How to remove deep well cap?

[tinytec]

Bob,

Amazing the poly would stretch that much without breaking. I put the camera down the well and recorded the video as the camera descended to about 80'. Nothing unusual showed up as the cam descended but the video was very poor for the last ~20'. While retracting the camera it got snagged between the 220VAC cable and the poly pipe at about 50' (so what's new?).

Today I tied a cord to a short length of steel pipe and slid it down over the camera cable, hoping its weight might push the camera downward and free it up. The cord broke and now the steel pipe joined all the other hardware down there. Ever hear of a comedy of errors? This is actually beginning to get funny. I didn't think it was possible to stack mistakes on mistakes like this.

I also used a lever to pull up on the security rope - probably applied about 150 pounds but nothing moved.

Be sure to stay tuned for the next exciting episode on "Well Restoration for Amateurs".

Fred - getting dumber by the day.

[speedbump]

Well Fred, all we can do is hope for the best. I hope this well is not the only means of water you have for your house.

We have all done these things only not on wells. In my case it would be cars, trucks things we need right now and don't have the time to have it done right. So three times the cost of doing it right later, the thing is fixed and working again.

bob...

[tinytec]

Latest status:

I attached two winches, one to the rope and the other to the plastic pipe. Pulled with both and the Ace pump, along with the ensnarled video camera, finally gave up and came out. The reason it jammed 80' down in the well is because the diameter of the pump portion is larger than that of the original Goulds pump (The motor diameters are all the same). The Goulds pump came out with difficulty because of buildup or rock interference so there is no room for anything bigger.

Lowe's was good enough to take the Ace pump back and issue a credit. Now I need to find a 1/2 HP 230V. 2-wire submersible that's no larger than the old pump. Prices seem to run ~$300 but I'll have to measure the new pump to make sure it will fit this time.

. . .stay tuned - we're not "dead-in the-water" - yet

[speedbump]

I would think reaming the well would be the easiest thing to do. I'm sure there are some drillers in your area that can open that hole up for you. We are having to do one today. We got the old pump out by beating on it, but you can't beat the new one back in, so we are going to ream the pipe to make the new pump go in easily.


bob...

[tinytec]

Bob, how big an operation is reaming a well? Do you use small portable equipment or do use the full well drilling rig? Also, is it expensive?

Fred with lots of questions. . .

[speedbump]

For a 4" well I built a device that will screw onto the bottom of my Jars. (Jars are a tool that allows you to hammer up and down in the well at whatever it is you are trying to move or in this case scrape) I use a Pump Hoist built by Semco in Colorado. It has a walking beam installed that makes the rods we use move up and down to react with the jars at roughly 60 strokes per minute. This device is simply a 3" Drive Shoe that fits almost snugly in 4" pipe. It is welded to a 1" coupling so it will screw onto the Jars.

If I were to do this for a customer in my area, our labor charge is $350.00 for the first hour and $150.00 there after. I would think you could ream this pipe in one to two hours.

bob...

[Gary Slusser]

Way ta go Fred.

If Bob is too far and you can't ream the casing, how about a 3" submersible? There aren't many of them around but you can get one.

Gould's and most major manufacturers' 4" pumps are 3 7/8".

[speedbump]

Yes, I just happened to have a three inch sub if you need one.

Thanks Gary,

bob...

[tinytec]

Thanks for the description of the reaming machine. I never knew there was such a device. That sure puts a lot of rust scrapings down in the well. I assume it all settles to the bottom where it doesn't get picked up by the pump.

Today I ran the camera down the well and could actually see where the pump's cable guard had scraped the casing wall in places. Could also see where the sections of casing were welded together.

This afternoon I made a reamer by flaring out one end of a 2' length of 3" heavy-wall steel pipe to about 3 7/8" dia. Next I ground the inside of the flared edge to an angle for shearing any protrusions on the casing wall. The makeshift reamer weighs about 35 lbs and has worked down about 40' so far. I use the safety rope to work the tool up and down as it shaves the walls. Also attached a backup 1/8" steel cable in case anything unexpected happens to the rope.

If the reaming goes OK to the required pump depth I will lower the old junk pump to make sure it actually fits before putting a new one back in.

In regard to the 3" pump suggestion the only one I found available locally was a Grundfos for about $550. If the reaming is successful I would probably get the pump back from Lowe's.

Will continue the reaming tomorrow and keep you all posted.

Fred - there's still hope!!

[speedbump]

That's not a bad price for the 3". I wonder which one you priced. They make about 28 different 3" pumps for different water levels and different prices to go along with them.

I don't recommend going to Lowes to buy a pump though.

bob...

[tinytec]

Speedbump, Sage Supply Co. in Johnson City, NY (607-797-1211) quoted the price over the phone - said they would have to order it from CA.

I've finished reaming the well to 3 7/8" diameter. The pump and power cable are wired (not connected to the service) and ready to put in the well tomorrow. oday a junker pump went all the way down 116' with no hangups. There is hope!!

Fred

[speedbump]

I would stay with the 4" sub. It's much cheaper and will out last the electronic 3" variety.

bob...

[tinytec]

The 4" sub. pump is finally installed and working great!! Before connecting to the pitless connector I hooked a garden hose to the plastic pipe coming from the pump. The pump ran for at least 4 hours pumping the water into a small back yard pond. The first water was really cruddy looking but cleared up nicely after running for a while.

Later on I poured about a qt. of bleach into the well and recirculated the hose output back into the well for several hours. Finally attached the pitless connector and pumped the 80 gal. tank up to the 62 PSI shutoff point. The tank is connected only to a garden hose drain. Tomorrow I'll run a hose outside and let the tank and input pipes flush until the water is clear and the bleach odor is gone. Will submit a sample for testing in the near future.

I'm curious about the reason for "de-recommending" Lowe's as a source for the pump. If you don't want to post here you can send me an e-mail tinytec@juno.com

Several weeks ago I had bought the first pump at Lowe's but returned it last Friday after believing it would never go down the obstructed casing. But, after doing the reaming, it seemed right and proper to re-buy the same pump they had given me a refund for. As it turned out, they had sent that pump out for repackaging so I bought an identical Ace R201A 1/2 HP 230 Volt, 2-wire type from them.

I can't thank all you enough for all the guidance and help you've given me over the last month, when the only help I asked for was how to remove the well cap. Your expertise is priceless!! When I first got into this project I had never worked on a deep well sub. system, but thanks to you guys I would now feel quite comfortable working on it. You are a tremendous help to guys like myself who can't afford to hire professional help to get a job done.

With tons of appreciation,
Fred

[Gary Slusser]

It's great to hear a success story like yours. Good job.

[rossy65]

Thanks to all who posted to this thread.
I'm in the process of replacing my 60' shallow well jet pump with a Submersible constant pressure Grundfos pump using a pitless adaptor.
I did a google image search on pitless adaptors to see some photographs and found this site.

--Ross