The fun of country living AKA our frozen well pit

We knew it was going to get cold last night so we ran a long extension cord with a heat lamp into the well put and put the top back on. Woke up this morning to no water and the light is off... circuit popped. Nothing is obviously cracked and there is no water in the pit but I' not sure where to even start with thawing this thing out. I put a propane heater down there for now but nothing yet.

Anyone have an idea where I should focus my attention with a heat gun or propane torch? It's a mix of copper and PVC down there but I'm not sure what's going where.

We have the added benefit of radiant heat so this should be a fun day.

Any exposed piping ? That's the place to start.

Check to be sure not frozen else where also.

Unless you know where frozen, target every thing, watch and inspect pvc closely.

In well pit, heat tape and insulation are your friend.

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I'm not sure how to tell if the well pump has power. Should it well on/off be wired to a breaker somewhere nearby?

Have you thought about going back to city living?
You do need to make sure your well pump is not pumping, it will burn up pretty quick if is pushing against a frozen pipe.

At times like this it sounds nice to go back. ;-)

I turned the pump off this morning but no telling how long it ran after freezing up. Or maybe it just doesn't have any power to it and nothing is frozen. Could really go either way at this point.

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Originally Posted by th3w01f

At times like this it sounds nice to go back. ;-)

I turned the pump off this morning but no telling how long it ran after freezing up. Or maybe it just doesn't have any power to it and nothing is frozen. Could really go either way at this point.

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Should have some sort of overload protection at disconnect point.

Meter/test time.

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Checked the breaker and the overload protection next to the on/off and everything looks good. Got a call back from Hier and he gave me a couple things to test and said to call back and he'd come out. Now I can't get a hold of him. I think he may have thought I had his cell phone number and not the main business line. Anyone have an emergency contact at Hier? I think it was Frank that called me.

And we have water again. Not sure what fixed it. I set up the Mr Heater on a 20lb tank, removed and reinserted the fuses and now there's water. Hmmmmmm. Only about 20 min after setting the heater up so that sounds a bit quick.

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Originally Posted by th3w01f

And we have water again. Not sure what fixed it. I set up the Mr Heater on a 20lb tank, removed and reinserted the fuses and now there's water. Hmmmmmm. Only about 20 min after setting the heater up so that sounds a bit quick.

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Having water doesn't mean the problem is fixed.

Heat tape is your friend.

I woke up to 10˚ and had water.

Check for water line exposures. Up here water lines have to be at least 3' below grade. The weak point is the access to the house for me.

Our water lines are run 4 - 5' below grade (entry to the main house is almost 10' below grade). Water from the pump enters the pit about 18" off the floor and flows through about 2' of PVC and some brass fittings to a pressure gauge, from there it splits out to each house and the holding tank. Neither house had water and the tank was empty, pressure gauge was reading 0 so it was either frozen up between the pump and the gauge or the pump wasn't getting power, I don't know which at this point but I plan on finding out. There are some smaller brass pipes/fittings between the pump PVC and gauge so if it was frozen, that's my guess as to where the problem was.

The well pit is the weak point at the moment. it's 6.5' deep (5 x 5) and encased in cinder blocks with pored concrete and rebar but it has a shitty, rotted away cover and no insulation. it's my fault for not replacing it sooner but I've already talked with the well company about a pored concrete roof with insulation that should be in next week depending on weather. The pump itself is only 2 years old but I'm going to have the electric re-run along with a line for an outlet and a pit heater. At the moment the closest outlet is over 100' away.

It should be nice and toasty in there tonight, heading down to make sure the LP heater is still running.

Man, I need to learn more about electrical in general, any electrician on here want to give a few hours of private lessons for good $$$. I'd rather learn from someone who knows what they're doing than watch YouTube. Waiting until things fail just isn't working out for me. I don't even know how the hell to tell if these fuses have failed. :)

I could run by Sunday afternoon and give you hand trying to figure things out.. I have a bunch of experience trouble shooting my own well.

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Originally Posted by HBARleatherneck

living in the country is all about preventative maintenance. Especially before winter and before the rainy season (if you have one) You have to walk around, take a look and make a list of all potential problems. Living in the country (and I hate that frase) is a lot of work and it can beexpensive. Either people have lots of skills and want to learn to do it themselves or they have lots of money to pay someone. In my experience those people usually move back to the cities.

Im not trying to offend the OP. This is good for everyone to know.

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That knowledge also applies to any home owner. OR having a group of repair folks you can depend on to do the job right the first time. Without paying more than necessary.

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

That knowledge also applies to any home owner. OR having a group of repair folks you can depend on to do the job right the first time. Without paying more than necessary.

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True, but having your own well and septic brings it to a whole new level... You are your own water company and sewer company...
Things that work fine with chlorinated/fluoridated city water have issues with well water (like water heaters, and could be many more if you have hard water)

I don't know if I'd want a concrete cover for the well pit, sounds too heavy when you need to get in there. Build one out of cedar or other rot-resistant wood, with quality insulation, and make it to fit tight. In the short term, some foam insulation cut to fit like a tight cover will keep it warm. But also install heat tape on a thermostat as a backup.

