Would someone please guest

[Gary1]

a person who has been spending too much time around me lately? His name is Mr. Murphy.

I know he has his place in the world, but lately he's spent entirely too much time 'helping' me with my projects.

The latest has been while I've been redoing the boss's well plumbing. Trying to get the PVC fitting to stick properly while going under tree roots, old sections of brick wall, irrigation system plumbing, and so forth has been driving me nuts for the last week and a half. This morning, a fitting on the pump itself blew itself free. The bloody glue didn't stick for some reason. That's after working for nearly three weeks without a hitch.

Please. Someone give Murphy a call and let him know you need his help so he'll just go away and leave me alone for a couple of days...

[sailingdog]

I here Freesail's got a free guest room. Send him up there. Or down to Texas, where he can stay in the new and improved Catalina 400 BBQ pit.

[sailaway21]

If you're using pvc to run the water line from the well to the house you're already making a mistake that will "keep on giving". Use 160psi black poly. The pvc is plenty strong enough but it will break, sooner or later, at one of the glue joints, usually right alongside the well. (I make a good living as a licensed well driller following around a certain driller who hooks his wells up with pvc.) The problem is that the ground settles and that places a stress on the pvc buried underground. The pvc pipe itself doesn't mind bending but every glue joint creates a hard spot that will crack when the ground settles. Sometimes it happens in the first year, sometimes down the road further. On the other hand, black poly doesn't care what the ground does afterwards.

I recommend a swing joint at the well casing also.

If you're using schedule 40 pvc you're also in big trouble. Use threaded schedule 80 down the well, assuming it is a pvc well of 5" diameter or larger, and use NO glue fittings within the well-thread and couple everything. If it is a 4" steel well you'd best be using steel drop pipe or you may not be able to pull the pump, some years later, without the pvc drop pipe breaking when the pump hangs up on mineral deposits and corrosion.

Note that schedule 40 pvc cannot be threaded, you need schedule 80.

Resist the foolish temptation to hang any pump down the well on black poly pipe. Just because it went in easy, doesn't mean it will come out the same way. Note also that breaking a pump off down the well may result in some bad events occurring, both of which will enrich a future well driller. It may take untold hours to "fish" the pump out of the well, if it's even possible. My experiences have varied from 5 minutes to 10 hours, at a rate somewhat north of $100/hr. If the pump cannot be fished, you'll have to drill a new well.

With no disrespect intended, I would offer that there is a reason that people hire me to do this job versus doing it themselves. (g)

Oh, btw, when that pvc breaks right next to the well casing, it's not uncommon for the leaking water to find it's path of least resistance up the conduit alongside the well. And the leaking water will carry sand and earth up with it and then down into the well, which will trash the pump or cause severe wear to it. So, in addition to having to repair a leak, you'll be buying a new pump to replace the old one that might not want to come up out of the well due to factors previously cited.

I don't think Murphy is hanging around you although I wouldn't be surprised that the master of the RMS Titanic is about! (g) Go ahead and PM me if you've any questions, before things get worse.

[Stillraining]

LOL Sway...In other words sometimes we go fishing for MR. Murphy all on our own..eh?


Reminds me of as story...I set my own pump on Sch 80...tightened up thoes buggers till they squealed...5 years later i was sucking air...almost all were loose when i re pulled them.

[Gary1]

Pressure's not an issue here. It's just a 4 foot run under two major roots, and the pressure from the artesian well is about 5 psi, if that. When the pump runs, it's actually sucking water from the well.

No biggy.

Should last another twenty years, at least. By then I'll be in my canvas sack giving the sharks and crabs indigestion.

[chucklesR]

Mr. Murphy has visited here on occasion..those occasions are usually when I cut a corner, neglect a best practice or forego a maintenance step.
I'm just saying..

David Gerr has it right with his 'black box theory' - when you do something right you put points in a black box - when you do something wrong you pull them out, sometimes if you have a positive balance of points it helps, sometimes it doesn't.

[jnsailing]

Problem is that it isn't one for one - It takes at least 10 "attaboys" to make up for one "aww ****"

John N.

[sailingdog]

Chuckles-

John Vigor has the Black Box Theory, not Dave Gerr.

Originally Posted by chucklesR

Mr. Murphy has visited here on occasion..those occasions are usually when I cut a corner, neglect a best practice or forego a maintenance step.
I'm just saying..

David Gerr has it right with his 'black box theory' - when you do something right you put points in a black box - when you do something wrong you pull them out, sometimes if you have a positive balance of points it helps, sometimes it doesn't.