Submersible well pump health?

[lman]

25 years here. Never been pulled. Using original bladder tank. Water heater same age. All original when house was built 25 years ago.

 

[fruitcakesa]

We got 20+ years out of our 115v 1/2 hp Goulds sub pump at 205 feet. Finally seized up a couple Februarys ago.
Pump guys came quickly and replaced it in 2 hours with a Franklin 220v unit. They had a pipe winder on the truck, we used poly pipe so it came up easily

 

[fried1765]

25 years here. Never been pulled. Using original bladder tank. Water heater same age. All original when house was built 25 years ago.

That 25 year old water heater is now anxiously awaiting the day to surprise you!
The surprise will most likely occur on the Friday night of a Monday holiday weekend.

 

[Valveman]

My five horsepower pump is at 440 feet. This summer a wire came loose and shorted to ground. The pump had to come up to effect a repair. I replaced the pump and motor as well as the controller. I felt after twenty five years it was a good time. My neighbor's pump went in at the same time as mine. He started shedding blades from his impeller within a month of me replacing my pump. Yes, we both have Cycle Stops. In my experience I've not needed to replace a start capacitor. I have replaced the run capacitor a couple of times.

You should not need to replace the starting capacitor as you have a Cycle Stop Valve. Having to replace the run capacitor is very unusual. Shedding blades from the impeller so soon could have just been a bad pump. But most times the pump is not selected correctly, has a hard time building to shut off pressure, which causes it to get hot and melt impellers. Hope the pump company made everything right for you?

 

[Cat_Driver]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it impossible to check the health of a pump without bringing it up?
For example, the impeller may be worn down of they are plastic impellers and the well brings up a lot of sand.
There could be wear holes in the pipe coming up from the pump to the top.

The reason I'm saying this is my well just started putting out low presure. It won't go past 40PSI.
I put a new chrged tank and that did nothing.

It's drawing perfect amps per the manufacturer yet the pressure is low.

I have a shut-off valve at the top of the well and in teh past I could shut that off and start the pump and the guage would shoot up to 100.

Not any more with teh valve shut I only get 40psi. Even when I open the valve the pressure coming out of the hose at the well id dismal at best,
where in the past water would shoot out 20 freet from the hose end. Now I'm lucky if it shoots a few feet.

Pump and motor are under 10 years old.

One good thing I saved the old pump and motor and sendt them to a rebuilder. Replacement foro my 5ho was around 3K and teh motor around 1.5K

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Valveman]

Wow - 25 years on the same pump - that's really good life - get another one like it! As far as pump health you can check the amperage - you need to know the pump HP its probably a 1/2 or 3/4 HP, and an Ampmeter and if it has a two wire (no control box) or three wire (will have a control box) pump motor.

See the attached gould pump manual -the two wire 1/2 HP 230V runs 5-6 amps, and 3/4 HP 6-8 Amps. You can also check the windings with an ohm meter to see the health of the motor.

The biggest thing impacting pump life is # of starts and run time, so either have a large storage tank like Wellextrol, 20 gal drawdown, and or install a cycle stop keeps the pump running during water use.

It is not uncommon for standard pump systems to last 20-30 years. However, there are also many that don't last 20-30 days. The average life of all submersible pumps is about 7 years. Ohm-ing out the windings can tell you if there is a short or not. But I have had pumps with a short last 10-20 more years. Normally you just run the pump until it quits, as there is nothing to repair and you just need to get as much good out of it as you can. Cycling on and off is the biggest killer of pumps. Having a Cycle Stop Valve can add years to an already long lasting diaphragm tank type system.

Some of the "newer technology" like variable speed type pumps are actually designed to increase cost and shorten the life of pump systems. Pump companies don't like that many pumps last 20-30 years and are building in planned obsolescence like VFD controls to actually shorten the pumps life and get more of your money.

 

[lman]

That 25 year old water heater is now anxiously awaiting the day to surprise you!
The surprise will most likely occur on the Friday night of a Monday holiday weekend.

Bring it on. I'm semi retired now and have a little more time to work on it.

 

[Valveman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it impossible to check the health of a pump without bringing it up?
For example, the impeller may be worn down of they are plastic impellers and the well brings up a lot of sand.
There could be wear holes in the pipe coming up from the pump to the top.

The reason I'm saying this is my well just started putting out low presure. It won't go past 40PSI.
I put a new chrged tank and that did nothing.

It's drawing perfect amps per the manufacturer yet the pressure is low.

I have a shut-off valve at the top of the well and in teh past I could shut that off and start the pump and the guage would shoot up to 100.

Not any more with teh valve shut I only get 40psi. Even when I open the valve the pressure coming out of the hose at the well id dismal at best,
where in the past water would shoot out 20 freet from the hose end. Now I'm lucky if it shoots a few feet.

Pump and motor are under 10 years old.

One good thing I saved the old pump and motor and sendt them to a rebuilder. Replacement foro my 5ho was around 3K and teh motor around 1.5K

Any advice would be appreciated

If the motor is drawing full load amps, the pump is pumping max flow, and you have a hole in the pipe. Low amps would mean a worn pump, clogged screen, or dry well. Don't know of anyone who can "rebuild" a submersible pump anymore? Make sure they don't just clean it up and re-sale it to you. Most likely there is a hole in the pipe right above the pump. Galvanized pipe or fitting screwed into a SS or brass check valve causes electrolysis and eats through the galvanized fitting causing the hole. Ten cents worth of electric tape over the galv fittings would have prevented this.

 

[dodge man]

There is a thread on here where I asked if I should fix my well, we now have rural water. I decided not to fix it but I would say our well pump was going on 30 years old when it quit. It was going to be a little over 2k to fix it, the logic being might as well replace it if you go through the trouble to pull it.

 

[grsthegreat]

It is not uncommon for standard pump systems to last 20-30 years. However, there are also many that don't last 20-30 days. The average life of all submersible pumps is about 7 years. Ohm-ing out the windings can tell you if there is a short or not. But I have had pumps with a short last 10-20 more years. Normally you just run the pump until it quits, as there is nothing to repair and you just need to get as much good out of it as you can. Cycling on and off is the biggest killer of pumps. Having a Cycle Stop Valve can add years to an already long lasting diaphragm tank type system.

Some of the "newer technology" like variable speed type pumps are actually designed to increase cost and shorten the life of pump systems. Pump companies don't like that many pumps last 20-30 years and are building in planned obsolescence like VFD controls to actually shorten the pumps life and get more of your money.

you sell cyclestopvalves. So your opinions might be a bit jaded. VFD units exist because they work. I dont sell them, but install them and i have not seen shortened life spans. Ive seen increased life spans on motors.