I have a 215 foot deep well with a submersible pump at the bottom that I needed to remove. The casing is 6 inch.

I hooked up a 2000 lb winch to both the pipe and the safety rope that runs to the top of the submersible pump to hoist the entire thing out.

The first 40 feet went without incident. Then the wiring cable started to tighten; this didn't make a lot of sense because it is anchored to the well pipe about every 10 feet or so with cable clamps and the pipe was still coming up with no trouble.

The winch then started to slow and the safety rope and cable went very tight. I backed off the winch and dropped the whole thing back down the casing to see if this would free things up. It did drop about 15 feet back down, but that didn't fix the jamb. The tension went off the winch suggesting everything is stuck in the hole.

Problems:

1. I have 2 torque arresters on the line at about 80 feet and 160 feet down. I think they will make it next to impossible to get a camera down the hole to see what is going on.

2. I believe that the pipe has detached at either the top of the pump or one of the 2 backflow valves; I tested the load on the pump and it is pumping water, but I am not getting any up top. All pipe and wiring is brand new and I have never had trouble with the water supply in the past. Originally I pulled the pump last summer to replace the submersible that burnt out and ended up replacing everything because the piping was 20 years old and rigid, not flexible pipe and the wiring was outdated too.

I think that this detached pipe was what caused the pump to get lodged in the first place; perhaps by pulling the safety rope that runs off the top of the pump slightly more than the piping itself, I created it to run up past the other pipe and somehow wedge itself in the casing.

I tried running a water supply down the casing to see if I could float things free, but I am pulling too much head and couldn't get an adequate supply of water down there. I am on the top of an 85 foot cliff.

Everything is really wedged. I don't want to put any more tension on the safety line for fear of leaving the $1000.00 pump at the bottom of the 215 foot hole and rendering the entire well useless. If I snap the wiring, that can be replaced as can the piping if necessary, but if I lose the pump I am done.

I think I need some kind of ramming rod to push down from the top to try to dislodge everything but I have no idea what depth the snag is located OR what I could use to do this? Obviously it would have to be something I attach together as I drop it down the hole and then could take apart as I pulled it back out. It couldn't be too heavy or I wouldn't be able to hold onto it because it might be 200 feet deep!

I need to get this thing out before the snow flies.

I would love some advice on this one. Has anyone dealt with something like this? Is it possible to get a camera down through the torque arrestors to at least see what I am dealing with and at what depth? The camera would have to be on a pretty sturdy cable to do the job. Where should I look to find a camera to do this?

I would appreciate any help. Regards

I know of a couple wells that collapsed and trapped the pump in them. Even if your pump has became detached there shouldn't be anything for it to snag on. Can you get a well rig over the hole to try and pull the pump ?

Have you always pulled this pump mechanically? At 215', no doubt its got some weight to it but I and a helper pull that depth by hand routinely. The reason I ask: when pulling by hand you can 'feel' the pump reacting and encountering any restrictions coming up and immediately adjust your actions to accommodate.

Is it possible to reset the pump to original depth and start over? Have you used a strong flashlight to see if the wire is caught up on the pitless?

Hello,

To get a rig over the piping will cost me a $1500.00 set up charge which I would like to avoid, seeing as I have $3500.00 already invested in new equipment that is currently stuck.

This is only the second time we have had to pull the pump. The first time we did do it by hand. It took 3 of us and almost killed us...extremely heavy at that depth, plus very slippery toward the last part. We can't drop the pump back down; we have tried; it is completely stuck.