Well Hell......

[2LZ]

Got up yesterday morning and started chores, looking forward to Daytona Day. Just got done hosing out the ash vac I use for the wood and pellet stoves. Came inside and went to wash the hands....and the water pressure was low. I figured the Mrs was outside running water or something. Soon....no water. WHAH!?

Wells aren't rocket science. Had this happen once before. Ants love pressure switches and get crushed between the contacts, so I figured I'd go clean that out and we'd be good to go. Much to my disgust, the pressure switch was good and clean. No ants. Got 220V at all the poles. Head down the hill to the well. Maybe we popped a starter cap. It happens. Volt meter says 220V at the J box. Decided to replace the whole J box at the well that houses the cap and relay. Power on! No water........

Power to the pump...no water....probably a bad pump. Crap. Fortunately, it's poly pipe so I can do this myself, though it's a major pain being so deep. One last test. Whip out the amp meter....pump is drawing 6.2 amps which means it's most likely spinning! OH NO!!! I think my well dried up!!!!

This has now become expensive and out of my hands. Took the day off and the well guy will be here at 10:00. I hope I just missed something........

[Merlin]

With all the rain you guys have been getting I would think you would have plenty of water? Strange? Let us know what happens.

[Bruce's]

Good luck with that !

[Swampy]

Well, at least there isn’t much chance of a wildfire roaring through your area. Makes a person wonder if your well is dry, how long it takes for surface water to percolate down to your aquifer.

My first thought was the Indians mistook your power lines for the telegraph line………….

[Sport Rider]

one of the negatives of not having public water, huh? I hope it was just something easy that you happened to miss. much less expense in that vs the alternatives. you just have to live with egg on your face. in the end it's still cheaper!

[2LZ]

These are the drawbacks of not being on public water Sport Rider....but I'd never give up how delicious and pure it is.

Update: Guy came out today. I went over everything I did with him. We went down the hill and he confirmed that proper voltage was at the pump and that the amp draw most likely suggests the pump is spinning. Then he said that it's either a clogged pipe (if it's not poly) or a break in a pipe because it's been freezing so badly lately...or...a bad impeller. Then....he said he didn't have the poly wheel to pull it properly nor did he want to get his boom truck stuck. So....night two, no water. He refereed me to a guy who has what's needed to pull the pump. He'll be out in the morning.

Thank God for bottled water, buckets and our little Walmart pool. I just need to remember to make the pool run with the bucket BEFORE I need to flush! ;-)

[letsride]

WOW 2LZ, I'm sorry for your troubles! But I feel your pain. I grew up on well water, and I have well water now. Matter of fact I had to repair mine today as well. My buddy bumped the well cover with a tree he was carrying with the tractor to the burn pile and it knocked the tank loose I agree I do LOVE me some well water. My well is 220 feet deep and I'm pulling water at 160'. My pump is a non control box, 3 wire, 1 hp a Goulds I think. It is dropped down the 4" casing attached to a 1" schedule 80 screw together pipe. And boy have I pulled a few pumps in my time. Just put a new pump on my Dad's well about 1 month ago. His pulls water at 120'. One thing we learned from his well pump NEVER buy a submersible pump for Lowes. Utilitech Pumps are JUNK it didn't last a year. Anyway I'll quit blabbing. But what is POLY Pipe? and How deep is your well? I didn't know they put pumps in the ground with anything other than schd 80. Just curious, I'm about to learn something new. Hopefully you are up and running again soon.

[katoranger]

My well has water at 16 feet. Poly pipe is flexible and usually comes on a roll.

[BlackBike]

Black poly pipe, didn't think of that. This changes everything raise and lower that sucker by hand and not need a boom truck right?

With flexible pipe, put a hand crank at the head with down hole pump attached with a rope to pull it

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by letsride

WOW 2LZ, I'm sorry for your troubles! But I feel your pain. I grew up on well water, and I have well water now. Matter of fact I had to repair mine today as well. My buddy bumped the well cover with a tree he was carrying with the tractor to the burn pile and it knocked the tank loose I agree I do LOVE me some well water. My well is 220 feet deep and I'm pulling water at 160'. My pump is a non control box, 3 wire, 1 hp a Goulds I think. It is dropped down the 4" casing attached to a 1" schedule 80 screw together pipe. And boy have I pulled a few pumps in my time. Just put a new pump on my Dad's well about 1 month ago. His pulls water at 120'. One thing we learned from his well pump NEVER buy a submersible pump for Lowes. Utilitech Pumps are JUNK it didn't last a year. Anyway I'll quit blabbing. But what is POLY Pipe? and How deep is your well? I didn't know they put pumps in the ground with anything other than schd 80. Just curious, I'm about to learn something new. Hopefully you are up and running again soon.

This is poly pipe. It's neat because USUALLY you can pull it by hand, plus, no joints and it's flexible. Great stuff.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Advanced-...g&gclsrc=aw.ds

It's not confirmed but we were told when we bought the place years ago that the well is about 280 deep and I pull from about 200. It comes up through cracked granite so it's crystal clear and tastes almost sweet.

We tried manually pulling it yesterday and it wasn't going to happen. Need at least a poly wheel to get a nice arc coming out of the casing.

I've heard that about the Lowes pumps and they're still about 400.00! I bought the J box and I'll probably end up getting a pressure switch there but I'm paying through the nose for a good pump. It may even be a Goulds. I'll let you know...... He said he only installs two brands of pumps because he warranties his work and won't install anything else. He's going to be here at 11:00 this morning. I'm getting real tired of washing down with ice cold chlorinated pool water... Wakes you up fast.

Oh!...and I'm the only one dealing with this crap here. Mrs. 2LZ and her dad flew out to Alaska this morning!

[2LZ]

Three long days living out of the little pool and at about 7:00 pm last night, running water returned to Volcano!

Come to find out that pumps last 20-25 years around these parts and this one made it 26 years so I can't complain.

I figured since we had it all tore out I'd have him upgrade everything so I'll never have to do this again. Went from a 3/4 hp/5 gal per minute to a 1 hp/7 gal a minute Goulds pump. All new 10 gauge, 4 strand wire, new control box with optional safety kick-off, plus all the galvanized pipe that goes from the well to the house pipe. I already have a new pressure switch and gauge for the pressure tank and I'll do that myself.....so, everything besides the pressure tank is new.

It's 210' deep and I have a 40' column of water. These are all things that everyone always asked me that I didn't know, so that's good info.

Here's a couple pics. Out with the old, in with the new. He said that after 26 years in the hole, the pump looked far better than he thought it would, which is a sign of really good water.

One of the best steaming hot showers I ever took last night............

[Bruce's]

That's great news !

[BlackBike]

Good for you sir. And good for the well service company (chance to make a little money).

I have an air conditioner at my mom's house that is going on an incredible 17 years. The compressor fan just went out again(second time). Couple hundred bucks and good to continue. Will be interested to see how long it will go. Basically runs year round down here.

[Sir kayakalot]

Glad to hear you're back up and running 2LZ. We're all pretty tough until we lose electricity or water lol. Just last Friday I had the boat hooked up and was heading down the driveway to go fishing and stopped to check the mail 1st......$191.00 water bill!! Needless to say I didn't get to go fishing. Spent the rest of the day digging up my front yard looking for a broken line. I found it and fixed it.......by dark that evening. Long day but at least I was able to take care of it.
I don't miss those days of my youth when I'd have to help dad pull the well pump. Ours was only 130 feet but it's no fun.

[letsride]

Awesome!! Glad you are back up and running! That Poly pipe is the ticket. So mush easier to pull a pump with that wheel. I wonder why they don't install that here?