Please identify (well seal?)

[Rmgolob]

Help / advice please:
The attached picture is looking down my 6" steel casing well. Drilled in 1978+/-.
The "seal" is about 4-5 feet down. Obviously, I have no clue but it does not look like a well seal as nothing is sealed. The oval holes look to be just that - holes.

My pump needs replaced and a local driller came to remove the pump.
He screwed into the female threads in the center and pulled with his rig. When pulling (he said 12K lbs force) the pull pipe broke off at the top.
He suggested we soak with PB blaster for a few days and he will return tomorrow. He says if he pulls again and it doesn't come up, we need to drill a new well.
I have soaked it for a few days, but upon further revue, I'm having second thoughts and figure there has to be a way to remove the "whatever it is."

Any education and advice is very appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob

 

[Reach4]

It is a pitless adapter. I am not a pro, but I know that much. You can search for that term.

Your well guy should have used a stronger pipe. I think the action would be to use an extractor to remove the broken pipe fragment, and go back in with a stronger pipe. I can't tell from the picture; is the broken pipe PVC or steel? Maybe somebody with actual experience would know if the bigger disk could be grabbed to pull instead of or in addition to the regular method.

On newer ones, the pulling pipe thread is often 1 inch NPT. That may or may not be the same on yours.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Rmgolob]

Thanks for the reply.
To address your comments:

The center of the picture is FNPT. I believe 1".
They threaded a 1" x 5 ft (more or less) pipe into the female fitting.
The "top" end of their pipe had an NPT collar welded to a type of clevis that they hooked to their drilling boom. The collar at the top is what broke.
I agree with a stronger connection.

I guess I was suggesting that the piece in the well surely is not just sitting there and there must me a set screw or something that must be loosened prior to pulling?
Why is the 1" FNPT sitting inside of piece of hex - or is the hex just a bushing welded to the top of the contraption?
Is the "plug" to the right a plug, or some type of set screw like on a well seal?

I will do more research on pitless adapter as well. The driller did say that's what I had.
I figured that was good news, but he seemed to imply that was bad news.

Again - Thanks - love the wise feedback.

 

[Reach4]

The "top" end of their pipe had an NPT collar welded to a type of clevis that they hooked to their drilling boom. The collar at the top is what broke.

Ahhh... no harm done then.

I guess I was suggesting that the piece in the well surely is not just sitting there and there must me a set screw or something that must be loosened prior to pulling?
Why is the 1" FNPT sitting inside of piece of hex - or is the hex just a bushing welded to the top of the contraption?

I don't know. I suspect it is due to the construction rather than the removal. I wonder if that square head at the 2:30 position could be involved in the release.

Somebody may be familiar with that one, which is why you posted.

While it is unlikely to come to this, an alternative to a new well would be to excavate down. Cut the casing below the pitless. Lift the whole thing. Weld a new casing extension in place. Put new pitless in. If it is a 60 ft well, a new well might be cheaper; I don't know. If it is a 600 ft well, a new well would not be cheaper I am pretty sure.

 

[Rmgolob]

Reach - Thanks again.
After research, looks like the unidentified piece is in fact part of the pitless adapter.
By the attached picture, it is the support bar.
However, in the drawing the support sits on top of the casing. Mine is down hole.

Now that you have helped me better identify my actual problem, I will start a new thread seeking advice on removing the support bar.

By the way, well is likely 120 feet or so and if they re-drill they want to do in PVC casing. Yes, cost MAY be lower.

 

[Reach4]

I have one somewhat like the drawing you attached. Yours may have a lever like that, and that square head on yours may operate that lever. One big difference is that support bar carries weight. In yours, something else carries the weight. There may be a spout that extends outside the ID of the casing, into a protrusion, that carries the weight.

If you could see around the disk, you might be able to see there was something on opposite sides of the disk. If you cannot see, you could also snip the hook off of a cheap tape measure, and use the blade to probe along the casing inside.

Is that square 1/2 inch?

 

[Rmgolob]

My guess is that it is 1/2 in.
We can try to unscrew it. Seems odd there would be a fitting that would require a 4 ft extension to access - but stranger things have been installed.

 

[Reach4]

Seems odd there would be a fitting that would require a 4 ft extension to access - but stranger things have been installed.

You would probably have a valve in your yard, near the street, to turn off your water, if you had city water. That would usually be operated by a long wrench, rather than a socket on an extension.

