Oldest Submersible Pump Pulled?

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PumpMd

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You definitely had a power surge. Short cycling/Rapid cycling will build up heat on the starting windings when it doesn't have enough time to bleed off and it will knock out your starting windings. It won't cause the bottom to explode like that. I've taking apart enough motors and put them back together to know what causes that 100%. If you overheat a motor it can cause the bottom or top seal to start leaking and you will see the thrust bearing material(black) making it's way out, but not explode.

Back in day they used diodes on the starting capacitor inside your control box for a 3wire motor, so it would bleed off the electricity faster, so it's ready for another start quicker.
 

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GTOwagon

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I looked in my photos and off all the pictures I took you would think I took a shot of that blown pump?! The lawn was planted for 19 days, according to the time line. Not a lot of time to blow up a pump. Nonetheless lightning illustrates my luck!!! :eek:

So you must be correct. I think you all for your thoughtful input, ideas and advice.
 

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PumpMd

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You haven't said what GPM pump end you got at 280' and what size pressure tank you have?

I've got more questions for you. On that 41yr 1/2hp(maybe)Goulds pump end(GPM?) your talking about. What size pressure tank did it have on it or pressure tanks over the years?
 

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Yeah it is very possible you got hit by lightning. Every once in a while lightning will take out a motor, but the majority of failures are due to cycling on and off like it did for 3 months straight. Nothing you can do about lightning, but cycling is something that can easily be prevented.
 

GTOwagon

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You haven't said what GPM pump end you got at 280' and what size pressure tank you have?

I've got more questions for you. On that 41yr 1/2hp(maybe)Goulds pump end(GPM?) your talking about. What size pressure tank did it have on it or pressure tanks over the years?

I have the 7gpm pump with 60/40 pressure tank. It is the larger size tank, maybe fifty gallons about four feet high? I will ask my brother his details on his.
 

GTOwagon

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Yeah it is very possible you got hit by lightning. Every once in a while lightning will take out a motor, but the majority of failures are due to cycling on and off like it did for 3 months straight. Nothing you can do about lightning, but cycling is something that can easily be prevented.


I looked it up and it was 19 days of watering in June. But with the new pump, I essentially watered after that for three months straight with the same system.
 

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I have the 7gpm pump with 60/40 pressure tank. It is the larger size tank, maybe fifty gallons about four feet high? I will ask my brother his details on his.

It is not important. A 7 GPM pump with a 50 gallon tank that holds about 12 gallons of water will not rapid cycle until the diaphragm in the tank breaks. But regular cycling will still destroy the pump over time. The less cycling on/off the longer a pump will last, but there is nothing you can do about lightning.
 

GTOwagon

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It is not important. A 7 GPM pump with a 50 gallon tank that holds about 12 gallons of water will not rapid cycle until the diaphragm in the tank breaks. But regular cycling will still destroy the pump over time. The less cycling on/off the longer a pump will last, but there is nothing you can do about lightning.
Now that the lawn is established and we moved in, our water use is typical for two grown adults, and I work from home often so throw in some laundry or dishwasher in the middle of the day or even when we go to bed. Five loads of laundry a week. I figure we use 1,000 gallons a week total. I am never worried we over cycling the pump now. As I said earlier I am not one to run sprinklers unless I am reseeding a patch of lawn in the fall which means I sprinkle an hour a day a time the most,but normally grass seed will grow in the fall if you leave it all alone. I would be happy to get 12 or 15 years out of my well pump, but God only knows. I put a standing seam metal roof on my house, which costs me lots but I sure know I won't be needing to mess with that again. If only a well pump could be so sure a thing! Now on to tweaking the treatment just a touch...
 

PumpMd

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I have the 7gpm pump with 60/40 pressure tank.

A 40/60 pressure switch setting with a 3/4hp 7gpm submersible pump. Your submersible pump will start struggling at 250' to water.

I sprinkle an hour a day a time the most,but normally grass seed will grow in the fall if you leave it all alone.

Since, your cycling and the well is recovering when the pump is off. It would take a really long time to over pump your well.

Running continuous duty is where I would be worried about the depth to water and to see how accurate your 7gpm recovery time is on your well when watering past the hour mark.

One of my wells, I can pump my static water level down to 145' in about 45min with my Used 3/4hp 10gpm Grundfos submersible pump running continuous duty off my frost free yard hydrant,but I don't produce low GPM flow at my depth to water. My pressure tank size is 35gal, so I would cycle more than you. My used system is 8yrs old,but I also perform "Preventive Maintenance" to my system.

To be honest about things I don't know where my water is coming into my well,because the well driller didn't file his well log to the state and they're no longer in business. I did it by the old rule of thumb to be 20' off the bottom.
 

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Letting a 7 GPM pump cycle, run 1 minute and be off for 1 minute, means you are using 3.5 GPM. As long as your well recovers by more than 3.5 GPM you won't pump the well dry. Letting the pump run continuously you would still be drawing 3.5 GPM from the well, so you would still not pump the well dry. The difference is when the pump is cycling on and off, which isn't good for the pump, you are also surging the well up and down. Running the pump continuously to produce 3.5 GPM will also draw steadily from the well and not cause surging up and down. This alone sometimes can stop a well from making sediment and do away with the need to add or clean a filter.

You are lucky to live in an area that requires very little irrigation. In areas where they do a lot of irrigation, the need to eliminate cycling is even more important.
 

GTOwagon

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As I said, I don't mind a brown lawn in July. It rains and turns green again. I wasn't ever a guy who went nuts about that. It rains enough here in upstate and if I plant a little seed it is in fall. I conserve my water useage, am not big on car washing. I actually use the dry wash for my GTO and it never gets wet anymore. My newer cars and my old pickup get hosed down once a year. Being my house is new, I have no drips or leaks, and super vigilant about plumbing and upkeep. We wash clothes like 5-6 times a week. I don't feel I need to deprive myself but am not wasteful. I am generally more concerned abt overuseage from the standpoint of chlorine contact time so I spread out useage a tad so everything isn't going at once.
 
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