Help with rusted well seal nuts

[Darfyjones]

I have a pretty unique situation with my well and wanted to get a few ideas on how to proceed. My goal is to remove the well seal, check the foot valve, and then replace the seal.

I recently bought an old house with a convertible jet well pump with 2 hoses. Since moving in it is unable to produce more than 30psi but doesn't lose pressure. I've done some diagnostics and believe there is check valve installed and it works but my foot valve needs to be looked at.

I don't have any info about the well since it was dug before records were required to be kept. The well casing only extends about 3 inches above what I would call a bowl of bedrock and uses a split well seal. Since it's in the lowest point in the surrounding bedrock water pools a few inches above the top of the seal and has rusted the bolts very badly. Ultimately I will have a new well drilled but that is far beyond my budget right now.

I already have a replacement seal but need ideas on how to remove the old one without losing the bolts or bottom plate. My first thought was to drill a 1/4" hole through the entire seal on each plate half and thread a long bolt into the bottom plate. I'm thinking that if the bolt is longer than the seal's height it should let the bottom plate drop a bit and relieve the pressure on the rubber disk. My biggest concern is steel shavings dropping down the well and rusting.

For the rusted bolts I am going to assume that the bolt head is in the bottom plate facing up and the nuts are on top. Once the new bolts are in place and holding the seal together I want to cut a circle around the old bolts in the top plates. I figure this will remove the bolts from the top plate but keep a kind of washer around them that rests on the rubber disk, preventing them from dropping.

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this or suggestions.

 

[Reach4]

If your well is 4 inch or bigger, I suggest you consider switching to a submersible pump.

Your biggest concern should be either half of the bottom plate falling down the well.

So here is an idea: Get a well company to cut the existing casing below the well cap, weld on an extension of the casing, and install a pitless adapter. I know this is significant money, but it is a proper investment IMO. Imagine no priming. Imagine plenty of pressure. Imagine not hearing the pump.

A temporizing solution is to put a utility pump at the bottom of the rock bowl to keep the water from rising and contaminating your well. Pull it out when freezing is expected.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Darfyjones]

Normally I would agree with an extension and a pitless adapter but that may not be feasible in it's current location. They added a garage at some point and the connecting room was built over the well. They also added another chimney almost directly above the well and poured a large concrete slab that is only a few inches away from the seal. There isn't enough room to add an extension without demoing that and breaking away a lot of the bedrock that surrounds the casing. I assume that if the well ever needed service again they would just drill a new one.

I appreciate the suggestion, but would like to focus more on removing the seal without losing the plates.

Edit: I forgot the mention that money is a large obstacle to fixing this properly. Right now I can only afford to replace the seal and save money for a new well.

 

[Bannerman]

Well seals typically utilize a rubber bung located just below the top plate(s), which when squeezed between the top and bottom plates, will cause the bung to expand snugly around any penetrating pipes and against the casings inner surface.

Perhaps a pneumatic or battery operated impact wrench will loosen the bolts sufficiently enough to uncompress the rubber bung to allow the seal to be pried up from the casing. Ensure the bolts/nuts are not fully removed to prevent the bottom plate from dropping into the well.

 

[Darfyjones]

Thank you for the info. I'm not certain if the bolt heads are on the top or bottom of the seal as they are severely rusted. It's more of a rounded mound so I assume the nuts are on top. If that's the case there is no way to loosen them, the nuts would be rust welded to the threads. I'll upload pictures when I get home to show you what I'm working with.

 

[Darfyjones]

Here is a pic of where my well is located. Not a ton of room to work around the casing.

 

[Valveman]

Bolts are rusty they are probably loose as well. Well seals don't fit that tight anyway. I would just try to pull it with the pipe. Might need to pry underneath at the same time with a big screwdriver.