I have heard two opinions from two plumbers. One said adding a small expansion tank would help protect the well system, the other said the well's expansion tank would handle any back-pressure from the hot water expanding in the heater. Do I need to put a check valve and a small expansion tank at the inlet of the hot water heater?
The well system maintains good pressure at 55psi with a 50 gallon tank. I don't see any backflow valves in the current system. All the shutoffs are needle valves that have frozen open, so I will replace them with ball valves. I am also planning to add a sediment filter just after the pump, with a bypass loop for filter changes. My water is very hard which probably contributed to the water heater's death, so we'll also add a water softener as soon as we can afford it.

Hi Scan

I am on well water and do not have expansion tank for hot water.

I do power flush it every month to clean sediment out of hot water heater.

With pump on I open drain cock at bottom of heater and run water until it is clear.

Don't know if this will help, but was suggested to me by local well man.

Good luck

Chuck

I have heard two opinions from two plumbers. One said adding a small expansion tank would help protect the well system, the other said the well's expansion tank would handle any back-pressure from the hot water expanding in the heater. Do I need to put a check valve and a small expansion tank at the inlet of the hot water heater?
The well system maintains good pressure at 55psi with a 50 gallon tank. I don't see any backflow valves in the current system. All the shutoffs are needle valves that have frozen open, so I will replace them with ball valves. I am also planning to add a sediment filter just after the pump, with a bypass loop for filter changes. My water is very hard which probably contributed to the water heater's death, so we'll also add a water softener as soon as we can afford it.

Hot water expansion tanks are installed when the city mandates a backwater check valve. This makes it a closed system with no place for the hot water to expand.
Pumps have pressure and bladder tanks that control any expansion that may occur. Plumber number two was correct. You already have a expansion tank installed. Good luck, Tom