New Well won't go down!?

New Pump won't go down!?

Simple enough... I just bought a new submersible pump to replace my old one... 1/2HP Red Jacket and it got caught 4 times on the way down before on the 5th time I couldn't lift anymore to unbind it and try it going down again. I only have around 30 ft left. When I pulled out the previous bad pump it came out with a breeze.. no hassles. My grandmother tells me that the person who previously replaced this pump had many problems putting the pump in back then too.

Any suggestions or hints?

(Heh I've tried googling for everything I could think of... and can't find anything.)

If the old one came out easily you were just lucky. Apparently there is a bad spot in the casing or a joint. If the wire guard was not in a bad area, the pump could come right out. When putting the new one in, you should be ready to turn the pump a little when it shows resistance to try to help it fit past the bad spot. If you jammed it downward and it stuck, you will have to jam it upward equally as hard to free it.

One trick we use when tools get stuck (I said tools because we don't jam pumps into wells) is to put a lot of tension on the pipe upward. Then go inside the well with something heavy and narrow enough to fit all the way down to the pump. Then bump downward on the pump. Between the bumping down and the tension upward, the pump may come loose.

bob...

Valveman

When turning the pump to get it through a tight spot, ALWAYS turn it to the right only. To the left will unscrew the pipe and if it comes loose, you just made the problem worse. Sometimes pouring a little water in from the top of the well will lube things up and help a bit also, especially if it is stuck above the water level.