Seeking a well education

[Robert Neville]

First off, you obviously live in an area where freezing isn't a concern. :)

You don't want to start mucking around without some basic understanding of what's going on there, so asking questions is good. Working with a local well guy would be far better.

The well pump is dangling, but not from the cover. There's usually a pin/hook inside the well casing from which a chain is hung. If your well is really 1500 feet deep, it will likely mean using a which - I wouldn't want to raise or lower that much pipe by hand and if you slip you have a real problem.

There shouldn't be any wire splices inside the well. It should be one continuous power line to the pump. Furthermore, opening the cover means you need to sanitize the well before you close it up, so it's not something to do on a whim.

In general, I'd be a little concerned about the overall workmanship. It isn't customary to have the pump controllers and wiring just kind of hanging loose or dangling around the well. The water lines should be below the frost line all the way to the house and even if there's no danger of freezing, they should be buried enough that they won't get damaged mechanically.

At a minimum, all the electrical stuff should be in a weather proof box or pump house.

[jw]

You better fix that broken off electrical box connection. Not only is this an electrical hazzard and a means to lose your water, but also bugs, rain, and dirt is getting into your well.

You dont need to pull the pipes or remove the well cap to fix this. shut off the power, open that electrical box, label where all the wires go, and remove the wires from the screws. DO NOT LET THE WIRES FALL INTO THE WELL COVER. You'll have to remove the other *feed* wires and cable (housing) too. Then replace that short piece that connects the box to the cap. I'd use solid galvanized steel pipe, not that pot metal thing you have now. Put it all back together and you're done.

Take photos of the inside of the box before you remove the wires, just in case you're labels fall off the wires (it can happen).

[harryagain]

For very deep wells, the actual pump has to be at the bottom of the well. If it is an electric pump, it will be multistage centrifugal, the number of stages depending on the pressure required. And it might be dangling from the rigid metal pipe or it may have a separate wire rope and flexible plastic pipe. It may need special equipment to extract the pump from thre bottomof the well by jacking up the pipes and unscrewing them. There are a couple of patent sytems where the pump can be extracted by pulling out with a vehicle , they usually have the pump on a cable with a flexible pipe. The cable is run over a temporary roller arrangement erected at the wellhead. There are systems where the pump is on the surface, working an injector down the bottom of the well.

As I don't see a pump, I assume it's down the bottom of the well and it appears to be rigid pipe. This is the traditional way of doing it. You appear to have a pressure vessel/store. This has a resilient cushion of trapped air. When water is drawn off, the pressure falls in here to a point where the pump is restarted to fill it up again/restore pressure..

There looks to be several cables going down the well. The big one will be power to the pump. The smaller one is probably a sensor so the pump can't start if there is no water or the well is pumped dry. There will be a box of tricks associated with this. The pump must never be run dry, it relies on water for cooling the motor and lubrication. It must never be run with the outlet valve shut,the water in the pump may eventually boil & the pump motor overheat.

The plug in the tee at the well head (vertically orientated) is intended to be removed and the extractor hoist screwed in there. A derrick is rigged over the well & the pipes hoisted out. As the next joint appears the pipe is clamped and unscrewed. The hoist is connected to the next pipe , hoisted and so on untill the pump appears.

Quite a bit of stuff on youtube

?v=TSDoDehW-hU&NR=1

There is one somewhere shows extracting a pump but I can't seem to find it.

[willshak]

[e-mail] wrote the following:

Isn't the rock a good enough support? :-)

[willshak]

willshak wrote the following:

My submersible well head Note the simplicity. Note my attempt at camouflage (but too green) Note my failure to cut what's left of the unfertilized grass around the head.

[Robert Neville]

Code in many locations now requires a concrete apron, usually around 3'x3' surrounding the well head.

[willshak]

This well was drilled in 1984. It's grandfathered. I don't know what the current code is in my area. Too bad the OP doesn't have a building code that covers that abortion sitting above the ground.

[Robert Neville]

The apron is designed to keep contaminated surface water from seeping into the well. It's a cheap and effective way to protect your drinking water.

[.]

An effective well seal keeps contaminated water out as does having the well head a foot or so above grade. I don't see how an apron adds anything to that. Can't a dog crap on a concrete apron? No aprons required here in the Peoples Republic of NJ, which sure has plenty of crazy rules.

[.]

If it's working, I would NOT remove the cap to make a new hole. To do that, at a minimum, you'd have to lift the pump/pipe a couple feet so that you could then secure the pipe in some way that would then allow you to remove the well cap assembly without losing the pipe/pump down the well. IMO, not worth it, especially since you're not concerned about meeting current code.

As others have suggested, I'd come up with a securing method for the metal controller box. I'd secure it either to a metal bracket that is then clamped to the T fitting on the wellhead or else secure it to the concrete pad. Then use either silicone sealant or epoxy to seal the liquidtight conduit fitting to the wellhead. Can't say if it meets code in your area, but I'd sleep OK at night.

[Robert Neville]

I think the idea is that the concrete is impermeable, so any water would be diverted 18" away from the well. No seepage outside the well casing and reduce chance that any surface water would penetrate the casing.

[jw]

I bet the threads are NOT stripped. That pot metal fitting wont strip a cast iron well cap. Maybe the pot metal part broke off in the threads. If so, slip some thin hose such as gas line (automotive fuel hose) over the wires so you dont wreck them. Then carefullt chisel out the broken pot metal. It may fall in the well and wont hurt anything, but try to not let it fall in if possible.

If all else fails, you can always use JB Weld to fasten a piece of pipe into that hole. Let it dry for a day before attaching the box.

Personally, I'd attach that box to a treated 4x4 post next to the well, and run the wires to the box inside of a flex conduit just like you have on the input side of that box. A floating box like that is just waiting to get broken off. Of course in order to mount it to a post, you would have to splice each wire and tape it. I would only do that if i was to solder each wire. and use a good quality tape.