Steve Graham
New Member
2 month back my 400 ft deep well 3/4hp pump quit cold turkey. called local guy I'll call Chuck. chuck said pump probably died, when he pulled the pump he found a broken wire. chuck gave me 2 options, fix the wire and let the pump back down or continue pulling and replace the pump as well. since the pump is 21years old I said replace it so we don't have to revisit anytime soon.
then the well started tripping the 15amp breaker. called chuck back and he said tripping breakers is a sign the well is dry. he gave 2 options, drill a new well or hydrofrac the existing. we went with frac @ $3,000. wife had the well tested and revealed high level of coliform. so we did the math and added the appropriate amount of bleach to sanitize. waited a couple of days and started to purge. every time I ran the water it would go about 10 minutes then trip the breaker. so I would do it again the next day. I thought I was running the well empty. then the breaker started tripping sooner than 10 minutes. we were in ultra water conservative mode, even taking showers in our camper. we left for 2 weeks on vacation and when we came back I thought the static level would be up but the breaker would not hold at all.
I called my electrician to get his input, he came out and put an amp meter on the line and said the pump is drawing 22 amps at run speed. he said you need to call your well guy and possibly you have a bad pump. I called chuck and he said "electricians don't know anything about pumps". I told him it was drawing 22 amps at 5 ohms. chuck said he would come look but so far has been dodging me.
Where should I go from here?
then the well started tripping the 15amp breaker. called chuck back and he said tripping breakers is a sign the well is dry. he gave 2 options, drill a new well or hydrofrac the existing. we went with frac @ $3,000. wife had the well tested and revealed high level of coliform. so we did the math and added the appropriate amount of bleach to sanitize. waited a couple of days and started to purge. every time I ran the water it would go about 10 minutes then trip the breaker. so I would do it again the next day. I thought I was running the well empty. then the breaker started tripping sooner than 10 minutes. we were in ultra water conservative mode, even taking showers in our camper. we left for 2 weeks on vacation and when we came back I thought the static level would be up but the breaker would not hold at all.
I called my electrician to get his input, he came out and put an amp meter on the line and said the pump is drawing 22 amps at run speed. he said you need to call your well guy and possibly you have a bad pump. I called chuck and he said "electricians don't know anything about pumps". I told him it was drawing 22 amps at 5 ohms. chuck said he would come look but so far has been dodging me.
Where should I go from here?