Home Repair (alt.home.repair) For all homeowners and DIYers with many experienced tradesmen. Solve your toughest home fix-it problems.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default wellwater pump?

Oops! Just got home and realized that I left a hose running all
weekend while I was gone. We have well water that uses a submersible
pump inline with a steel pressure tank (in basement). We have no
running water in the house. I drained the pressure tank and collected
~ 1 gallon of muddy water. I closed all the faucets (and shut off
valve to hose) and waited about an hour. The psi went up on the tank
but when I opened the drain valve only air came out.

I've since cut power to the system by flipping the breaker. Any
suggestions? Have I done longterm damage to the equipment, or does the
well just need to recharge? We just moved here and am still learning
about the house, I don't know (yet) how deep the well is, etc.


Thanks for your help,

Xuan

  #2   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 746
Default wellwater pump?

John wrote:
Oops! Just got home and realized that I left a hose running all
weekend while I was gone. We have well water that uses a submersible
pump inline with a steel pressure tank (in basement). We have no
running water in the house. I drained the pressure tank and collected
~ 1 gallon of muddy water. I closed all the faucets (and shut off
valve to hose) and waited about an hour. The psi went up on the tank
but when I opened the drain valve only air came out.

I've since cut power to the system by flipping the breaker. Any
suggestions? Have I done longterm damage to the equipment, or does the
well just need to recharge? We just moved here and am still learning
about the house, I don't know (yet) how deep the well is, etc.


Thanks for your help,

Xuan


I think you are on the right track.
Since the pump developed pressure, the pump has
probably survived. But the well will need some time
to "recharge". How long? Maybe by tomorrow.

Jim
  #3   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default wellwater pump?


Thanks for your message - man, I hope that a good nights sleep for
both the well and me will fix this problem -

Thanks!

  #4   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,199
Default wellwater pump?

On Oct 28, 9:44?pm, John wrote:
Thanks for your message - man, I hope that a good nights sleep for
both the well and me will fix this problem -

Thanks!


good luck, look at the brite side you just cleaned the well by
completely emptying it, well drillers do that too.

can be tough on pump, did you get a home warranty when you moved in?

pumps do fail for all sorts of reasons

  #5   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,044
Default wellwater pump?

On Oct 28, 7:13 pm, John wrote:
Oops! Just got home and realized that I left a hose running all
weekend while I was gone. We have well water that uses a submersible
pump inline with a steel pressure tank (in basement). We have no
running water in the house. I drained the pressure tank and collected
~ 1 gallon of muddy water. I closed all the faucets (and shut off
valve to hose) and waited about an hour. The psi went up on the tank
but when I opened the drain valve only air came out.

I've since cut power to the system by flipping the breaker. Any
suggestions? Have I done longterm damage to the equipment, or does the
well just need to recharge? We just moved here and am still learning
about the house, I don't know (yet) how deep the well is, etc.

Thanks for your help,

Xuan


Other than the bit about air coming out of the tank, it sounds like
the pump may not be running. When you fire it up again, see if there
is a reset switch, a lever, or a button on the pressure switch you
have to hold in to get the system going again. Some set-ups have an
automatic shut off to keep the pump from being damaged in a 'dry'
well.

Harry K



  #6   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default wellwater pump?

Thanks for the tip - I'll look. It's a submersible pump would you
think the switch would be located near the well head or nearer to the
pressure tank in the basement?

thanks

  #7   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 746
Default wellwater pump?

John wrote:
Thanks for the tip - I'll look. It's a submersible pump would you
think the switch would be located near the well head or nearer to the
pressure tank in the basement?

thanks


In the basement.

Replace your pressure control with the FSG-2 M4.
It will completely shut down the pump should it run
dry again. This will protect your pump from burnout.
Looks like this:


http://cgi.ebay.com/Pressure-switch-...QQcmdZViewItem
http://i19.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/a0/bf/85d6_1.JPG

(Just picked this URL because it has a good pic.)

Jim
  #8   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 61
Default wellwater pump?

The pressure control switch will be right at the steel pressure tank.
Sometimes when you engage it, you have to hold it on the "on" position
manually, until enough water pressure has developed from the pump to put it
into automatic operation.

It is entirely possible that the pump needs to run long enough to push the
air back though the supply pipe, before it can start pumping water again.
On my vacation house system (after it is off for a few months) this takes
a few minutes to accomplish. While it is blowing air out of the line, I
have to hold the pressure switch manually, until it starts pumping water.

Good Luck

James


  #9   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,044
Default wellwater pump?

On Oct 29, 7:56 am, John wrote:
Thanks for the tip - I'll look. It's a submersible pump would you
think the switch would be located near the well head or nearer to the
pressure tank in the basement?

thanks


It'll be right at the pressure tank whereever that may be. Look at
the pipe going into the tank, you should see a small (about 4" square)
box sitting on top of a 1/8" pipe that is tee'd off the inlet pipe.
It will have wires going into it probably inside conduit. Not all
systems have the automatic shut-off but it is worth a look.

Harry K

  #10   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default wellwater pump?

thanks everyone for the good tips - we're still chasing down the
problem, but this forum's been helpful.





  #11   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,044
Default wellwater pump?

