Plumbing and Piping - Water Well Pump Problem
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rmmagow
01-29-08, 06:42 PM
Last week my water system stopped working. The pump guy came and basically the inlet to the pressure tank was rotted out and the pump was a little rust choked. He fixed the tank, ran a coat hanger through where the pump pressure gauge connected and all seemed to work again for a while.
Now no water again, this time I removed the gauge ran the hangar all the way to the bottom of the pump. No Luck. My question is about the pump, it is a Gould and sits right next to the water tank. I turned the pump on, it runs, I then proceeded to push the coat hanger through slowly thinking I would hit the impeller and know that the pump was trying to pump. I never felt anything moving around inside and I know the coat hanger went all the way into the pump. Holding my finger on the hole where the gauge fits I felt nothing. Is this indicative of a failed/rust frozen pump? Should I have felt the impeller while jamming the coat hanger in there? I'm quite sure the well is OK since I've never had issues before and the house is actually empty so there's not a lot of water being used. It's not a cold situation either, it's about 40 degrees. Sound like a busted pump ????
Now no water again, this time I removed the gauge ran the hangar all the way to the bottom of the pump. No Luck. My question is about the pump, it is a Gould and sits right next to the water tank. I turned the pump on, it runs, I then proceeded to push the coat hanger through slowly thinking I would hit the impeller and know that the pump was trying to pump. I never felt anything moving around inside and I know the coat hanger went all the way into the pump. Holding my finger on the hole where the gauge fits I felt nothing. Is this indicative of a failed/rust frozen pump? Should I have felt the impeller while jamming the coat hanger in there? I'm quite sure the well is OK since I've never had issues before and the house is actually empty so there's not a lot of water being used. It's not a cold situation either, it's about 40 degrees. Sound like a busted pump ????
chandler
01-30-08, 05:33 AM
You stuck a clothes hanger WHERE? I think you should call a real pump pro out to check this out. If the pump were to have been working properly and just lost its prime, the hanger would have torn up the pump, so that wasn't the best way to check it. If the gauge does not read pressure, surely the pump is not pumping, but it may have lost prime. Remove the 1/2" plug on top of the pump and pour a couple of gallons of water in the hole until no more will enter. Replace the plug and turn on the pump. If you have no pressure, then the pump may be bad. If the prime never fills up, you may have a bad foot valve, meaning all the pipe will need to be pulled and a new foot valve installed.