water well problems

Posted by crenycrew on November 30, 2006, 9:54 pm

I have a 3/4 hp water well approx 120 ft deep. We had a cold snap today
and at first I thought the pipes were frozen. I put in a heater in the
well house, pipes are warm and still nothing. When I disengage the
pressure switch you can hear a rumbling sound down in the well casing
and the pipes shake briefly. After I reeingage the pressure switch you
can hear the pump running and feel a slight vibration on the pipes but
still nothing.

Here is my set up-

>From house to pressure switch
>From switch to relay box on wall
>From relay box to pump.

75 gallon bladder pressure tank

Been without water 24 hours so far. 8 people in household.....

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crenycrew

Posted by RBM on November 30, 2006, 10:07 pm

With an ammeter you could tell what the motor is drawing, which would let
you know if it's a motor-electric problem or a plumbing problem

>I have a 3/4 hp water well approx 120 ft deep. We had a cold snap today
> and at first I thought the pipes were frozen. I put in a heater in the
> well house, pipes are warm and still nothing. When I disengage the
> pressure switch you can hear a rumbling sound down in the well casing
> and the pipes shake briefly. After I reeingage the pressure switch you
> can hear the pump running and feel a slight vibration on the pipes but
> still nothing.
> Here is my set up-

>>From house to pressure switch
>>From switch to relay box on wall
>>From relay box to pump.

> 75 gallon bladder pressure tank
> Been without water 24 hours so far. 8 people in household.....
> HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> Crenycrew
>

Posted by dpb on December 1, 2006, 8:55 am

crenycrew wrote:

> I have a 3/4 hp water well approx 120 ft deep. We had a cold snap today
> and at first I thought the pipes were frozen. I put in a heater in the
> well house, pipes are warm and still nothing. When I disengage the
> pressure switch you can hear a rumbling sound down in the well casing
> and the pipes shake briefly. After I reeingage the pressure switch you
> can hear the pump running and feel a slight vibration on the pipes but
> still nothing.

...

Would appear pump is at least running, then. That doesn't prove it's
pumping, of course.

Other suggestion on checking running currents/leg is good start to
check motor condition -- will need a clamp-type ammeter as not easy to
get a small meter for 10+ A inline.

If you did have a freeze-up somewhere, it would be likely in my
estimation to be outside the well house perhaps at the lead in and
perhaps it is still not thawed where it actually froze. Depends on how
the piping runs, of course.

Do you not have a valve at the well discharge that you can open to
check directly? That's always first check I make.

Failing in those, sounds like time to call well-service if you don't
have service/diagnostic skills.

Posted by crenycrew on December 1, 2006, 9:29 am

Thank all for the info. At the point where the pipe comes out of the
ground inside the well house there is a faucet between the pump and the
tank. no water. Also removed the pressure guage and no water there
either (also before the pressure tank).

Well service is coming this morning.

We'll see what the problem is and I'll post results.

Thanks again.

Crenycrew

Posted by crenycrew on December 1, 2006, 6:08 pm

Well here's the scoop....

My pump at the bottom of the well disconnected itself from the pipe. We
pulled the pump cleaned it up and reinstalled it. Turned everything
back on and got low water pressure. Called well service back out and
just replaced the pump totally.

Oh yea I forgot to metion that the date on the pump was Aug 1985!!!!!
21 years old.... Good pump. Even though it was severerly rusted and
screen almost totally clogged. It pumped a lot of water in its
lifetime.

$1383.13 later new pump and lots of water pressure.

Thanks all for your quick response. Gotta go take a shower now!!!!!
YEAH!!!!!

Crenycrew

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