Well Drilled - Results

[Egon]

Teejk, torque arrestors.

 

[Rustyiron]

I'd listen to The Goose.
What is your "static" water level?
At 20 gpm recovery, I would think the pump would not need to be so deep.

 

[TheGoose]

Using a large tank reduces the cycling. You can also use a cycle reducing valve like the CSV with a smaller tank.

Interesting...most residential installs use a very small pressure tank (bladder type). Would think that a larger tank would lessen the pump cycles. Is it strictly a function of keeping fresh water in the system?

 

[Pettrix]

So the 3HP pump is the better choice than the 5HP pump?

What I am concerned is that the 3HP pump will be "overworked" since it's 480 feet deep and I am at 5,000 feet elevation (a pump loses 1 foot of pump suction lift for every 1,000 feet in elevation).

 

[Egon]

Your downhole pump is submerged. Positive suction head.

 

[TheGoose]

The pump only sees the head from the water level. If the pump is at 400 ft but the water level is at 200 ft the pump will pump as if it is at 200 ft. As the well draws down the head will increase. If the well makes 20 gpm but the pump puts out 18 gpm the well will not draw down much.

Since the pump is submerged there is no suction loss.

So the 3HP pump is the better choice than the 5HP pump?

What I am concerned is that the 3HP pump will be "overworked" since it's 480 feet deep and I am at 5,000 feet elevation (a pump loses 1 foot of pump suction lift for every 1,000 feet in elevation).

 

[teejk]

Teejk, torque arrestors.

Yup! I knew the official name but adopted the local well-driller term (they look like a football that met a bandsaw). Had one fail once and the pump was allowed to spin...the torque ended up dropping the oil cap off the pump and dumped the oil into the well...not much but it took a long time to flush it. Our dog was our tester...we couldn't detect it after a while but he wouldn't touch his water until the oil was cleared.

 

[Pettrix]

The pump only sees the head from the water level. If the pump is at 400 ft but the water level is at 200 ft the pump will pump as if it is at 200 ft. As the well draws down the head will increase. If the well makes 20 gpm but the pump puts out 18 gpm the well will not draw down much.

Since the pump is submerged there is no suction loss.

Interesting, I didn't know that. So if the pump is a 480 feet which is 260 feet below the water level (220 feet static), the pump will act like it's in 260 feet of water.

So the water acts like pressure booster?

 

[Valveman]

Yup! I knew the official name but adopted the local well-driller term (they look like a football that met a bandsaw). Had one fail once and the pump was allowed to spin...the torque ended up dropping the oil cap off the pump and dumped the oil into the well...not much but it took a long time to flush it. Our dog was our tester...we couldn't detect it after a while but he wouldn't touch his water until the oil was cleared.

That would have been a very unusual circumstance. End caps on submersible motors do not come off because of torquing, they usually blow off from an electrical short. Torquing from the pump cycling usually just unscrews the pump and lets the whole thing fall down the well. Having said that, I hate torque arrestors. They have a tendency of swelling up, getting hard, and sticking the pump in the well. If you eliminate all the cycling, you won't have any torquing, and you won't need any torque arrestors. I wonder how you would eliminate pump cycling?

 

[TheGoose]

Water doesn't weigh anything in water, if that makes sense. Plus, for every foot of water there is about .4 psi. So at 260 ft of submergence the pump will have about 100 psi on it.

Interesting, I didn't know that. So if the pump is a 480 feet which is 260 feet below the water level (220 feet static), the pump will act like it's in 260 feet of water.

So the water acts like pressure booster?