Cost of replacing submersible pump?

[JoeR]

Got up this morning, used the restroom, and discovered I had no water! It was still dark when I got up, so outside I go to find the problem. Luckily the multimeter has a backlit display. I find 220V all the way to the well casing. Horses are hovering all around me trying to help, but sadly I have voltage all the way to the main wires going to the pump. At this point my mood changes since I know I can't do this myself. The pump is 65' down inside a 3" casing. That pipe with water is going to be way too heavy for me to pull up. I call the well guy, and he confirms my fears. Gotta pull the motor up, not sure of cost yet since he didn't know which kind of pump I had. He had a nice setup to pull the pump out, and after removing three section of pipe, he gets the pump out. He checks it by connecting 220 to it, and it is shot. It is a 22GPM 3" submersible pump. Cost to replace plus labor is around $1,700. He offers me a 16GPM pump for a little less, but my wife already complains about pressure loss when she has the washer, tub, dishwasher, and shower going. 3 kids who get dirty a lot tend to consume lots of water, and plenty of dirty laundry. Anyway, I tried to price 3" 22GPM pumps, but I couldn't find too many to price. So, does this $1700 sound like a fair price for Florida? When you have no water, almost any price seems fair! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Thanks,

Joe

[egon]

There are many different brands of submersible pumps. Some are better made than others.

Check out the brand of pump offered versus other makes of pumps and compare prices to make your decision.

Egon

[JoeR]

Thanks Egon. I had trouble finding 3" submersible pumps online. I found only one manufacturer, so it is hard to get an idea of parts cost. There are plenty of 4" pump makers though.... [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Joe

[egon]

The 3 in. may not be too common. If that is the case it may raise the cost of the pump.

Egon

[1994]

The 3" 22 GPM pump is probably a Grundfos 22SQ. Couldn't be very old. Was it the variable speed SQE22 with the little 1 gallon tank or the SQ22 with a regular tank?

[JoeR]

You are correct. It was the Grundfos 22SQ. The final price came in at $1300, so I was a little relieved. He replaced the pressure switch too. I can't complain, they did do a good job and were thorough.

Joe

[1994]

How long did it last and how large is your pressure tank? There are ways to make it last longer. Next time it goes out it will be even more expensive.

[JoeR]

I have a 60Gal pressure tank, and the pump lasted 5 years. I asked the guy why it didn't last longer, and he said the hurricanes we had causing power surges or a close by lightning strike could have shortened its life expectency.

Joe

[1994]

Seven years is the average life of a submersible, so you didn't miss it by much. The 3" pump you have spins at over 10,000 RPM compared to a normal 4" pump that spins 3450 RPM. Everytime you double the RPM of a pump you quadruple the wear rate. Should still last longer than 5 years. If lightning or power surges destroy a pump, you usually wake up after the storm or power surge to no water. Lightning and power surges usually knock out the motor right then, doesn't usually just damage a pump and cause it to go out sooner. The 3" pump you have does have some electronic components built into the motor that might have been damaged by power surge but I doubt the pump would ever run again after this kind of damage. The 60 Gallon tank you have only holds about 15 gallons of water and your pump delivers 22 gallons per minute. While you are using 7 GPM the pump is on for 1 minute and off for 2 minutes. There are 1440 minutes in a day so you have a potential of the pump cycling on and off 480 times every 24 hours. Cycling on and off is the biggest killer of pumps and more than likely what caused yours to go out. Cut the cycling on and off by 75% and you might get 20 years out of a pump. Don't know if that 10,000 RPM pump with built in electronics will even last that long but I know it would help. You can use a Cycle Stop Valve with the tank you have or install 4 times as many or 4 times as big a tank and you will reduce the cycling by 75% making your pump last longer. Otherwise $1300 every 5 years means you need to put up about $25 per month to pay for the next pump you will need.

[Pat]

I have paper cartridge fuses with metal caps on the ends in both legs of the 220 going to the submerged pump. I have had lightning surges destroy the fuses. There was no visible part of either fuse left after a lightning event except the metal end caps. I keep spares handy and replace the fuses and the pump works fine again and still works fine several years later (maybe 3 years since last blown fuses.)

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]