Well Pump Died

MicroE

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The 35 year-old pump in my home's well died today and we ran dry. I couldn't find an electrical problem and we finally got a well contractor to come by (not easy feat on a Sunday on a holiday weekend!).
The guy said that the pump is running but not sending up any water. The pump is 230V and is drawing current.

Right now I have a sump pump in the pool hooked to a garden hose to deliver water to the toilet. It works, but it's a pain in the neck to manage.

Has anybody ever had a well pump replaced? How much is this going to cost me?

I realize that I don't have much of a choice here because a house without water really stinks (pun intended).---Marc
 

MacGyver

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Ok since you said "in my well" I presume you have a drilled well with a submersible pump.
I have a shallow well jet in my basement, so totally different...and easy to work on.
How deep is your well? If it's less than say 50 or 60ft, and you wanna attempt it, pull it up yourself & get a pump from Home Depot or any pump place, and replace it yourself. Pump's what, $200 or $300? not sure in $US.
If it's deaper than that or you don't wanna try yourself, a contractor will charge to raise it, charge depends on well depth.
Friend of mine's is 315ft deep...stainless pipe all the way. Now that's expensive to service! And it was about a cdn$15k hole to drill not including pump & pressure system /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
Good luck! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

TOB9595

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I've had deep well pumps and they are expensive to replace. Mostly the labor and equipment.
If you had any problem, in the past, with enough water supply in the house now is the time to upgrade. An example of this: people running the shower and someone flushing the toilet while running the laundry and getting a change in water flow. This can be a pain.
A bunch of years ago I built a house with ~ 1000 foot well. The well man said he was gonna put in a 1/2 horse pump. I specced it out using a Grainger catalog at 3/4 hp. I sized the holding tank from extrol for this capacity pump and all was very well for water supply. The well guy said he even puts 1/2 hp in his son's house so why did I need a 3/4? I reminded him that he wasn't gonna charge the son for the replacement as he would me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif The point of this story is to verify for yourself, if you can, the pump size you want and the holding tank size.
Would there be any benefit to blowing the pump line out with air? to maybe clear any obstruction. I would always try this and in the end replace the pump anyway. sigh
 

MicroE

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The well was drilled in 1967 and we bought the house in 1995. I have no idea how deep it is or what kind of pump is in there. It could be 30 feet (10 metres) or 300 feet (100 metres). I have no idea.

I suppose that we are going to find out today. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Of course today is a national holiday so buying a replacement pump will be impossible for me. A contractor may be able to call in a favor from his supply house and get a pump today. If not, tomorrow morning is going to be fun without water.

Stay tuned for further details.---Marc
 

James S

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I grew up in a house with a deep well. I believe the pump was at 375 feet or so. It got struck by lightening twice before we had an arrestor installed. (Spectacular to be sitting in the kitchen as a 10 year old when the pump head which is sticking about 18 inches above the ground 20 feet from the kitchen window gets struck during a storm! WOW, you can imagine being that close might give a 10 year old quite an adrenalin boost!)

In order to pull that pump they had to some out with a crane that would reach over the house from the front driveway and pull up a huge pile of pipe. It took 3 guys 2 or 3 hours to replace the thing. So it was definitely a pain.

If I ever build a house with a well I'll be putting it in the front yard...
 
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**DONOTDELETE**

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what a coincidence, my (very expensive Italian Sunrise) pump quit right after the warranty expired (2 years) a couple months ago.. they don't make them anymore, surprise.
.. you already scheduled the contractor, is it too late to see if you and one or two or three friends can unbolt and pull up the pump hand over hand?..if the pump is attached to plastic tubing you may be able to, if it's connected with metal pipe, it will probably be deep and heavy, and the contractor will bring a truck rig to pull it up -- $125 or more an hour..
...if it is a shallow well discuss the possibility of making it light enough to be self-serviceable (if you like) with the cointractor (sic /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) by installing your new pump on plastic flexible pipe, if possible..
..if it is very deep, and/or far from the electric source, you may want to stay with a lower horse power so you don't need to use very large gauge wire, since the pump will need about FIVE times it's running current to start up, and this demands thick wire. My installer (without the latest specs from Grundfos) put in a 1/2 horse power Grundfos and it wouldn't start about 1 time out of 15 tries, seems the current draw can go up to 50.2 amps according to Grundfos tech support, that's .2 (point two!) amps more than my 50 amp inverter will supply, and it was shutting it down! So I am pulling it up and replacing it with a 1/3 horse power pump! Live and learn.
How many gallons per minute do you require?
I recommend Grundfos pumps. Call them for good technical assistance; 1800- 333-1366
 

James S

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Ted brings up a good point. If it's on metal pipe segments (they way ours was) you probably DON'T want to pull it up yourself. Beyond being VERY heavy then have tools to secure each segment at the top as they unscrew it and attach the crane to the next segment. If you drop it down the well you're in trouble as dragging it up by the cord is not easy...

However, with a continous plastic pipe it shold be a lot easier to do.
 

MicroE

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Thanks for all of the information. The pump was 80 feet down and connected by galvanized steel pipe. It was way to heavy to pull up by hand.
The contractor had to bring in a crane to pull it up. He was a considerate guy and parked the crane on the driveway. It took three experienced guys several hours to do the job, even with the crane.
They replaced the 1/2 HP pump with a 3/4 HP pump and replaced the galvanized pipe with PVC to make the next changeover easier. They replaced the electrical line and did a very professional and clean job.
The old pump was a Goulds and we replaced it with another Goulds. Anything with moving parts that works day in and day out for decades seems like a good deal to me.

