Ensuring your submersible well pump is installed properly.
In today’s blog, we’ll go over an important checklist to ensure that your submersible pump is installed properly. This list can be used by homeowners as they review a proposal for the installation of new equipment as well as DIYers that want to make sure they get it right the first time around!
1) If your are going to use a company, make sure they are qualified and have a reputation of excellence!
2) Ensure that you are using good quality equipment that is properly selected for your application! Also make sure that the equipment has been carefully handled during delivery and installation. A delivery driver dropping the submersible pump on a concrete driveway can cause internal damage that may only show several years later deep in your well with a failed thrust bearing! Reject any pump/motor that has any sign of visible damage to the box or product! The equipment should be handled carefully, even while installing it in the well! Oakville Pump Service bench tests every pump and motor before it is installed to ensure it meets manufacture specifications.
3) The wire needs to be properly selected to match the motor power of the pump and the total distance between the pump and the utility power meter. Scrimping on the wire size can result in low voltages to the submersible pump motor and premature motor failure! Fortunately there are some great charts on page 11 of the Franklin AIM manual that can help you verify that your wire size is correct based on the distance your submersible pump is from the power meter (NOT just how deep it is) and the size of the pump. Selecting double jacketed submersible pump wire, and a soldered waterproof splice kit to ensure quality electrical connections is imperative as well.
4)There are many sizes and types of pipe that your submersible can be installed on. Keep in mind, your pump is dangling hundreds of feed in the well on this pipe and the pipe needs to be able to with stand the weights, pressures and corrosive environment associated with the job you’re asking it to do. Pipe that is too small or of the wrong material can restrict water flow, waste electricity, corrode in the watery environment or even break off allowing your pump to fall to the bottom of the well. Throughly investigate strength, pressure and flow specifications of the pipe selected for your well pump installation! Pages 6 & 7 of the Certainteed product manual clearly spell out the maximum depth, horsepower and flow limitations of PVC drop pipe! Don’t be putting a 5 Hp pump down 500’ on 1.25” PVC drop pipe. You are at high risk of pipe failure and will burn excess power off due to the frictional losses in this size pipe. There are several different kinds of pipe you can install. PVC drop pipe is quite popular as it is corrosion resistant and covers most of the working depths, weights and flow rates found in many residential, commercial and agricultural applications. Some projects have much higher flow rates, much deeper wells, shallower wells, wells with hot/warm water, etc.. Keep in mind that galvanized/stainless steel drop pipe, certalock drop pipe, or black HDPE pipe (comes in rolls) may be a better fit for your application. If you are using ANY type of plastic pipe in your well, ensure that a safety rope in installed that connects the well pump to the surface in the event of a failure.
5) Make sure that the pump is installed with a flow sleeve if possible! A flow sleeve is a very low cost item that ensures water flows by the submersible pump motor and keeps it cool. You may be thinking “The pump is in water so it should stay cool….right?” In limited cases this is correct. If the water in the well is supplied from below the pump it must flow up past the motor and cool it as it enters the pump suction and is then pumped out. This, however, is not true in ALL wells and the installation of a simple motor shroud will ensure that the water flow past the motor is adequate to ensure cooling regardless of where the water is supplied from in the well. This shroud is recommended by most submersible pump manufacturers and can extend the life of the motor significantly! If you are installing your well pump in a tank or cistern, the installation of a flow sleeve is a must.
6) A check valve should be installed every 100’ of depth in your well with one on top after the pipe exits the well casing! For a 300’ deep well this means 3 check valves should be installed! We prefer flowmatic spring check valves as they minimize water hammer effects that swing type check valves tend to induce. Water hammer is not just noisy and annoying, it can actually result in broken pipes.
7)Each joint of in the drop pipe should be properly torqued and then wrapped with pipe wrap! This will ensure that any effects of motor stop/start torque will not result in loosened pipe joints or equipment moving around. The pipe wrap should also be used to secure the wire and safety rope to the pipe so that it is not loose, tangled or drooping into the well. Loose wire means that taking soundings in the well for water depth can be very difficult! Installation of a torque arrestor is also important will also help absorb the energy from well pump starting.
8) After installation the well pump should be run and the well flushed throughly and disinfected. The amount of electrical current and water flow should be measured and recorded and the Franklin AIM manual consulted to ensure the pump is running within proper amperage ranges. The static water level and pumping water level of the well should also be recorded. The pressure in any pressure tanks should be verified as well in addition to pressure switch settings.
9) If you are installing a new, single phase submersible well pump, please,install a new control box! and pressure switch! Some people want to save some money and reuse the old control box/pressure switch. It may have degraded capacitors, dirty electrical contacts and still work…but that relatively inexpensive device can cause a very expensive new pump to fail with a faulty start switch or degraded capacitor. Many pump manufacturers give a 5 or 7 year warranty…but only if a new control box & pressure switch were installed with the new pump! While you’re at it, take a pet flea collar and cut it into 1” long strips. Put one of these strips in the pressure switch and another in the control box to keep ants, earwigs and other insects from crawling around in the electrical contacts and causing problems!
10) Another consideration is to install a motor protection device like a pump saver or a pump tec. These devices protect the pump by shutting it off if the utility voltage is too low/high, rapid cycling (pressure switch or pressure tank problem) or if the pump runs out of water in the well. A relatively small investment in one of these devices can protect your well pump from some very expensive damage! Surge protection is also important because your well pump provides one of the easiest/best paths to ground through the motor windings. Installation of a surge protector on your well equipment is advised to help mitigate the effects of power surges in your area. “Why would I do that? My pump is deep in the aquifer and properly grounded!” That is the exact reason why you need the surge arrestor! Because the live wires to your pump also go all the way down into the ground, the power surges want to travel through these live wires and then blow out the insulation in the pump motor as they escape to ground! The surge protector allows those high voltages to dissipate to ground BEFORE the surges start destroying the insulation in your well pump motor.
OPS has designers and installers with all the right equipment and techniques at the tips of their fingers to give you a great quality installation that will last for many years, providing water for your many needs. Give our team a call today (707)944-2471 and we’ll help get your water flowing!
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