Need some help - I think my pump is dead.

[crabjoe]

I have never seen a well pump failure before, but when I check the voltage at the pressure switch, I'm seeing 240 going out... So now I'm guessing it's the pump.

My question is, is this something I can replace myself? I think the well is around 200 ft deep.

What pump would I need? It's 2 hots and a ground going to the pump.

If I have to hire someone, what's the average cost? When I googled it, I saw numbers from grand to 5 grand.

BTW, the casing is PVC, if that matters.

Thanks!

 

[Valveman]

You need to check the amperage to the pump. But with 240V and the pump won't run, it is probably a bad pump. If it is hung on PVC or poly you might be able to pull 200' by hand. Hung on steel pipe you will need a hoist truck. As you can see prices vary a lot. Call someone local and get an estimate. They might have an indication of what size pump and kind of pipe you have.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[crabjoe]

Thanks Valveman.. I got a local guy out here that did it.. $1300. He replaced it with the same Gould 3/4 hp pump that was down there.

I'm kicking myself a bit, because I kind of chickened out in doing it myself because a plumber friend of mine kept telling me how hard it would be to pull the pump out... Maybe it would been hard, but he had this simple roller that he attached to the top then just pulled backwards.. all 200ft of it. From start to finish, he did it in 35 mins. I figure, I could have done it in an hour with that roller, without it, maybe 3 hrs... It's not even that I couldn't have sourced the same pump locally... The HVAC suppler I use also has a plumbing side, I could have picked up the pump from.

Sorry for the rant... but not having water for over a day and washing with bottled water, I've now found, can do that to me.. I guess it was $1300 well spent... If nothing else, for the education I got from watching him.

Now on to my pressure tank.. I was told by the original installer that it was a leave it and forget it system, unless the bladder develops pin holes then I would need to replace it.. I don't know if it's got holes or not, but when I finally checked it today, since I had it empty, there was only 15lbs of pressure in it. I put a bike pump on it and it's taking air, but man... it's taking forever to pump it up.. I pumped it to 20 psi with a bike pump.. I'm going to let it sit for a couple hours to see if it holds or not. If not, I'll have to order a new tank. If it does hold, I'll finish pumping it to 38psi.

 

[Valveman]

You will get your exercise with a bike pump.

It takes a while even with a compressor. If it was holding 15, it will probably hold 38 just fine. But if the tank needs replacing there are better ways these days.

 

[crabjoe]

You will get your exercise with a bike pump.

It takes a while even with a compressor. If it was holding 15, it will probably hold 38 just fine. But if the tank needs replacing there are better ways these days.

Thanks! I just went back down to see if it's hold air.. It's holding where I left it.. and pumped for a bit more.. I swear, it take like a 150 pumps to gain 5 psi.. I know I'm out of shape, but this workout is too much to start on getting fit again..

 

[Reach4]

Normal suggestion is to check the air precharge annually. Butyl diaphragms hold the air longest; with those, checking air every 5 years is probably enough. EPDM lets air diffuse more readily, and a blend has an intermediate diffusion rate.

If you buy a compressor, get one rated in CFM or SCFM. The cheap "250 psi" pumps are not good in my limited experience.