Yikes! Well pump replaced.

[Steve_Miller]

Just a tidbit of info. At a 500 foot depth, that's 216 psi pressure needed just get the water to the surface if the water level was at 500' which it is not. Hence the bigger pump. 400' - 173psi; 300' - 130psi.

Steve

 

[Hunter29]

it will only run a little over a minute

Thats way to short for 5HP, your going to burn out your pump, it should run at least 3 minutes...

 

[turnkey4099]

Shoulda done that when I had $1000-$1500. I don't understand at all why the tanks are so expensive. What about those County Line tanks at Tractor Supply? They have a "actual capacity" 85 gallon for $399. What happens when these fail? Leak? Explode? Loose pressure? Figured to piggy back a a bladder tank to the current tank....seems there is only one pipe that goes in?

Normally yes, only one pipe in/out but you can T off it to a second tank. As long as all the piping between the two is unobstructed with valves, etc. they will self adjust, i.e., closed hydraulic system the pressure is the same throughout (static).

Harry K

 

[TheGoose]

A quick look on the interweb shows that you can get a WX-350 for less than $1000 with free shipping. That's a good deal on a big tank. I do not consider that expensive.

Almost anything that TSC sells with regards to water well equipment should be considered big box junk. The TSC tank will probably only last about the same time as the warranty, but you normally won't notice exactly when it goes out. TSC does sell a regular galv. tank but you really need one with a bladder.

All you have to do is "T" into your existing piping. You only need one inlet/outlet for the tank. Set the bladder pressure 2 psi below cut-in pressure and you'll be good to go.

In one of your pictures you show about 8 joints of drop pipe. How many joints total did you have out of the well? It looks like 1.25" pipe also. Since you used a franklin motor it is unlikely that you used a Berkley pump since Franklin/Pentair do not use each other's pumps/motors as of 5 years ago. Of course, the driller can mate up whichever motor to his pump of choice but most order the pumps/motors from the same supplier (anything above about 2 HP always come separate anyways). I would like to know the exact model of pump and how many GPM it is rated for.

Shoulda done that when I had $1000-$1500. I don't understand at all why the tanks are so expensive. What about those County Line tanks at Tractor Supply? They have a "actual capacity" 85 gallon for $399. What happens when these fail? Leak? Explode? Loose pressure? Figured to piggy back a a bladder tank to the current tank....seems there is only one pipe that goes in?

 

[jinman]

Goose, I don't know my exact Goulds pump model, but it is over 14 years old and still pumping 17gpm at a 3/4" hose bib on my house through 75' of 3/4" hose. My well is 386' deep with static water level around 360'. I am amazed at the performance of my well and it's reliability. Larry Bisidas of B&B pump drilled me an excellent well and I'll go back to him for any additional well work I need. My control box went out a few years ago and he replaced it for $125 including the service call. He's the best in my book.

 

[Alan L.]

A quick look on the interweb shows that you can get a WX-350 for less than $1000 with free shipping. That's a good deal on a big tank. I do not consider that expensive.

Almost anything that TSC sells with regards to water well equipment should be considered big box junk. The TSC tank will probably only last about the same time as the warranty, but you normally won't notice exactly when it goes out. TSC does sell a regular galv. tank but you really need one with a bladder.

All you have to do is "T" into your existing piping. You only need one inlet/outlet for the tank. Set the bladder pressure 2 psi below cut-in pressure and you'll be good to go.

In one of your pictures you show about 8 joints of drop pipe. How many joints total did you have out of the well? It looks like 1.25" pipe also. Since you used a franklin motor it is unlikely that you used a Berkley pump since Franklin/Pentair do not use each other's pumps/motors as of 5 years ago. Of course, the driller can mate up whichever motor to his pump of choice but most order the pumps/motors from the same supplier (anything above about 2 HP always come separate anyways). I would like to know the exact model of pump and how many GPM it is rated for.

The new pump is a Berkeley that looks just like the old one and it is 5HP and is rated for 20gpm. Exact model I don't know - the invoice just says 5H 20gpm / box $35xx. But I clearly saw the Berkeley badge on the pump. Not as sure about the motor. There were boxes they took the pump and motor out of and one of the said Franklin on the outside but it might not have been the original box. Clearly both were brand new shiny stainless units.

