Poly vs schedule 80 pump vibrating loose

[josephcraw]

I just had a well dug and my driller is pushing me to use schedule 80 pipe. I would prefer to use poly but he's telling me that the pump vibration and startup jerk can cause the fitting to fall out of the end of the pipe. I've spoken to other drillers in my area and while they too prefer 80 they had never heard of a pump vibrating out of poly. He says he'll do whatever I want. Have other people heard of this? Should I go with the poly? I'm not very keen on the pvc being a hippie and all. Thanks

 

[Reach4]

The driller has a well truck and it is easier for him to work with the PVC.

Pumps should never vibrate out of the poly. There should be 2 worm gear clamps holding the poly to the barb, unless you are using an extra-long barb; then 3.

The clamps get put on with the worms on opposite sides rather than next to each other.

More of a worry with poly would be the pump wiggling around and the wire getting worn against the side of the well. There are different opinions on torque arrestors.

If you think you might pull the pump yourself (with helpers) some day, go poly. Otherwise use the method he is used to.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Valveman]

It depends on how deep the pump is set. The deeper it is the harder and heavier it is to use poly pipe. But the pump should not "vibrate" out of a barb fitting. As Reach pointed out use the long SS or brass barb fittings with 2 or 3 hose clamps. Electric tape over the hose clamps to keep them from rusting. (Not as SS as they say they are)

If the pump gets hot it could soften the poly and come loose, but it would come off of PVC as well. So don't let it get hot, which means don't pump the well dry or run the pump at less than 1 GPM flow.

Poly pipe will let the pump jerk around more on startup, which can chaff the drop wire and even the motor. Some people would use torque arrestors to slow the jerking. I would use a CSV to keep the pump from cycling on/off (among other things), so there is no jerking.

I think the data on plastisizer in PVC is exaggerated like they do everything. If you grind up all the PVC in a home water system and dissolve it in the amount of water that system would produce in its lifetime, the amount you would get drinking 8 glasses a day would have to be measured in
Parts Per BILLION. Kind of like a small spoon full in an Olympic size pool of water. And there is not much sense worrying about PVC drop pipe when the well probably already has PVC casing.

 

[josephcraw]

You are correct about the casing. The well depth is 240. Is that deep enough to rrule out poly? The well installer said 2 people could pull the schedule 80 if pump maintenance was needed. Is that true? I pictured it being easier and involving no real equipment to pull the poly. thanks for the advice it is often very hard to get

 

[Craigpump]

Poly is terrible to work with, it isn't really that much cheaper, not that much faster on initial installation, the curl never comes out, it has a lot more flex on start and stops plus when you pull it out, it lays in the grass, dirt, animal waste....

Use the sch 80.

 

[Texas Wellman]

Another vote for sch 80.

 

[josephcraw]

So the consensus if I can call it that is that schedule 80 is easier for the installer but otherwise has no real advantage over poly as long as a torque arrestor is used. And if I plan on pulling it myself in the future it would be better as long as we avoid cat turds.

Thanks again

 

[Valveman]

I have pulled 200' of 1 1/4" sch 80 by hand before. You can pull it all out in one piece without taking it apart at the joints. You just can't bend it very much at the couplings or it will break above the coupling where the exposed threads make it the weakest. If the static water level is high so everything floats a bit, two guys can pull it. If the water level is deep, it will take two really big guys.

Pulling by hand I prefer poly as it will bend easier. If you have room for a flow inducer shroud on the pump, it will keep the curl in the poly from letting the end of the motor touch the casing. If you use a constant pressure system that doesn't let the pump cycle on and off continually, you don't even need torque arrestors, which can make it harder to pull.

I let the pipe and wire slip through a chlorine soaked rag on the way down to help wipe off the cat turds, and spill a little chlorine down the well while I am at it.

 

[josephcraw]

I should add the well is only cased for 70 feet then it is solid rock to 240. Not sure if this makes any difference on this discussion