What did lightning do to my well?

Capt Quirk · Sep 27, 2017

We had a freak storm last week, and took a lightning strike in camp. It seems to have hit the pine tree closest to the deep well, maybe 12 ft away. I thought the strike killed the pump, but it just fried the wire to the pump, even though it wasn't plugged in. Anyways, after getting the pump rewired, the water has been running brown. What happened here?

WayneB · Sep 27, 2017

split casing.
water is conductive, and provided a good path to follow.
I think you have three choices, run a LOT of water through the pump and hope it seals, or backflush water through and down the well.
Third choice is dig a new well or try to recase that one.

Jim Baker · Sep 27, 2017

Casing could be ruptured. If it is still pumping water for 50 Bucks you can put an inline filter on the intake and outflow side of your tank.

Katalee · Sep 27, 2017

Water filter.

Lilly001 · Sep 27, 2017

When I had my well drilled I had a metal casing put in just for that reason. My well driller said that was an uncommon but possible hazard of a PVC casing.

Capt Quirk · Sep 27, 2017

WayneB said:
split casing.
water is conductive, and provided a good path to follow.
I think you have three choices, run a LOT of water through the pump and hope it seals, or backflush water through and down the well.
Third choice is dig a new well or try to recase that one.

Any idea of how expensive it is to recase the well? It's about 140'.

swamp hunter · Sep 27, 2017

Is it 4 inch or 2 inch..?
I have a 4 inch and if I had to I'd just slide a 2 inch line down it.
You'd have to use a surface mount pump and I'm not sure how much water Lift you could get with one.

BriarPatch99 · Oct 1, 2017

I believe I would run the well non-stop for a few days to see if it will clear up ... a guy near me had to replace a dead pump(not lightning) .... his water was discolored afterwards ... the pump service told him to run it for three days .... it cleared back up ...same as it was before the replacement...

Capt Quirk · Oct 18, 2017

Ok, after the step son rewired the power to the switch, it worked ok. After a week, the water was running clearer. Then, the water pressure started to go down, and the pump would shut off. That is when I noticed smoke. I unplugged the cord and removed the cover. One of the connections was melting, and I looked at how he had wired it. I have never seen a red power wire hooked up to the ground, but ignored it. I bought a new pressure switch, went online and found the proper way to wire it in... which was nothing like the way it had been wired. Anyways, hooked it all up, double checked it, plugged it in, and nothing. I checked the power, and the GFI breaker had flipped. Reset it, plug in the pump, and the same thing happened. So, do you think the pump is shot?

swamp hunter · Oct 18, 2017

Change the GFI first.
Just slap a comparable apm regular breaker in the panel for a test run. I change 50 GFI's every year. Any kind of moisture , as in not in ac and they go bad regular

Crakajak · Oct 19, 2017

swamp hunter said:
Change the GFI first.
Just slap a comparable apm regular breaker in the panel for a test run. I change 50 GFI's every year. Any kind of moisture , as in not in ac and they go bad regular

This first^^^^^^
Then check power to pressure switch.Then check power to pump.
Was the smoke at the pump or the pressure switch?
When you say nothing happened is the pump coming on and no water is moving or is the pump not coming on?
If the pump was wired incorrectly and smoke was coming from it.Most likely the pump.However if it was wired backwards it could have shredded the impeller thus pump runs but no water will be moving.

Capt Quirk · Oct 19, 2017

First, the outlets that still work after the strike are the only two remaining outlets. The smoke was coming off the red wire from the pump. When I plug it in now, nothing happens at all... except the breaker flips off on the GFI.

Crakajak · Oct 19, 2017

Capt Quirk said:
First, the outlets that still work after the strike are the only two remaining outlets. The smoke was coming off the red wire from the pump. When I plug it in now, nothing happens at all... except the breaker flips off on the GFI.

Sounds like the pump has shorted out.

SwampMoss · Oct 20, 2017

Have you tried plugging it into a non-GFI circuit?

Capt Quirk · Oct 20, 2017

SwampMoss said:
Have you tried plugging it into a non-GFI circuit?

The genny has four outlets, all are GFI, except for the 220. The well is 110.

SwampMoss · Oct 20, 2017

You could get a meter and ohm out the pump to see if it is ok. A quick google search will show you how to check.

swamp hunter · Oct 20, 2017

Just a thought..
Are you using that 220 Outlet or letting it sit because you have nothing that takes 220 Volts ?
Buy a 60 amp RV Panel and run the 220 cord to it , install a couple breakers and you've lot's more elec. cheap.
Your already running the generator...

Capt Quirk · Oct 20, 2017

The 220 is just sitting empty for the time. Going to put up a power box down the road and do just that.

Crakajak · Oct 24, 2017

Hey Capt. What was wrong with your well?

Capt Quirk · Oct 24, 2017

Apparently the strike broke the casing, and on top of that, my step son seems to have wired the pump wrong, which caused the pressure switch to melt, and the pump seems to be dead too. And trying to find anybody to even look at it is a dead end, nobody wants to get off their butt unless I want a new well. It would be cheaper and easier to move.

What did lightning do to my well?

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