Submersible well seal/cap and safety line

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begone77

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I am installing a new well and the local hardware store didn't have a well seal so I'm going to order it online. I just wanted to know if I need to look for anything special to attach the safety line to, or how that works? Or if I even attach the safety line to the well seal.

Thanks for the help.
 

Valveman

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If you use a rope or cable, you want to bring it through the well seal and attach it to a post that is concreted into the ground or some other really good anchor point. Because if you let the rope or cable fall, it will create a birds nest on top of the pump that will cause your pump to be permanently wedged and planted in the well. The same thing can happen with torque arrestors and centralizers. Most pumps are 3.5” diameter and fit inside 4” or 5” casing. That is such a tight fit that any little thing that falls into the well can wedge between the pump and casing, and the pump will never come out. For this reason I don’t put anything in a well unless it is absolutely necessary. The only things that are really necessary are the pump, pipe, and wire.

What is important is that the pipe is strong enough and installed properly so that it won’t break or come loose. I also don’t like wire that has more than one splice in it. I have pulled many pumps by the wire after the pipe broke. If there is another splice high up in the well, the wire can come apart there and the bottom part of the wire will fall into the well and wedge the pump in place.

If the pipe breaks, and when pulling with the wire the wire also pulls apart at the one and only lower splice, you can usually just push the old pump down and install another pump above it. However, if a couple hundred feet of rope, cable, and or wire falls down the well, you will probably need to drill a new well. A bird nest down the well like that can be very hard to fish out.

So called “safety rope” and “torque arrestors” sound like a good idea, so it stands to reason that some government agencies would make it code. It is just like our government to try and look like they are helping us stay safe. Instead of addressing the real problems they make it code to use a “safety rope” and “torque arrestors”. Not realizing or caring that the so called safety devices can cause more problems than they solve.

Code should be that the pipe is strong enough to hold the weight, and that there are no dissimilar metals in the pipe connections, especially where it is attached to the pump. Dissimilar metals screwed together at the pump causes electrolysis, which also causes a nipple to erode away and the pump fall off.

Code should also be to limit the torque events that cause pumps to come unscrewed from the pipe. 30-50 cycles per day is nothing, and does not cause the pump to come unscrewed. 300 cycles per day, continuously pecks away at tight fittings and will cause the pump to come unscrewed from the pipe.

An old man proved this to me years ago. I had a 4” pipe that I could not unscrew even with good wrenches and long cheater pipes. He told me to go get some lunch and he would get the pipe unscrewed without using any wrenches. He took a small hammer and began pecking on the 4” coupling. An hour later the pipe came unscrewed easily by hand. This proved that even a little bit of pressure, repeated enough times, can make anything come unscrewed. Same thing happens when the pump cycles numerous times.

So code should be about the pipe connections, the number of cycles, and to not put anything unneeded in the well. Not to put safety devices on things installed improperly to start with.
 

NHmaster3015

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In the northeast 90% + wells are set in 8" steel case so rope dropping on the pump is not usually a problem, neither are torque arrestors which are pretty much a necessity when setting a 3 1/2" diameter pump in an 8" hole. I like SS cable better than rope, it won't stretch.
 

Valveman

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neither are torque arrestors which are pretty much a necessity when setting a 3 1/2" diameter pump in an 8" hole.

Why? 8" casing should be less of a reason to use troque arrestors. Have to be a really crooked hole for the pump to touch the casing when it is 8". Even if it does touch the casing, it is only a problem if the pump is rapid cycling.
 
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