The bill was $1700. It seemed like a fair price since the pump alone cost $750 (I checked prices on the internet).
 
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**DONOTDELETE**

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well, congrats! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
.. pvc is lighter than the galvanized pipe of course, makes the job a little easier and cheaper for the contractor, but it doesn't bend at (a large radius) right angle like the tubing, so you'll still need the contractor and his rig to pull it out, if you ever need to. with the flexible tubing you and a friend could pull it out to take a look at the pump if there's a problem yourselves with no rig etc...look into the flexible stuff, I don't have the name handy but I'll see if I can get it and post it her..

good luck! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 

James S

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Write that contractors name down and give it to your friends and neighbors /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif A guy who can organize it in short order, get the job done on time, at a reasonable price and have it all work at the end of the day is not so common that you can forget him /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

sunspot

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Nice reading here. I had a 300' well and lost pressure. It seemed that the plastic pipe split and all the water was running back in a loop in the well. A plumber replaced the pipe but didn't check the pump when he had it out. You guessed it. All that continuance running ruined the pump. Needless to say, he did not charge me for the second pump pulling.
On a side note, he replaced the pump with a 60 PSI unit. It was really great for showers but I had to tighten or replace evey water valve in the house as the greater pressure caused leakage.
 
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**DONOTDELETE**

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sunny,
-- oh yeah I forgot about that..though it hasn't happened to me; if the tube gets a small rip or tear, it can continue to' rip' along it's length. if you detect damage when the pipe is out of the well, it can't/shouldn't be 'repaired,' it must be replaced (not much $?) -- you must be careful when handling it, otherwise it is well-protected when in the well.. (pun unintended /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif )
 

TOB9595

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Goulds is a very fine name in pumps
I've used them in industry and home for many years
Congrats on a big job finished.
Tom
 
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**DONOTDELETE**

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What type of Goulds pump do you all recommend?
(I looked around their site a while but couldn't really find one for my application..?)
 

MicroE

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[ QUOTE ]
TedtheLed said:
What type of Goulds pump do you all recommend?
(I looked around their site a while but couldn't really find one for my application..?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Here is the link for my pump:
http://www.goulds.com/product.asp?ID=82&MASTERID=3

The specific model that we installed is the 10GS07422. The technical bulletin gives you the application curves and translates the model number into a description of the pump. Good Luck.---Marc
 

MicroE

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CHAPTER TWO

The saga continues and there are two questions at the end....

When we last left our hero he had just spent a lot of money on a new well pump.

The new pump cycles on and off A LOT.
Our old pump used to turn on every time that someone flushed the toilet and for the last 8 years we thought that that was normal. We mentioned this cycling issue to the pump guys when they were here and they charged the air bladder in the pressure tank.
Well......it turns out that the pressure tank is only holding about 2 gallons. This is what I have learned is referred to as DRAW DOWN. Out tank has a 2 gallon draw down. Unfortunately, it should have a 15 to 20 gallon draw down.

I used my air compressor to refill the air bladder and the problem is still there.
A fellow that I know works at Sears and sells (coincidentally) well pressure tanks. Captive air tanks they are called. The cost for the Sears tank is $280. The cost of a professionally-installed (supposedly) higher quality tank is about $500.

Should I go with the Sears tank and try to install it myself in order to save $220 or should I pay these guys for their supposedly higher quality tank?

Are some tanks better than others? The contractor only sells a brand called Well Extrol.
 

robk

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I went to Lowes (is Lowes a SouthEast only retailer?) and bought a 36 gallon pressure tank for $179. Used a repair coupling to put it in place of a "busted bladder" tank and my pump stopped cycling every 2 minutes. I have a leak in my irrigation system, causing the cycling and it was screwing with the chlorine injection pump on my RainSoft water treatment system. It's fixed now. I think it has a draw down of 12 Gallons. Those Sears tanks are supposed to be real good - high draw down for a small tank, but the price was too high! Install it yourself, it's only one 1" pvc pipe and a threaded fitting to the tank. I am by no means a plumber, but it only took me an hour. Most of that time was waiting for the old tank to drain, it was filled with water - I was tempted to drill a 1" hole in it - and the perforated bladder was preventing the water from coming out fast. You can't move it when full, too heavy.
Rob
 

James S

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Hmmm, there are several possibilities. They may have popped the bladder when they refilled it. Or it could be that the air valve hadn't been used in 8 years and so it will no longer hold the air in?

It may also be that replacing the pump dislodged a bunch of grit or sand or scale or something that is clogging the connection to the pressure switch. Also if the bladder has broken or deteriorated pieces of the old rubber can be messing up the switch too.

So you should definitely verify that all that stuff is working properly before you replace the tank!

That being said, replacing the tank isn't that bad a job. But if the inlets and outlets are in different places on the new one, or are different sizes make sure you start early enough in the day that you can go back to the hardware store for adaptors before they close /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Otherwise you'll be without water all night and that will reduce considerably the spousal approval factor of your do-it-yourself projects...
 

binky

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/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

My new garage is nearly finished. When the foundation was poured (during a long drought last summer) it required more than 2 gas-powered trash pumps with 4-inch hoses at full blast to keep enough water out to allow digging the ditch. So the contractor put in some piping & such for a well just because there certainly was enough water supply.

It'd need to be tested & approved, but then of course I'll need a pump! And from what I'm reading above a pressure tank is involved too. Hmmmm. Lots to learn before I can at least water my lawn this summer.

This is all very useful info for some of the rest of us too! :)
 
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