[Michael]

Recently the well had been tripping the circuit breaker. This well is a shared well with 4 homes, so it has a large separate motor and pump on it. Yesterday we finally could not get anymore water on it just resetting the breaker and the control panel had to have a relay replaced on it from the breaker tripping so much, still no go. We finally had a well servicing company come out and they had to pull the pump and motor.

The motors windings were shot and the only problem is the fact that the motor's manufacture had been sold out 3 times since the well was put in 25 years ago. Since this motor is a 3 horse power and this model was no longer available we had a head scratching time with it. We ended up that one of the guys has been in the business for the last 30 years took one look at it and popped in a 3 and half horse motor that was in his truck, he then replaced the pressure switch and the wiring down to the pump and we were back in the water.

We have a account set up for the well and we had $2,500 in the maintenance account and that was only because we all insisted that we have a reserve set up for the bigger bills. So the big bill was a little over the reserve but not as a big a ouch as it could of been.

 

[Mark / Ohio]

That must be a pretty good size casing for that? Something like the city water department uses I suppose. I think the motor sets on top of all our city wells. But where they are located I don't think they had to go all that deep. How deep is your well?

 

[Michael]

The motor and the pump were located 240 feet deep and were located together. The casing is 12" wide.

The other part is the well house is going to need repairs this summer. We were looking at it and all the studs are in great shape but the siding is literally rotting away has the siding is the fiber board (LP siding) siding. We are looking at cement siding as it is the most durable.

 

[Mark777]

Man, Michael

You have had the lions share of expenses lately. First the septic system and now your semi-community well.

Hope your all set up for the years ahead!

 

[Brad]

That's too bad that the motor went out. Good deal that you didn't have to wait a week to get your water back and running.

On the cement siding, is that the James Hardy brand? We have a factory about 2 miles from here. Something makes me think they may have a plant out your way. If so, may be you could contact them and try to get what you need direct, maybe factory seconds. Save a few extra bucks. Good luck!

 

[Michael]

At least none of us really had to pay a lot for the repairs to get the well running again because of having the well reserve. We will have to rebuild the reserve and get the well house rebuilt but that is nothing compared to a really large bill.

We decided to wait until the summer to rebuild the well house and I had 2 Lowe's $100.00 gift cards that I got from my employer at Christmas, We can use this for the small stuff we need.

We had a meeting last night with all 4 families and the agreement was we each agreed to pay $50.00 a month for the well this year and next year to pay for the rebuild of the well house and build back up the reserve. We have been lucky that we got all the years of service out of the well and we have been paying only $15.00 a month for the last ten years.