I was asked to look into a neighbor’s secondary well because their primary one is sucking air after moderate use. Apparently it has been doing this for several years, but it has recently become a problem so they wanted to get the second one online.
The second well is driven in an adjacent lot that the homeowner also owns and I believe that it is driven into the same aquifer, though I don’t know the actual depth (it is probably at least 400 feet). The previous owner was in the middle of replacing the expansion tank when he died and the controls and piping around them and the tank were a mess. I hooked up the tank (easy part) and then went to work on the controls. The box is a Franklin unit and I can only assume the 1½ HP submersible pump is also. I replaced the start capacitor and cleaned up some sloppy wiring and now I am getting 220 on the wires leading to the pump when the unit is on and the pump is drawing 12 amps on startup and about 10 while running. Seems a little high, is it?
Unfortunately, I’m not getting any increase in flow and there is no noticeable change in pressure. What is disconcerting, and a little confusing, is that water freely flows out of the lower spigots in the system, and it did so before I even started working on the pump. The owner assures me that the pipes were drained prior to winter several years ago and have not been used since, and I let several, I’d guess more than 10, gallons of water flow out of the lowest spigot with no noticeable change in flow. This is more water than I would expect the pipes could hold, though I’m not certain just how much piping there is in the system. It just keeps coming out at a trickle, but the pump isn’t pumping. So where could this water be coming from? And any ideas on why it isn’t pumping?
I’m thinking there might be a major leak in the pipe from the well, allowing water to build up in the system over the years and letting the water flow from the pipe when the pump is turned on. If it is a dry well, where is the water in the system coming from? Would pressure testing the system tell me anything? More to the point, a dry well won’t hold pressure, will it?
The second well is driven in an adjacent lot that the homeowner also owns and I believe that it is driven into the same aquifer, though I don’t know the actual depth (it is probably at least 400 feet). The previous owner was in the middle of replacing the expansion tank when he died and the controls and piping around them and the tank were a mess. I hooked up the tank (easy part) and then went to work on the controls. The box is a Franklin unit and I can only assume the 1½ HP submersible pump is also. I replaced the start capacitor and cleaned up some sloppy wiring and now I am getting 220 on the wires leading to the pump when the unit is on and the pump is drawing 12 amps on startup and about 10 while running. Seems a little high, is it?
Unfortunately, I’m not getting any increase in flow and there is no noticeable change in pressure. What is disconcerting, and a little confusing, is that water freely flows out of the lower spigots in the system, and it did so before I even started working on the pump. The owner assures me that the pipes were drained prior to winter several years ago and have not been used since, and I let several, I’d guess more than 10, gallons of water flow out of the lowest spigot with no noticeable change in flow. This is more water than I would expect the pipes could hold, though I’m not certain just how much piping there is in the system. It just keeps coming out at a trickle, but the pump isn’t pumping. So where could this water be coming from? And any ideas on why it isn’t pumping?
I’m thinking there might be a major leak in the pipe from the well, allowing water to build up in the system over the years and letting the water flow from the pipe when the pump is turned on. If it is a dry well, where is the water in the system coming from? Would pressure testing the system tell me anything? More to the point, a dry well won’t hold pressure, will it?
