Chances Old Well Pump Good after 25 years?

[ultrarunner]

Any chance that a never used well pump installed 25 years ago would still work? Also, someone has taken the control box, tank and breakers. All I have left to work with are 4 wires coming out of a conduit from the well and another conduit with 3 wires coming from the barn, mounted to a post.

History... About 25 years ago my neighbor's father had a new irrigation well drilled (maybe 130 feet deep) complete with pump, tank and controls. This was when California was in the middle of a draught and had severe water restrictions. The following year he passed away and the well was forgotten.

The son now owns the place and in conversation I mentioned the old well which the son did not know about. The site was very overgrown with poison oak and blackberries which several treatments with Roundup took care of. City water has become very expensive and my neighbor would like to use the well if viable.

 

[ultrarunner]

Any chance that a never used well pump installed 25 years ago would still work? Also, someone has taken the control box, tank and breakers. All I have left to work with are 4 wires coming out of a conduit from the well and another conduit with 3 wires coming from the barn, mounted to a post.

History... About 25 years ago my neighbor's father had a new irrigation well drilled (maybe 130 feet deep) complete with pump, tank and controls. This was when California was in the middle of a draught and had severe water restrictions. The following year he passed away and the well was forgotten.

The son now owns the place and in conversation I mentioned the old well which the son did not know about. The site was very overgrown with poison oak and blackberries which several treatments with Roundup took care of. City water has become very expensive and my neighbor would like to use the well if viable.

 

[CurlyDave]

If you want to test it you can do that with just a control box and a flow control valve (garden hose spiggot) as a temporary setup to see if it still works.

If the company that drilled it is still in business, or has been taken over by someone else, they may have a record of the brand and horsepower of the pump & motor, which would give you a better chance of buying the right controller.

 

[CurlyDave]

If you want to test it you can do that with just a control box and a flow control valve (garden hose spiggot) as a temporary setup to see if it still works.

If the company that drilled it is still in business, or has been taken over by someone else, they may have a record of the brand and horsepower of the pump & motor, which would give you a better chance of buying the right controller.

 

[ultrarunner]

Can the pump be test powered without a control box and what is the best way to sort-out the 4 wires coming from the pump? I can leave the hydrant open on the water line to relieve any pressure.

 

[ultrarunner]

Can the pump be test powered without a control box and what is the best way to sort-out the 4 wires coming from the pump? I can leave the hydrant open on the water line to relieve any pressure.

 

[rozett]

Although I do not know the proper readings, you can get a good sense of the pump using a multimeter. When we had trouble with our well laster year, that turned out to be lack of water. The well folks came out checked the four wires with a multimeter and concluded that the pump was fine. They dumped 400 gallons of water into the shaft and all was well. (pun not intended /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

 

[rozett]

Although I do not know the proper readings, you can get a good sense of the pump using a multimeter. When we had trouble with our well laster year, that turned out to be lack of water. The well folks came out checked the four wires with a multimeter and concluded that the pump was fine. They dumped 400 gallons of water into the shaft and all was well. (pun not intended /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

 

[Highbeam]

I bought my property with a well. The tank, control box and even the pump itself were soon stolen. I welded a cap onto the well head to protect the well.

I had a water company come out to run bacteria tests on the well and the guy shows up in a car. In the car he had a 100' roll of poly pipe, a 220 volt submersible well pump, a spool of the fancy color coded wire the 4 wire wire, a control box, a ball valve, and a small coleman 220 volt generator.

We hooked the pump to the poly pipe roll. Then hooked the wires to the pump and taped them wires to the poly pipe every so often. We then lowered the pump until it hit the bottom of the 80 foot well. Hoisted it back up a foot and then used his pipe pincher contraption to hold the pump off the bottom. The wires were cut to length, smashed flat with a hammer, and then plugged into the controller box. Then two more wires were added between the 220 leads of the generator and the controller box. The roll of poly was cut to length and the ball valve clamped in place.

Fire up the coleman generator. Push in the cover on the control box, which activates the circuit, and then open the ball valve. Water comes shooting out.

It all seemed too easy really. Before all of this we dumped a good bit of bleach down the hole.

The colors of the wires are standard. The controller box has spots for each color. The box isn't that expensive and its soft start function will be good for the motor. I would buy the box and then bring your generator.

 

[Highbeam]

I bought my property with a well. The tank, control box and even the pump itself were soon stolen. I welded a cap onto the well head to protect the well.

I had a water company come out to run bacteria tests on the well and the guy shows up in a car. In the car he had a 100' roll of poly pipe, a 220 volt submersible well pump, a spool of the fancy color coded wire the 4 wire wire, a control box, a ball valve, and a small coleman 220 volt generator.

We hooked the pump to the poly pipe roll. Then hooked the wires to the pump and taped them wires to the poly pipe every so often. We then lowered the pump until it hit the bottom of the 80 foot well. Hoisted it back up a foot and then used his pipe pincher contraption to hold the pump off the bottom. The wires were cut to length, smashed flat with a hammer, and then plugged into the controller box. Then two more wires were added between the 220 leads of the generator and the controller box. The roll of poly was cut to length and the ball valve clamped in place.

Fire up the coleman generator. Push in the cover on the control box, which activates the circuit, and then open the ball valve. Water comes shooting out.

It all seemed too easy really. Before all of this we dumped a good bit of bleach down the hole.

The colors of the wires are standard. The controller box has spots for each color. The box isn't that expensive and its soft start function will be good for the motor. I would buy the box and then bring your generator.