|
| Author |
Message |
gcrank1
Member
|
# Posted: 7 May 2026 08:36pm - Edited by: gcrank1
Reply
Not at our off-grid cabin but at our on grid 940sf country 'cottage' home. Yesterday, early eav, I took a shower and had low water pressure. Some post shower checking found one leg of the 240v a blown fuse rather than the hoped for pressure switch issues Ive had off/on for 39yrs here.
Did some online checking and dug into it all with my Fluke multimeter and thought (hoped) it was the Jacuzzi submersible pump control box; ie, maybe the start capacitor for the pump, which without the 'kick start' voltage would be an overload from the pump and blow the fuse? Not so lucky, checking the 3 fat wires to the pump found a short to ground indication a bad pump. 
Still, after all these years, and some before we bought the place there was maybe a 45yr lifespan, by all accounts online that is remarkable! And, this did not happen in the winter.
We have our off-grid water use methods so we aren't desperate and I may have a well guy coming tomorrow.
This does make me pretty glad we dont have an old well at the cabin too (the prev owner hacked everything else he did there), though we are wishing we did have our diy cabin composting T here and if it was a bit warmer Id consider rigging up the big watering can 'shower' off the back deck. We dont have a rain barrel for utility water here at home either!, the one at the cabin we did has been great for utility water. What an oversight, us being used to the mod-cons!
|
|
DRP
Member
|
# Posted: 7 May 2026 09:03pm - Edited by: DRP
Reply
That could be rubbed wires as well, which I'm sure he'll check for when its pulled. At that age either way I'd put a new one on if it's on the surface. How deep is it?
Our previous one was a Jacuzzi, it lasted 30-35 years. We also irrigate a good sized garden from that well. At least in that era they were good pumps, I have no idea now.
|
|
gcrank1
Member
|
# Posted: 7 May 2026 09:41pm - Edited by: gcrank1
Reply
Ive never been able to get any history of the well or depth or even the for sure location (which we only found a year ago) other than the casing may be down where the old original hand pump well pit for the schoolhouse was. Yes, our place was a late 1800 clapboard small one room school and when we moved here in 1987? many of the old folks around had gone to school here, now they are all gone and we are the old folks.
Ive been fretting all these years about 'when' we would have trouble.....and now I know.
We cleared the covered wellhead this aft, there was an old thick rubbish material 'cap' over the exposed casing top flange and just wire wrapped underneath the flange, then a hunk of slab 'crete about the 18x18 on top. I expect at one time that actually was above grade but over time ended up a flower and shrub bed so the cap got covered. It certainly wasnt 'sealed' as sealing goes and it all peeled off.
So obviously we've never sanitized it either.
Ive got a feeling this is gonna be expensive.
|
|
gcrank1
Member
|
# Posted: 8 May 2026 09:59am - Edited by: gcrank1
Reply
Well (pun intended), I called the local guy's shop about 4 yesterday aft and he showed up this morning at 7:30. Sure beats 'maybe we can get there in 2 weeks'!
He dbl checked/verified my tests at the control box wiring and jumped in a new control; got 17+amps when it tried to power up pump. "way too much" says he, "pump is burned out".
He was able to use a long pole with a hook reach down the 6" casing and snag the pump pull chain that had fallen in. Static water level maybe only 12' down but no idea how much deeper the pump sits.
Awkward spot to get the boom truck to....it to hook the chain to and lift the pump out and Hope the wiring comes up and is good.
He came back a few hours later with a big pickup truck with a boom, got over the well and gave it a go, no joy, no pull, said it looks like an old install of the pipe to casing; ie, what they did prev to the 'pitless adapter' with the sliding 'shoe'. And the last thing we want to do is snap that old lift chain and drop the works to the bottom!
This means we need to expose the old pit that the casing is coming up from and get down in to disconnect, etc. If it is actually the old well pit....
