Wellmate Pressure Tank

[Snailcrusher]

Hi All,
I have a 86 Gallon Wellmate Fiberglass Pressure Tank for my Well. Model WM-25-WB. Installed August 2010. It has a Bladder Air Cell inside, not a Diaphragm.
In December 2015 I began noticing low pressure in my house. That lasted for about two weeks till one morning I woke up with no pressure at all.
I called a plumber and he discovered that the Relay Switch for the Well Pump was fried and that the Pressure tank was water logged.
He replaced the Relay Switch, drained the Pressure Tank and Re-Pressurized it with air.
Now, in April 2016 I am again having low pressure in my house. So, I drained the Tank myself and Re-Pressurized it. Water pressure is OK for now.
I am considering getting a new Pressure Tank.
I live on a farm and use a lot of water for irrigation and to water the animals.
I have several questions.
Is Wellmate a good choice? I have been dealing with their Technical Help Desk and they are not very knowledgeable.
What are the Pros and Cons between a Bladder Tank and a Diaphragm Tank?
What are the Pros and Cons between a Metal Tank and Fiberglass Tank? My climate is very rainy and damp and the Tank is in a very small room with little ventilation. So I concerned about rust.
What brands of Tanks would you recommend?
What brands of Tanks would you definitely not recommend?
Please chime in, I need to make a decision soon.
The more opinions the better
Thank You

 

[Craigpump]

6 yrs from a tank is terrible.

My experience with bladders is that they are just too damn thin and have mold seams which make them vulnerable to failure. Put a bladder in a welded steel shell and the bladder drags on the inside of the seam which cuts the bladder.

99.9% of the tanks we install are Well X Trol made by Amtrol. You pay more, but get more too.

If you're using a lot of water, why not use a Pside Kick cycle stop valve set up? I'm sure Cary will chime in and be able to give you all the info you need.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[PumpMd]

Fiberglass tanks have a good selling point because they don't rust but I have not seen one of WM later models holding up like their earlier models so we stopped selling Well-Mate & Pro-Source fiberglass tanks, I am still hunting around for a good fiberglass tank that can last cycling the pump alot and not lose it's precharge. WellXtrol & RL are the only tanks I would recommend on a cycling system or you have to maintain your tank's precharge on how long it can last which you can do and not have to buy a new tank since you already know how to do it or replace the air cell and check your precharge this time around.

If I had to choose a fiberglass tank, I would try this brand because it's a diaphragm and not a air cell.

http://www.flexconind.com/literature/flexcon flex-lite consumer brochure lr 4-8-14.pdf

 

[Boycedrilling]

I use the Flexcon composite tanks almost exclusively. They are composite, so no rusting problems. They use a diaphragm, same as the steel tanks, not a collapsable bladder like the Well-mate.

I have 4 tanks the size of yours in stock.

 

[Valveman]

I agree no matter what the tank is made of, a diaphragm is better than a bladder or air cell. And Flexcon tanks are almost as good as the Amtrol, because they are exact copies of the Amtrol. That is the only thing I have against Flexcon, is that they never had an original idea of their own. They just wait until the patent expires and start making copies like they did with Amtrol. They did the same thing with the Inwell tank I had a patent on.