 

[Craigpump]

I'm thinking you should find another pump guy.


1) No one with any common sense would risk a contamination issue and suggest a petroleum based product to be used on a water well.
2) Did he try to put a slight pull on his T bar and then back off on that square headed bolt?
3) IF I was faced with that and couldn't figure it out. I'd dig down around the well, cut off the casing and figure it out before I'd drill a new well.

 

[VAWellDriller]

The pitless diagram above is NOT what you have....your picture looks like a spool type pitless unit (google baker pitless unit) and only gravity holds it in place. The hex fitting you are looking at is a 1.25 x 1 reducer bushing that someone left in the spool. Sometimes these take a lot of pull if they haven't been out in a while and/or they have corrosion. You're pump man may have 12K of pull but you don't know hard he pulled since his home made pipe broke...get someone with a good pull pipe and a real pipe elevator and try again. If if won't come, dig down below the unit. It is possible the well has collasped/casing had failed and the pump is what is holding it from coming up.

 

[Craigpump]

The pitless diagram above is NOT what you have....your picture looks like a spool type pitless unit (google baker pitless unit) and only gravity holds it in place. The hex fitting you are looking at is a 1.25 x 1 reducer bushing that someone left in the spool. Sometimes these take a lot of pull if they haven't been out in a while and/or they have corrosion. You're pump man may have 12K of pull but you don't know hard he pulled since his home made pipe broke...get someone with a good pull pipe and a real pipe elevator and try again. If if won't come, dig down below the unit. It is possible the well has collasped/casing had failed and the pump is what is holding it from coming up.

Good advice, we don't see units like this here in CT, I still think you need a new well guy

 

[Rmgolob]

Thanks for the help everyone.
Driller came out and re-pulled the Pitless and it came out. Replaced the pump and all is good.
Attached are pictures of the Pitless Adapter that was likely in stalled in the mid 70's.

 

[rdsnake]

Thanks for the help everyone.
Driller came out and re-pulled the Pitless and it came out. Replaced the pump and all is good.
Attached are pictures of the Pitless Adapter that was likely in stalled in the mid 70's.

IF you don't mind me asking, what did he charge you to replace the pump and pitiless?

 

[Reach4]

I am glad you took pictures. So VAWellDriller called it, including the reducer. Did that square head have anything to do with it?

I was thinking I saw space around the disk, but clearly this was sealed all of the way around.

What takes the vertical weight?

 

[Rmgolob]

IF you don't mind me asking, what did he charge you to replace the pump and pitiless?

I don't mind.
Labor was $300.
Last Friday 2 men for about an hour.
Today in 17 deg weather 2 men a little over 2 hrs and the boss for about an hour.
Pretty reasonable to me.

 

[Rmgolob]

I am glad you took pictures. So VAWellDriller called it, including the reducer. Did that square head have anything to do with it?

I was thinking I saw space around the disk, but clearly this was sealed all of the way around.

What takes the vertical weight?

Yes, VAWellDriller was right on.

No the square head was just a 1/2 in NPT plug - Just "in case" i guess...

Correct, it was sealed by the o rings.

The whole weight of the pump and drop pipe is held by the Adapter "resting" on the top of the casing down 4 feet.
I'll try to describe:
When it was removed, you could see an "inner casing" within the piece that stuck out above the ground
In the picture below, the blue line outlines the top of the Adapter and the red line outlines the OD of the "inner" casing.
It was simply lowered into place and wedged in tight enough to seal.
In the second picture you can see the taper at the top of the adapter.

I assume my explanation is clear as drilling mud......

 

[Rmgolob]

I'm going to correct some of my previous post.
The red line is not the OD on the inner casing. (See pic below - You can tell the OD of the adapter extends beyond the 1/2 in plug)
There is an inner casing that I saw when all was out of the well, but it is below the top of the adapter. The red line is actually the OD of the adapter.

Eh - If I'm really not making sense, PM me and we can chat on the phone if you wish.

 

[Reach4]

Got it. Maybe that square is a plug for an air vent.

http://www.bakermonitor.com/content/standard-pitless-units
I guess you don't have a hold down... maybe that is for wells that have pressure.

 

[Craigpump]

Glad we don't use those in CT on domestic wells

 

[Texas Wellman]

Glad we don't use pitiless adapters of any kind here.