Replacing Pressure Tank use same Drawdown Rating??

[laughingjj]

My current bladder style pressure tank (Betta Flow, Model 144, 44 gal, 11.9 gallon drawdown at 40-60 psi) has a bad bladder causing my pump to short cycle. I am looking for a replacement pressure tank and have heard I need to try to match the drawdown rating more so than the tank size. Is this a good guide to follow? One of the tanks I am looking at replaceing it with is a 52 gallon with a 14 gallon drawdown at 40-60 psi, the other is a 35 gallon with a 9.3 gallon drawdown at 40-60 psi. Would either of these be a good replacement for my current tank? I am not the original owner of my house so I don't have the specs for my well pump. My house is a four bedroom two bath house but I do have four kids so the showers/tubs get a workout. Thanks.

 

[Valveman]

Your original tank was too small to start with. Short cycling is what busted the bladder in the tank to start with. Every time the pump cycles it moves the bladder up and down like bending a wire until it breaks. After the bladder is busted then it starts rapid cycling, which will quickly destroy your pump.

Two choices; You can get a tank that is twice the size of the original, which will cut the cycling in half. Or you can use a Cycle Stop Valve, which will eliminate almost all of the cycling, then you can use a tank as small as a 4.4 gallon size with 1 gallon of draw down, as in the picture here.

 

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[laughingjj]

Thanks for the reply. I ended up finding a 86 gallon unit at a local supply house for a good price. Installed it yesterday and it's nice not to have the pump short cycling anymore.