Need to 'fish' for my rescue line down the hole. Any ideas?

[JohnD2007]

Need to 'fish' for rescue line: Update 8/30/10; Pulled pipe & got it!

Well, I wish you guys could've seen the look on my face as I watched
my rescue rope slither down the well after I untaped it from the top of
my drop pipe just prior to trimming/cutting off the excess drop pipe
that's protruding above the top of the well casing. I guesstimate my
first 'Centralizer' to be apprx 20' down hole, though it could be further.
With a flashlight, I couldn't see the 3/8th-1/2" yellow rescue rope, looking
down hole. If I'm lucky, it lodged itself on the upper most centralizer. If
it plummeted all the way to the bottom, then being 80' down, it'll require
pulling the string of drop pipe & pump all the way back out, which of course
I don't want to do. Any inexpensive telescoping poles, or other 'fishing' ideas?
Maybe a heavy treble hook w/o sharp points I could drop on another piece of
rope. I'd hate for my neighbor to know what a bone head thing I did, and have
to ask him over to help me pull the pump.

Man, that lil yellow rope disappeared down the hole like it had a bowling ball
attached to it. The 4 wire elec cable is 'zip tied' every 20' or so, so it didn't
have any tension on it.

Thank God for smaller problems. Maybe there are more rainshowers in the
works?

J/D
Rookie

 

[jimtum]

My friend who fishes oil wells for a living told me if you take a small cable and shred it for about 6 inches and make "J"s with them as you put them in the well and twist them around you should be able to pick up the drop rope.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[JohnD2007]

Thanks Jim,

Fished out rescue rope a couple of days ago. Had some help finally to pull the pipe up to where the first centralizer was located, which was
apprx 40' down. Just to give you guys another chuckle, my friend, after we got the rescue rope out, and were easing the pipe & pump back to
bottom, he let go & the rope went south, again. I'd just said to him, "whatever you do, don't let go of the yellow rope" since I was the main guy both lifting & lowering the pipe. Not a huge deal, as rescue rope again, didn't drop any further than the first centralizerthis time as before. Shoulda had one closer to the top of the well, and meant to, but forgot to slip one on, at the right time for the upper part of the drop pipe. But, I'm glad I've got 3 or so, in the bottom 40' & just above the pump. Got the thing plumbed up to the Tee yesterday, and got it wired up & working on Monday. First water being pumped up so far 20-50 gallons, is very sandy, and the water smells a little sour. Seemed to be clearing up, but I had to clean the filter quite a few times, and then it got dark. I expect the water to clean up soon. I ended up with the bottom of my Flow inducer/sleeve's bottom being apprx 2' off bottom, or so I estimate. Thanks for the great help, and advice I got here. I feel like I'm 97% done with my DIY drop pipe & pump replacement project. Not the hardest work I've ever done, but was pretty challenging for a not so handy of a handy man. Half expected my pressure tank, and or Tee assembly to present a problem almost when I hit the on switch, but so far, so good. Will give the well a good testing, and use in the next few days to see if it performs as before. I've got the same size & model Sta-Rite sub pump, 1/2 hp, as before. Not sure if the one from nine years ago has "Made in China" on it, but the new one that just went in the well does. Feels good to say, "I can change the drop pipe, pump, and control box, if I need to". If you haven't helped pull & change a few pumps, and watched what was going on, it's more of a challenge than changing your bathroom faucet. Keepin' my fingers crossed for this weeks' testing, & hopefully good bit of use. Thankfully, we've had above average summer rains here in my neighborhood so being w/o my water well hasn't been as much a strain on the landscape as it would have in most summers.

 

[Ballvalve]

Good that you got it done, but for just a few extra dollars, or even for the same with harder shopping, you might have kept the chinese out of your water well. If they made the motor and the pump head, I would say keep your time budgeted for a pull every couple years.

Can you describe the pump specs and what you paid for it? I am curious how it compares to the US made varieties.

 

[jimtum]

I have a friend who uses starite pumps and they seem to work for him. When I worked for a water well company we used franklin motors on berkley pump ends and they usually net 10-15 years. For the next time when installing the pump you may want to tie the end of the rope to something so you don't have to worry about it falling, only speaking from experience, and pulling one by hand by yourself you learn lots of stuff and get lots of experience. Glad to hear you did well, no pun intended.

 

[JohnD2007]

Ballvalve; For the 1/2 hp Sta-Rite pump, with control box replacement panel lid, I pd 350 dollars. Have mislaid it's
owner's manual, but the pump # is: 10KT05231-5, D/C 001 C10H. Don't know that those #'s tell you what specs
it has. If/when I locate the owner's manual, I might can tell you more later. The previous Sta-rite pump that was
in the well, went in there in 2001, so it lasted 9 yrs. I've still got the old one, but it's fairly stained up, either from
staining, scale from the hard water, and or, perhaps from over-heating, prior to going kaput, so I can't read if it
says Made in PRC, or not. Are the old broken pumps worth anything, as in for rebuilding, and or recycling? Haven't
gotten my pressure switch re-adjusted to where I think I want it yet, but I used the pump for a good bit of watering
yesterday, and so far, so good.

 

[Valveman]

That model number tells everything. 10KT05231 means 1/2 HP, 10 GPM, 230 volt, 3 wire, Sta-Rite Titan. Except for having plastic end bells, it is exactly the same quality as the Sig 2000 series with SS end bells. Not my favorite pump because it doesn't have a good amp drop, but it is as good as most.

You can replace the pump or motor end, but other than that they are not repairable.