Amtrol also makes the Water Worker tanks that Home Depot sells for about half the cost of the Wel-x-trol tanks - the 119 gallon is under $600. All the reviews I read were good, but none over a year or so old. It has a 5 year warranty, whereas the Wel-x-trol has 7 years.

If I put the 119 gallon tank on there at 40-60 it appears to have about 32-35 gallons of draw down so if the 220 steel tank as 22 that should give me at least 54 gallons which should give me nearly 3 minutes of run time. The Berkeley owner's manual (per the website) says 1HP and up pumps should only cycle 100 times a day for a single phase motor. I doubt we get over that very often but running the sprinklers for 3 hours would probably cycle 60 times or so if you figure 1 minute to fill and 2 minutes to draw it down at ~ 10 gpm coming out the sprinklers.

The pipe that goes in the ground is 1.25" galvanized - the well is 500 feet deep and has 19 sections of 21 feet each so the well sits at 399'. They didn't tell me the static level but they ran the pump full blast onto the ground for more than 30 minutes to make sure the water level didn't draw down to that level. When they pulled the pump they pulled 2 sections at a time so each one laying there was 42'.

Jim - to bad your driller is so far way, I have replaced the control box twice at $500 a pop.

 

[Alan L.]

A quick look on the interweb shows that you can get a WX-350 for less than $1000 with free shipping. That's a good deal on a big tank. I do not consider that expensive.

Almost anything that TSC sells with regards to water well equipment should be considered big box junk. The TSC tank will probably only last about the same time as the warranty, but you normally won't notice exactly when it goes out. TSC does sell a regular galv. tank but you really need one with a bladder.

All you have to do is "T" into your existing piping. You only need one inlet/outlet for the tank. Set the bladder pressure 2 psi below cut-in pressure and you'll be good to go.

In one of your pictures you show about 8 joints of drop pipe. How many joints total did you have out of the well? It looks like 1.25" pipe also. Since you used a franklin motor it is unlikely that you used a Berkley pump since Franklin/Pentair do not use each other's pumps/motors as of 5 years ago. Of course, the driller can mate up whichever motor to his pump of choice but most order the pumps/motors from the same supplier (anything above about 2 HP always come separate anyways). I would like to know the exact model of pump and how many GPM it is rated for.

The pressure guage and switch are both mounted on the galvanized tank. Can I just leave them there or should they moved a central location between the tanks?

 

[turnkey4099]

The pressure guage and switch are both mounted on the galvanized tank. Can I just leave them there or should they moved a central location between the tanks?

They can remain there. Static pressure will be the same in both tanks. If the two are separate by a significant difference, there could be a bit of dynamic pressure difference.

Harry K

Harry K

 

[TheGoose]

I guess your driller just prefers Berkley pumps. The pumps and motors come separated anyways that big so it's no big deal to use your motor of choice and Franklin is top notch. Since you have blown two pumps and a c-box I suspect that your well/tank is getting waterlogged and you're not catching it in time. Do you know if you have an air-maker/bleeder system? You need to be checking the snifter valve every month to make sure that it's not plugged.

I don't know anything about the water worker tank. Some people claim it's the same tank and some claim that it's not made quite as well as the normal WXT. I tend to think it's probably made a little cheaper, hence the shorter warranty. You don't need to move any of your pressure switches or anything like that.

Good luck to you and make sure you post up what the results were. I would like for you to time the pump run time before/after and let us know the difference too. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

For even better results use an air compressor and add an extra bit of air to your tank than the natural drawdown. You can get your galv. tank to a charged state where you can have a 50-gallon drawdown just by adding air via an air compressor.

 

[8N Ren]

Excuse my ignorance but why do you need to have a control box for your set up? I remember my Aunt and Uncle had one but he paid nothing for it as he use to sell controls for industrial applications and the shop gave it to him. When the plumber showed up to connect their newly drilled well he said he had never seen anything like it before. Most systems around here are just a pressure switch mounted with a tank.