On Oct 30, 8:44 am, John wrote:
thanks everyone for the good tips - we're still chasing down the
problem, but this forum's been helpful.


Be sure to post back with the result. I, for sure, want to know what
it was.

Harry K

  #12   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default wellwater pump?

the well ran dry -

I actually ran it dry. But it's since recharged and the pump's chimed
back in. We've gotta lot of muddy/water but are clearing out the
lines. Water was muddy then was clearing, and is now real muddy
again. I cut off the pump and think the well needs more time to
settle this sediment. Found its a deep well at 625' with pump about
1/2 way down, and with a inflow rate of 3gpm. We're in a pretty good
drought right now, so this may be a little slower yet.

We'll see how it runs again tomorrow PM. Don't want to run to much
sand/sediment thru my pump and pipes.

Thanks again for all the help, I was sweating buckets there for a bit
- but the system seems to be recovering.

John

  #13   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
M Q M Q is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 257
Default wellwater pump?

John wrote:

the well ran dry -

I actually ran it dry. But it's since recharged and the pump's chimed
back in. We've gotta lot of muddy/water but are clearing out the
lines. Water was muddy then was clearing, and is now real muddy
again. I cut off the pump and think the well needs more time to
settle this sediment. Found its a deep well at 625' with pump about
1/2 way down, and with a inflow rate of 3gpm. We're in a pretty good
drought right now, so this may be a little slower yet.


If what you say is true, I find it odd that the pump is set 300'
above the bottom of the well. Most of that 300' is not
doing you any good. Typical around here is about 20' off the bottom.
Also seems odd to me that you have so much mud in a deep well.
Maybe the seal is not good?
I would suggest that you consult with a local well professional
about some of these things. They would know more about your
local geology/hydrology and well customs than any of us do.

  #14   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 41
Default wellwater pump?

You can't suck up water more than something like 32 feet, no matter how
big your pump is. Once you've developed a vacuum on the top, that's it,
for suckage.
--


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.
  #15   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,044
Default wellwater pump?

On Nov 1, 7:52 pm, Ron Hardin wrote:
You can't suck up water more than something like 32 feet, no matter how
big your pump is. Once you've developed a vacuum on the top, that's it,
for suckage.
--


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.


Well...practical limit is about 26 ft due to pumpage, pipe loss. In
any case that is why people use submersible pumps. They can pump from
any depth you desire (within engineering limits).

Harry K



  #16   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default wellwater pump?


M Q wrote:
John wrote:

the well ran dry -

I actually ran it dry. But it's since recharged and the pump's chimed
back in. We've gotta lot of muddy/water but are clearing out the
lines. Water was muddy then was clearing, and is now real muddy
again. I cut off the pump and think the well needs more time to
settle this sediment. Found its a deep well at 625' with pump about
1/2 way down, and with a inflow rate of 3gpm. We're in a pretty good
drought right now, so this may be a little slower yet.


If what you say is true, I find it odd that the pump is set 300'
above the bottom of the well. Most of that 300' is not
doing you any good. Typical around here is about 20' off the bottom.
Also seems odd to me that you have so much mud in a deep well.
Maybe the seal is not good?
I would suggest that you consult with a local well professional
about some of these things. They would know more about your
local geology/hydrology and well customs than any of us do.


At the minimum, I'd install the pump protection device earlier
recommended, also you may want to think about a water storage system -
a large atmospheric tank that takes water from the well, then uses a
pump to pressurize the water from it into the house. This sort of
system will provide more fluid at peak periods than the well pump you
have now.

My suspicion is that the well pump was installed on a poly style pipe
- the black rolled pipe that is typically used for underground water
lines. You can get 300' rolls at most supply houses, so that would
make sense. Otherwise, I can't see why it's not at the bottom of the
well. A 6" well will store about 1.5 gallons per foot of depth, so
assuming you have a decent static level at 50', you have approximately
375 gallons in reserve before the pump is dry.

The muddy water leads me to believe that the well was put into a rock
formation. Around here (NW Washington) when we drill rock wells, we
install pumps so that the withdrawing of water does effect the static
level. This keeps the water from moving up and down along the rocks,
which keeps the rocks from getting washed all the time, which keeps
silt & material out of the plumbing system. Hence, the need for
holding tanks & pressurizing circuits.

Anyway, 3 GPM is probably enough for a single person, but even a small
400 gallon holding tank with a jet pump would help. I'd also
encourage you to put a flow restrictor on the well pump.


Pierce Kiltoff
a href="http://www.jkawelldrilling.com"JKA Well Drilling/a

Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Sump Pump Clunk After Backup Pump Install [email protected] Home Repair 6 April 19th 07 06:18 PM
Can a submersible pump and manual pitcher pump coexist? [email protected] Home Repair 17 February 3rd 07 11:10 PM
FA: hydraulic pump, right angle gear drive, very heavy caster, Oil pump from large milling machine William B Noble (don't reply to this address) Metalworking 0 April 26th 06 07:29 AM
Sump pump float switch: separate from pump? Marc_G Home Repair 4 January 15th 06 10:46 PM
Help with well pump problem ... the pump or the pressure switch? Me2 Home Ownership 1 June 28th 04 04:26 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:19 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 DIYbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about DIY & home improvement"