Shallow well pressure tank questions

[mikem503]

I had a small 6 gallon pressure tank in my cabin. Caused the pump to run every time any water was used, even a glass of water.
I got a new 32 gallon pressure tank to add to it. In the process of checking to see that they were both the same pressure, I realized my original tank has zero pressure. I tried using my compressor, even though I was adding 28lbs of pressure it still reads zero on the tire gauge.
Can I hook up the new tank inline even if the old tank has no pressure?

 

[RS]

Something is wrong with this story! How do you know you put in 28 psi if it doesn't show on a tire gauge? Have you verified the tire gauge works ok? typically you should be able to use about a gallon of water before the pump starts, with a 6 gallon tank, depending on how it's set up. When valveman sees this he will try to sell you a cycle stop valve! Another example of where you should have done some troubleshooting first and bought parts last!

 

[Valveman]

Lol! Yep, you need a Cycle Stop Valve. A 6 gallon pressure tank only holds 1.5 gallons of water, a 32 gallon tank only holds 8 gallons of water. The reason your tank bladder failed in the first place is from going up and down over and over as the pump cycles on and off over and over. A tank that holds 8 gallons to be used before the pump starts will slow the cycling from a tank that only holds 1.5 gallons, but it will still cycle too much. The 6 gallon tank is plenty large enough when working with a Cycle Stop Valve or CSV. The CSV will work with any size tank, and keeps the tank bladder from failing, the pump from burning up, and solves many other problems common in water systems.