Submersible Stuck

**Justin_** · 05-30-2010, 09:20 AM

Here is the situation.
I have a 5 inch well that has water at 70feet, and a stuck submersible at 100 feet. This pump is connected to the surface with a small yellow nylon rope, 3 electrical wires, and a 1 ¼ black poly. The pump hasn’t run in a couple of years, as the old timer who owned the property seems to have given up on maintenance.

The pump hasn’t budged up or down. We have hooked it on to a come-a-long and pulled pretty hard on the rope and the poly. We have also left the tension on the rope and hose for 24 hours. We have also tried tapping the pump down, but it doesn’t seem to want to go down either.

What could be causing this? How long would a professional take to get this out? I don’t know f there is a torque arrester, but if there is will it get stuck down there? Any other ideas on getting this pump out?

**Waterwelldude** · 05-30-2010, 07:40 PM

The well may be silted up, or the pump could be held down there by minerals that have built up on and around the pump.
With the pump set on poly pipe and some rope, there's not much you can do.
Hitting down on the pipe is not going to do anything. The poly pipe will absorb all the shock, and will have no affect on the pump at all.

It may be a good idea to get a pro out there to take a look.
There may be something he sees that may have slipped by you.
With the pump set on poly pipe, your options are very limited.

Travis

**Justin_** · 05-31-2010, 10:55 AM

I just noted the section below on similar posts (very helpful BTW). Seems this guy's well needs to be cleaned out with some swiming pool chem.

I called the Pro's, they came out and took a look, tried pulling, and then tried lowering a 1/2 inch steel pipe to use as a hammer. They said they couldn't get it to move, and I may need a new well. I'll get their estimates later this week. In the meantime I want to try some other methods. They didn't try to pour anything down the well, so I think they may be missing something.

Any Ideas?

_______________________________________
from previous post "Jet stuck in well"

I have a shallow well with a 2 pipe jet pump. Short story, bad foot valve. Tried pulling the pipes out of the well but they wouldn't pull out, evidently the jet is stuck to the casing down in the well. Had to call a well drilling company. Thay came out and poured about 5 gallon of muriatic acid down a pipe to the jet, supposedly to free up the rust etc. Have to wait 2 days for the acid to work and they will return to try to pull the pipes. Anyone ever heard of doing this?
How do you get the acid out of the well when done?
Thanks

**cacher_chick** · 05-31-2010, 08:27 PM

Seeing that you have a 5 inch well I would not expect the pump to be stuck unless something else has fallen into the well causing it to bind, or the inside of the drill hole has caved in.

Any chemicals you pour into the well could contaminate the aquifer and should only be done with approval from the agency that oversees water wells in your area.

**Justin_** · 06-06-2010, 01:39 PM

UPDATE
the Pro's have given me an estimate for a new well. $3200 dollars to drill down 125 feet, and put 5 inch pvc casing down 50 feet. This also includes sealing the well with grout. Plus another $750 to dig a hole and install a pitless adaptor.

So I have nothing to lose by pulling hard and seeing if I can break it loose. If I do break it I want it to break close to the current pump at 100 feet so I can try and install a pump above the old one
.
I went out and bought 150 feet of 3/16 inch cable, plus some cable clamps and cable ends. I put together a choker (exactly the same as a dog choke chain, but made from real chain) and attached this to the end of the new cable. I put the black poly and the electrical lines and the yellow rope through the choker, and lowered it into the well. Every 10 to 20 feet I gave the black poly a violent shake to keep the choker from getting hung up on the side of the well. When the choker got down to the pump I shook it a bit and gently pulled it up a few feet. then I let it back down. I did this until the choker grabed on to something down the well. Then I kept the tension on the choker until I had snugged up the cable. I had already put three come a longs on the well. One on the 1/4 inch yellow rope, One on the 1 inch black pipe, and One on the choker cable.

I put tension on the yellow rope and streched it about 9 feet. then I put tension on the black poly and streched it about two feet. Then I put tension on the choker and pulled it up a couple of feet. At this point I heard some snapping sounds down the well, and thought the pump was moving. We also noted that the black poly had loosened but the yellow rop was still streached tight. I continued to pull on the choker, after about ten feet it poped, and I had broke the black poly and the electrical lines out of the old pump. The yellow rope still was tensioned.

I lowered a new pump down the well to about 90 feet, and pumped continuously for 8 hours. So I think it might work out OK, and I have saved a few thousand dollars.

**cacher_chick** · 06-06-2010, 06:17 PM

3200 would have been a great deal around here.

I once heard a story about a guy using a hydraulic jack to break loose a pitless adapter. He had a ton of pressure on it it and when it finally broke, the drop pipe flew up out of the well about 40 feet- scared the heck out of everyone. Luckily no one got hurt.

Congratulations on your success.