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Originally Posted by HBARleatherneck

living in the country is all about preventative maintenance. Especially before winter and before the rainy season (if you have one) You have to walk around, take a look and make a list of all potential problems. Living in the country (and I hate that frase) is a lot of work and it can beexpensive. Either people have lots of skills and want to learn to do it themselves or they have lots of money to pay someone. In my experience those people usually move back to the cities.

Im not trying to offend the OP. This is good for everyone to know.

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No offense taken at all. You're 100% correct, which is why I want to learn to do a lot of this myself, at the very lest I'd like to be able to tell if there was power going to the pump or the freaking fuse was blown. I don't have many skills at the moment, especially when it comes to electrical but I don't mind paying someone and following them around since I'd rather not learn by trial and error when it comes to things like the well. That's one of the main reasons I'm looking for an electrician who owns their own business or is doing side work. If it takes longer since they're showing me a few things I'm happy to pay them for their time and I don't want them worried about getting to the next job as quickly as possible.

I'm fully planning on leaving septic completely to the professionals. :)

Be careful when using n LP heater in an inclosed space. Ventilate the space before entering it, you could have a high concentration of CO in there. You could go in, and not come out,

You can tap the power at the pump to run some heat tape to keep things warm if the overload protection can take the load of the tape and starting current of the motor.

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Originally Posted by Lurch

I could run by Sunday afternoon and give you hand trying to figure things out.. I have a bunch of experience trouble shooting my own well.

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Thanks for the offer, I think we're good to go for now.

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Be careful when using n LP heater in an inclosed space. Ventilate the space before entering it, you could have a high concentration of CO in there. You could go in, and not come out,

You can tap the power at the pump to run some heat tape to keep things warm if the overload protection can take the load of the tape and starting current of the motor.

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Good advice, I'll let it clear out for a few minutes after removing the cover.

Not sure how to tap the power at the pump, would I just cut the 3 prong off of the heat tape and match up white and black (ignoring ground)? Would it be best to tap in above the fuses (between the switch and the breaker feeding the pump)?

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Originally Posted by th3w01f

Man, I need to learn more about electrical in general, any electrician on here want to give a few hours of private lessons for good $$$. I'd rather learn from someone who knows what they're doing than watch YouTube. Waiting until things fail just isn't working out for me. I don't even know how the hell to tell if these fuses have failed. :)

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Next time you're at a Home Depot, grab one of their Wiring 1-2-3 books. They're very handy and informative. I can do the basics, but when it comes to two switches for a fixture, I don't do them often enough to keep it straight in my head. The diagrams are excellent.

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Originally Posted by Jimmy

Next time you're at a Home Depot, grab one of their Wiring 1-2-3 books. They're very handy and informative. I can do the basics, but when it comes to two switches for a fixture, I don't do them often enough to keep it straight in my head. The diagrams are excellent.

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Thanks, just ordered the book off of ebay for a good price and I also grabbed the Ortho wiring basics book.

On a side note, we rebuilt the cover yesterday, replaced the rotting 2X4's and added some R30 insulation to the cover (there was none before) and no issues last night. I would have liked to build a new cover but it was too freaking cold out. :)

I learned quick and you will too in time...after problems the first two years, I haven't had any in the last six. The first two years, I had a frozen line from the well head; I had to have somebody come out with a mobile welding truck and thaw the line...$250 each time. I now have what is basically a block heater on the line coming from the well and I sealed off the wall of what use to be a garage door where that line was exposed. There are a couple of guys that make tons of money thawing out lines up in the conifer/Bailey area. The switches used off the pressure tank to turn on the well are really shitty too. I have to flip the contacts occasionally for the system to turn on. Having somebody walk you through your system is extremely valuable. I didn't know anything about it when I started; its not bad once you have somebody show you.

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Originally Posted by BushMasterBoy

I always use a hair dryer directed at the suspected frozen part. YMMV

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This thread is frozen well advice, not frozen girlfriend.

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Originally Posted by MED

I learned quick and you will too in time...after problems the first two years, I haven't had any in the last six. The first two years, I had a frozen line from the well head; I had to have somebody come out with a mobile welding truck and thaw the line...$250 each time. I now have what is basically a block heater on the line coming from the well and I sealed off the wall of what use to be a garage door where that line was exposed. There are a couple of guys that make tons of money thawing out lines up in the conifer/Bailey area. The switches used off the pressure tank to turn on the well are really shitty too. I have to flip the contacts occasionally for the system to turn on. Having somebody walk you through your system is extremely valuable. I didn't know anything about it when I started; its not bad once you have somebody show you.

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Had the 20 year old pressure tank and all accessible plumbing replaced today. I watched every bit of the 5 hours and had them explain exactly how things worked. Not sure what happened the other night, the switch was corroded and the pressure gauge wasn't working at all. Their best guess was a bit of ice in the nipple attached to the switch caused the pump not to turn on. When they cut the vinyl tubing connected to the holding tank, they poured out about 5 gallons of black/green sludge and algae. My theory is that the previous owners left the well pit open to the sun all summer long which caused some strange growths in the clear and PVC tubing.

Now what to do with 300' of buried, 20 year old, PVC that's connecting the houses..... That's going to be a PITA at some point, especially the part that enters the main house 10' below grade, under the driveway.

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Originally Posted by spqrzilla

This thread is frozen well advice, not frozen girlfriend.

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