAT]. That way we could keep all the warranty decisions in-house.
T'care,
Mike
 
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