Well pump died....

Scsmith42

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Bummer. This one fed the house and barns so it's pretty critical. Fortunately I have three wells on the property so 600' of garden hose gathered up from all over the farm got us temporary water in the house from the shop well.

I can't complain though. Pump was new in 1996 so 24 years out of a submersible pump isn't anything to get upset about. I'm going back with the same brand and model (USA sourced Sta-rite by Pentair). All stainless steel components including impellers, etc.

I'm taking advantage of the repair to upgrade the well components. Original pump only provided water to the house, and it's a 3/4hp 5gpm installed at 200' depth.

New pump is 1 hp 7gpm and I'm lowering it to 300' in the 340' well. The additional 100' depth will provide me with another 140 gallons of reserve capacity in the well, and the additional hp will help to pump water an additional 40' up the hill to the barn.

Old well tank was 33 gallons; I've replaced it with a 220 gallon tank. New pressure switch and gauge, and all new wiring, pipe and anti-siphon valve to go with the pump. Wiring is encased in 1/2" black poly to keep it from rubbing against the side of the well.

Will need to brick up a couple of feet around the perimeter of the slab so that I can set my previous well house on top of the brick and clear the taller tank. Here is how it turned out after getting rid of the old PVC and well tank, hammer drilling through the slab and plumbing it with 1" pex. The well tank is one that I used for a few years on my shop and then put in storage.

New well plumbing.jpg

I also got rid of the externally exposed pvc pipe and valve and brought everything up under the slab into the well house. That should eliminate one potential spot of freezing or broken pipe.

The old well had some solids in the water so I dropped a hose to the bottom of the well and several hundred gallons of water from the bottom up through it - flushing the solids to the surface and away.

Initial pumping

flushing well.jpg

After 500 gallons of flush

clear flow.jpg

I'll run another few hundred gallons of flush through it in the morning before setting the new well pump. Hopefully will have everything operational by noon tomorrow.
 
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Heck of a lot of work. I’m sure it will be worth it. I help put a new pump in once and only once. The pipe broke going back in and down it went by the rope. Loved doing it twice. Just lovely.
 
Heck of a lot of work. I’m sure it will be worth it. I help put a new pump in once and only once. The pipe broke going back in and down it went by the rope. Loved doing it twice. Just lovely.

I’ve done several over the years. The last one was with a crane. It wasn’t too difficult compared with pulling them by hand.
 
I just learned about PicoBlender, a controller that will blend the power from solar panels with power from the grid. Leave everything in place, and add the controller and an array of panels.

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the main thing with a submersible pump is good wiring and a good shock damper. Beat itself to death on the side of the casing breaks wiring and isn't great for a precision pump either. Our first pump lasted 12 years. Our current one has lasted 15
 
I’ve done several over the years. The last one was with a crane. It wasn’t too difficult compared with pulling them by hand.
I helped some friends replace a 150' well once. Had to pull mine a few weeks later. Figured that's a job for the tractor...
 
New pump is operational. I still need to do the final electrical hookup but for now we again have water!

New pump wired and plumbed and about to make a 300' trip down the well.

installing the new pump.jpg

About 200 feet in. I installed these line spacers every 50'. The wiring is encased in the 1/2" black poly so as to prevent it from rubbing thru the insulation on the side of the well. New stainless steel wire rope to support the pump too.

Feeding the hose with spacers.jpg

The new pressure switch is a 40 - 60 psi range, which replaced the old 30 - 50. It's nice to have the extra water pressure.

Tomorrow I have about an hour to wrap it up. Mason's will be here next week to do the brick work, and after that I can set the old well house back in place and complete the wiring and new doors.

Glad to have the majority of this project behind me!
 
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