Shallow well problem. would love help!

Ok, today my mom bought one of those blow up pools and felt the need to blow it up. She filled it halfway up and we all took showers an the regular things. After filling the pool, the well went low. you can usually tell this because the water turns brown (I assume from sediment from the bottom of the well)

This is usually no problem, if left alone for a few hours is back and working great.

We havent had much rain lately, I guess its catching up.

I was wathcing TV and heard a bang and a scarping. I thought it was a accident out front but it was the house going from the well pump into the "tank" It blew off of the pump and filled half the basement with water. As I went down there I found the pump was abnormally hot. Im guessing its been "pumping" air.

I havent the slightest idea what happened here. I guess it was caused by not having any water. My question is what do I need to do to fix it? I pulled the fuse on the pump because it was still running after it blew off the hose.

Also, should I check the pressure in the tank, Would that cause any of this.

How would I prime the pump?

I dont know what to do at this point.

Sorry for the bad grammer, spelling and whatever else. Its 12:08 AM, ive been up for 20 hours now, im tired, have no water.

Reply to
summitlt
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First things first. You have no water. Get it back then worry about other problems. The pump was running when you shut it off. It will (or should) run again when you turn it on. I am assuming the pump is on top of the well.

Prime the pump. You will find a plug somewhere on the pump housing, pull it and pour water in until it fills up. Wait for any air bubbles to work their way out. This may take a few minutes and it may help to manually turn the pump (if it can be done). Once the pump is full with no more bubbles, replace plug and turn on the pump.

Okay, now you have pump that is running and with a great deal of luck it will pump water. If so, shut it off and reconnect the plumbing.

If it doesn't pump (most likely), the pump is fried. The seals are designed to be run wet. Running one dry as apparently happened ruins the seals. Solution is to get a new pump. At the cost of repair, etc. I don't think it is worth it to overhaul one that has gone through what happened.

Once you get the water back in operation, get back to us with any further problems.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Ok. Got it back together today, ran the pump and it cant pump the final

10 pounds of pressure. It shuts off at 50 and cant get there. It can get to 40 fine (about a minute from 40. But after that if im lucky itll reach 44 and thats about it.

After that I pulled apart the pump to check for any blockages. There werent any but the part the water comes out of on the pump. (Im talking internally, with 5 passages for water to be "forced" out) was loose.

I thightened everything back together, and im at the same point. Works great to 40 psi then cant really get any higher.

Reply to
summitlt

Sounds good. Looks like replacing the seals is the next job up. Try calling a few pump companies, irrigation suppliers is a good start. Give them the pump make and model and ask for a quote on overhauling it. Might as well get a quote on a new one also.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Just a curious lurker; how high SHOULD it be able to push it? Only expect ballpark, not specifics.

Pop

Reply to
Pop

I'd live with 40 psi. Higher pressures can cause more problems with leaks and such. Is the cost of 5 or 10 more lbs of pressure worth the trouble to get there and maintain?

Reply to
joe

He says it shuts off at 50 but can't get there. Assuming the usual 20 psi split on/off his pressure switch probably is set for 50/70 and was apparently reaching the 70, or whatever his hight setting was, prior to the accident.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Standard setting for resident use are:

20/40 (very rare and not very good) 30/50 Common but at the 30 some sprinklers are shaky in operation 40/60 Common.

60 psi is the recommended maximum for residence as pressures over that cause excess wear on fittings.

His current problem is that the pump will never shut off - it isn't reaching, by almost 30 psi, the shut-off point.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

No, My cutoff is the common 30/50 I cant get to 50, but I can get to

40.
Reply to
summitlt

Could be a swollen prostate in the system.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I hope that you killed the power at the breaker and called the plumber. Sorry, just saw this post - not trying to be a wise acre.

Reply to
C & M

I got to 50 without noticing, then 60, made 70 way too fast and hope to at least approach 80.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

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