1/2 gallon drawdown on 14 gallon tank

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tdhd

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I have a WellX-Troll 201 14 gallon pressure tank. I don't know the GPM of the well, but its 1/2 HP in a drilled well. All this was in the house when we bought it.

The short version of my question is how to I get more drawdown from this tank as right now its only getting 1/2 gallon?

The pump only runs for 10 seconds or so to "fill" the tank. Then I get about 1/2 gallon of drawdown. From the kitchen sink tap this takes about 30 sec.

The switch cuts it in at about 38-40 and cuts out at 55. I haven't played around with the pressure switch, but have done quite a few other manouevres.

When we arrived the place had been sitting empty for probably at least a year. I knew nothing about wells and pressure tanks and at first the pump was just running constantly every time a tap was opened. Click click click click. I didn't know that was bad. I had a plumber here for other things and he said the tank was waterlogged and I needed to replace it. I went to the hardware store to buy one and the guy there asked "have you tired pumping it up first?" I drained all the water out and pumped it up to 2 below cut in and it worked really well for a while. I think I was getting about a gallon and a half of drawdown. Every once in a while however, the water would shut off and I had to let some pressure off the tank to get it back down to 2 below cut in. That seems to happen with weather and temperature changes. The tank is in a drafty place in the house and so the temp can vary considerably.

Anyway, now I'm only getting about 1/2 gallon draw down. I've tried draining the tank and starting over. I have also let all pressure off the bladder and started over there as well, pumping it to the 2 below cut in. No water comes out the valve.

One more diagnostic thing....watching the pressure gauge as water is drawn from the tank, it almost looks like it gets "stuck" around 45. The needle goes down steadily from the cut out at 55 and then kind of twitches around 45 and almost halts and then jumps down to the 40 cut in.

We have lots of iron in the water and there was a lot of sediment. It is PEX plumbing and it was all orange and over time its started to clear out. Most of the pipes are now clear. Occaisionally we still get big bursts of flakes and orange crap coming from certain fixtures. There still is sediment coming out, but less and less all the time.

Honestly, I'd just replace the pressure tank, and/or call a plumber (the last guy really messed some things up!), but I want to as fully as possible understand whats happening and what the problem in order to have as few service calls and as few parts replacements as possible. And do whatever I can myself.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 

Reach4

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Sounds like the diaphragm leaks. Time to replace that tank, perhaps with a bigger one. To me, this was telling: "Every once in a while however, the water would shut off and I had to let some pressure off the tank to get it back down to 2 below cut in. "

This presumes that you are measuring the air precharge while the water pressure is zero. If the water pressure is higher than the air precharge, the air pressure would read pretty close to the water pressure. Measuring the air pressure while the water pressure is not zero is only useful for checking the calibration difference between your air pressure gauge and water pressure gauge. So to restate, only measure or change the air precharge while the water pressure is zero.

See date code info at https://terrylove.com/forums/index....of-amtrol-expansion-tanks.101778/#post-732529
 
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Valveman

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It is good that you are searching for what caused the problem. If you don't solve the problem that caused all this it will just happen again. The pump cycling on and off is what caused your problem. A WX201, 14 gallon size tank should give you about 3 gallons of draw down. But even when it was new and was giving 3 gallons of draw down, your pump was cycling on and off for every 3 gallons used. The diaphragm in the tank goes up and down with each pump cycle and like bending a wire back and forth the diaphragm is torn and letting the air out. When this happens you will either continually lose the air pressure in the tank, or the air pressure side will increase in pressure from the water on the wrong side of the diaphragm. The tank will need to be replaced.

You are losing all water for a short time because the cycling on and off is also really bad for the pump/motor. It is tripping an overload that takes a minute or two to reset itself, then the water comes back on. It will only do this a few times before it will not reset as the motor will be toast.

As Reach said, you could install a larger pressure tank. But even an 86 gallon size tank only holds 20 gallons of water, so the pump will still cycle on and off a lot. Plus, the larger tank will leave your system at lower pressure for longer periods of time, and low pressure is not a good thing.

Or, you could solve the cycling problem while you are at it by using a Cycle Stop Valve. This way you can use an even smaller and less expensive 4.5 gallon size tank. You would also have strong constant pressure in the house, as the CSV is in control, not the tank. There is a night and day difference between the pressure from a system that is cycling on and off compared to a CSV system where the pressure is so strong and constant that many people tell me they no longer even need soap in the shower. Lol!

The PK1A is what you need to replace that tank. https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/pk1a-pside-kick

Here are a few hundred review with pictures of people who have done this. https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/reviews

And a video to show how the CSV works.
 
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