That would beat digging around the casing all the way down to that side pipe, I guess.
|
|
paulz
Member
|
# Posted: 8 May 2026 10:14pm
Reply
Will be interesting…
|
|
Fanman
Member
|
# Posted: 9 May 2026 08:33pm - Edited by: Fanman
Reply
Despite other disadvantages, this makes me appreciate my 20' deep shallow dug well. When the pump goes, as it has twice in 30 years, it costs me a couple hundred bucks and a couple of hours to replace it, though priming the pump can be an adventure. If things really went south, I could slide the cover off and tie a bucket to a rope...
|
|
paulz
Member
|
# Posted: 10 May 2026 04:22pm
Reply
Im a bit concerned too. My Frankin pump was in there when i bought the place. It sat dormant when the house was demolished in 1966, i think it only ran for about 5 years before, plus the 15 I've put on it. So about 20 years of work but its 60 years old. I have a poly rope tied to it, must have looked at it once. About 50’ down.
|
|
philpom
Member
|
# Posted: 10 May 2026 08:24pm
Reply
Good luck, I hope this works out for you. It's a nightmare scenario. Our well is 600' deep, the pump sets a little more than 400' down. I hope it never dies on me, had the well Doug and it installed I guess 4 years ago. I have been through 1 control box.
|
|
|
darz5150
Member
|
# Posted: 10 May 2026 09:12pm
Reply
We replaced a pump on the neighbors well last year.
It's a shallow well. Static water level about 18/20 feet deep.
It was quite easy actually. The whole pump with pressure tank sits on top of the concrete well casing. It was a couple hundred bucks. It's a 120 volt with PVC pipe going down with a foot valve/ screen at the bottom. With that set up we didn't have to do anything with the suction pipe.
|
|
gcrank1
Member
|
# Posted: 10 May 2026 09:59pm - Edited by: gcrank1
Reply
I used a rod and drove it down to the concrete well pit cap to find and mark the perimeter rather than shovel the 4-6" of hard pack dirt off, found the lid is 5'x5'. Then I used a post hole digger to go down a side to find what Im dealing with. Found an underlip at 10" of concrete; ran the calc for std 'crete of 5'x5'x10" thick and get about 3000#!!! That is gonna be a hard lift, but 1st gotta scrape the dirt off and dig down around the edges. Well guy said he'd try to get a small back-hoe guy asap.
I did all I could do, just not as capable as I was before my stroke 1.5yrs ago . The consolation is that even IF I could have dug the lid out we'd still need a rig to lift the lid off, might as well have him dig too.
So Joyce and I took today off and went to cabin where off-gridding is EASY, all my diy systems work without a hitch and are cheap and easy owner serviceable 
Mon. 9:48am:
Dropped a weighted line in, hit static water level at 21',
a bit deeper than I had thought by almost 2x (guess I was hearing the well guys' rod in the casing and mistaking it for water?). Anyway, with that shallow SWL we could actually use a hand pump but Joyce isn't going for it.....lol.
|
|
gcrank1
Member
|
# Posted: 12 May 2026 08:35pm - Edited by: gcrank1
Reply
Boss showed up 11:30 this morning with small back hoe, then his son took over the well end of the project with a helper. He used a finger on the back hoe to bust up the concrete and found rocks under, no 'pit'. Exacted down 6' to the line to house, this is where we all got a surprise, the pipe and pump wires were encased in a vintage, galvanized, corrugated 'downspout' pipe! Pretty sure I heard him say," there is nothing about this to code" (lol).
Cut off the 6" well casing just above that 't', pulled the pump (about 60' down) and were able to pull the feed pipe and wires to house and push through new HD plastic pipe and new wires. That sure beat trenching all the way to house!
Welded on a new stand pipe c/w the pitless adapter for the new pump. While they buttoned all that up another fellow did the basement work, put in a new pressure tank, plumbed to the house pipes, all new controls, etc.
About 4pm we had water!
All in all they were an impressive, productive and friendly team.
So, orig pump failed last Wed night, called them about 4pm Thursday after doing my tests, and today Tues by late aft we we fixed. They said static water level at 24' and well depth 148', pump ~60'.
Now to flush out the pipes to clean water and in 2 weeks get the required water test.
|
|
FishHog
Member
|
# Posted: 14 May 2026 07:36am
Reply
Good news. Glad it worked out. Always nice when you hire a crew that are professional and work hard. Getting harder and harder to find that
|
|
gcrank1
Member
|
# Posted: 26 May 2026 10:47am
Reply
I have nothing to compare this job to, and nobody I know recently had anything similar done, so no idea of current costs. We got the bill last Fri and looking over the very comprehensive itemization there was nothing outrageous, but it all adds up.
$7k fyi
Considering that we basically got 20yrs beyond a normal pump lifespan if I divide that $7k by 20yrs it cost us a $1/day; Not Bad At All, imo.
Required water test was taken today, idk when I will get the results.
|
|
|
