I am a rookie and I have a Twin Pipe Deep Well.
I am trying to remove the Well Cap. The bolts are so worn and old that I may have to chisel them off.
Is there anything I need to be concerned about before I do that?
Will I lose anything down the pipe?
Does the well cap and seal support the pipes, will they drop down by me taking the cap off?
Thanks for you help on this.
There are two steel halves to the top of the seal and the same on the bottom. So removing the nuts/bolts allows half the bottom or all of it down the well. That you don't want so you loosen the nuts/bolt on one half and then the other and then you need to get it all out of the casing; without dropping anything down the well. That can be a character buildin' experience. The top and bottom steel compresses a piece of about 3/4" to an inch of rubber between them as the bolts are tightened. That squeezes the inside of the casing and then the pipe/pipes coming up through the seal. Like a sandwich.
Soak the nuts/bolts in WD-40 etc., heating them too. Once you can get them loose without breaking them off, you pry the steel up using a fulcrum of something along side the casing etc. I soak them and get in the seam under the lip on the steel parts and then the rubber with WD-40 and pry on things and heat the top 1" of the casing to get the rubber to let go of the casing rust and pry, with Wonder Tool type pry bars etc. A slide hammer comes to mind too. Once I get to the rubber I cut it all but in half leaving the other half of the stuff in the casing and then pry it out. You need to get the top steel parts up so you can pry under them against the top of the casing and.. the top steel parts fit some down into the casing; about 1/4" to 3/8". Don't get WD-40 down the well (ya know, more than necessary lol). Don't get the rubber burning too much unless you have water handy to cool it and put out the fire. Other than that, I wish you luck and no pinched fingers or blood letting.
The pipe is going to hang its weight on this stuff so when you get the seal parts loose and out, you must hold that weight. If you have galvanized pipe, I would call a pump guy or driller. Or build one good tall tripod and chain hoist etc..
