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Well pump is leaking; what to do?

With the valve to the house shut off, my pump comes on at 20psi, takes a minute to pump up to 42psi, shuts off, and takes 4 minutes to work down to

20psi, ad infinitum.

I have a large diameter pipe that sticks out of the ground about a food. At ground level inside the pipe is a metal box that says Square D. About two feet below that a white plastic box is attached to the side of the pipe; presumably the pipe to the house comes out of the plastic box. A stream of water is coming out of the side of the box.

The cap to the well says I have a Franklin submersible 2 wire 120v 7a pump.

I normally do all my own plumbing (I've installed water heaters and pressure reduction valves....), but obviously don't know anything about wells. Presumably the plastic box is cracked and has to be replaced, but I am not even sure how to get at it.

Any help, or even links to good websites, would be appreciated.

In the mean while, we only have the pump on about 3 days a week, and it only runs 25% of the time, so that is like leaving a 100w bulb on. That's not so bad, is it? Reason I mention this is that the pump was old when we bought the house 20 years ago. If it is not something I can fix, it might be cost effective to just let it run until the pump dies and then have a plumber fix everything at once, rather than coming out twice.

Reply to
Wade Lippman
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fix the leak

Reply to
Bob

Why be an asshole? If people have problems, that is that last thing they need.

Reply to
Wade Lippman

Wade Lippman wrote: ...

Well, if one has such a visible problem, what else is there to say other than it needs fixing?

If you can't fix it yourself, call in the well service folk who can.

It's quite possible the pump if not abused in such a fashion might go for years yet; it might fail tomorrow even w/o the leak but it certainly will much sooner than later if leave it go as is.

It's impossible to tell what is actually going on from the information you have provided -- my wac (that's conjecture rather than guess) would be either the elbow or the top coupling has cracked at the ell where the discharge pipe leaves the casing. It'll certainly be far easier and cheaper to fix while it's still attached (and you have water) rather than waiting until it breaks entirely and you're fishing for the remnants and the pump as it goes to the bottom of the hole which is anybody's guess as to how much below the set distance is--20-ft wouldn't be unusual, perhaps even further).

Reply to
dpb

You may have a broken pitless adapter, which is a two part 90 degree fitting that's threaded through the well casing below the frost level . The second part is attached to the top of the pipe from the well pump and slip fit into the part fixed in the casing. The part in the casing is attached to the pipe going to the house. You'll need to dig down to the pitless adapter fitting to replace it. Here is a link to one:

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Reply to
RBM

I was going to say "Maybe something froze and then cracked open?".

3 x 24 hours =3D 72 25% x 72 =3D 18 hours. Assuming it is a one quarter HP pump? And assuming electricity costs you ten cents per kilowatt hour? Then each hour of operating will cost approx. 760/(4x1000) x 10 =3D about 2 cents per hour. And for say 18 hours maybe 30 to 60 cents. But the wear and tear on the pump, extended damage to it and system and/or wasted water??????? Incalculable! Fix it.
Reply to
terry

I agree that it is the pitless adapter that is leaking. Not a simple fix as the entire down pipe and puimp have to be pulled up to above the well casing to work on that part.

I don't get the Square D electrical box inside the casing though. Any pump controlling equipment/wiring should be co-located with the pressure tank. Most that would be in a normal well would be a junction box and I haven't even seen one of those inside a well casing...of course this is an old installation so who knows.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Dan Scott had written this in response to

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------------------------------------- Harry K wrote:

Im having the same problem but my situation is a little different. My pipe in the yard has no box and there is no visible leak, but I can hear water running in the pipe where the pump is located. Can I dig that up and replace what is leaking or is that something a pro well guy has to do?

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Reply to
Dan Scott

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