In August we ran into water problems…we were running our storage tanks dry. A combination of low water production from our well pump, wrong solar panel aggregation, and a wireless float switch that went bad.
Almost 2 weeks ago I wrote about the success getting the well back up and running with the new pump, wireless float switch, and the right combination of solar panels. < click here to read >
To pull the old pump from 190’, swap it with the new pump, and run it back down 190’ took a lot of well-coordinated help. That means it took a bunch of help from some great neighbors and a loving wife. But, unfortunately that wasn’t/isn’t the end of the entire project.
There were still tasks that needed done:
- Renovate the well shed. Actually, we renamed it…the “turd shed” (more on that later).
- Clean-up the wellhead wiring mess.
- Rewire/rebuild the well control box.
- Put all the pieces back together…and pray it works.
Along the way I added a couple more tasks:
- Run new PV array wire underground in new conduit to the turd shed.
- Move the RPS wireless float switch receiver from its dedicated pole to the turd shed roof.
Now you know why it took me 2 weeks to get back to you with an update!
And last week was my “Trump vs Santa” comic book series. Quite a few folks liked it…some didn’t see the humor. Oh, well. It did give me time to concentrate on the well project without taking time to write articles. A bit of a break from the site for other priorities…like water.
Why call it the “turd shed”??? Here’s a picture of it from the outside…
Literally…there was up to 4” of mouse/rat turds covering the cement floor. That means 49 square feet of turd that has been accumulating for 30 years. All that was underneath a collection of junk and pack rat contributions.
So why not just burn it down?
That would have caused a toxic hazard materials incident for the entire southwest United States! Besides cleaning it out and “renovating” it was cheaper than building something new. Why did I need something at all? The well control box (WCB).
I built the well control box last year when I installed the original RPS wireless float switch. Yeah, it never worked quite right…and I couldn’t figure out what I did wrong. I jury rigged it to work till I could get back to it. And the WCB is a 100% outdoor box that is virtually weather proof.
But, if you knew me in person…I had to correctly wire it at all costs…and I decided it needed a better, more secure home. Hence, the turd shed part of the project. And of course…let’s do a really nice renovation on the shed to store all related stuff such as the frame and spool for pulling the pipe and pump. Then why not the trash pump and hose in there. Then why not put a set of shelves in it for the different bins/boxes of plumbing supplies. Yeah…you get the idea.
So off to the store for a P100 respirator and bleach. Oh my gosh…have you bought bleach lately? I took the property deed along just in case I need a mortgage to buy a couple of gallons of it. Almost.
Two and a half days later I could see the cement floor…cleaned. Oh…and 20gals of a 10% bleach mixture, 3 contractor bags of turds that I could barely carry.
Next came the removal of most of the shed’s interior drywall…and removal of most of the shed’s exterior rotted siding. That was a day. Then new 7/16” OSB to replace all of the removed rot…another day.
Now, my wife stepped up during that time. No, not helping with the shed itself…I wouldn’t ask that of her. But she was at Lowe’s buying something for one of her projects and checked the discount paint rack. Two gallons of really good exterior paint and a gallon of interior paint…$15 per gallon. What a deal!
The exterior paint color was perfect if truth be told. Blends in to the surroundings and is really high quality paint with great coverage and protection. Ah, the interior paint color…well, let’s talk about that one…yuck! It was a taupe color that was just butt ugly…and it was satin finish…dark. Not a problem…I had the answer!
I just knew I had a gallon of high-gloss white paint from when I painted the house…6 years ago. And I kinda got a bad feeling when I saw the rust on top of the can along the seam. And of course it wasn’t full after all. But, no need to waste it…right? I will let the picture do the talking…hopefully you can’t see it in a close-up view.
Bottom line…the shed was painted inside and out and of course I sealed the cement floor…twice. Yup, it was no longer the “turd shed” it is now officially the “well shed”…clean and shinny.
Did I mention the roof work as well? Yeah, some of the metal was kind of…let’s just say…not in great shape. And since the last rain…yeah, I found out still a bit more work to do.
That was most of a full week of 8 – 10 hour days…for an old guy. But, I still had the WCB to rewire. Fortunately I had been working on it for the better part of a month already. Not actually wiring it, but figuring out what I had done wrong and what I had to do to get it right. Oh boy…
I had gotten about 2/3 of it right…the other third…not so much. Now, in my defense; 1) some changes are being made to the solar panel strings/array that made it necessary to change out some parts, 2) I am not a freaking electrical engineer.
With some research help from AI I was able to correctly identify the required new parts, renovate the new box layout and get it completely wired to where it was supposed to work when I did the field install.
So what does this well control box do exactly?
- Control the power source(s) going to the pump 190’ underground down a small pipe.
- Brings together selectable AC (generator) or DC (solar) power to run the pump.
- Protects the power and signal circuits from electrical surges and stray voltages.
- Allows for monitoring of the system.
- A couple other very boring tasks.
Now here is something very cool…a patent. Yeah, you read that right. When I was all done I asked AI if the box was special and unique enough to be awarded a patent. Three hours later after extensive searching of USPTO files AI said “yes”. So that process continues on Monday to apply for a “provisional” patent on this thing. I will keep you posted. Kind of exciting.
So last Wednesday I got the solar panels rewired and the new conduit run and ready to test. Ah, no. Too late in the day, not enough sun left for a valid test. Fortunately the next morning…testing complete…it worked!
Then Thursday came and the finish wiring of the WCB into the system and complete test of the whole system to run the pump, the wireless float switch…everything and all of it. Ah, too late in the day, not enough sun.
Friday brought a few odds & ends to finish-up while I waited for enough sun. By 8:30 all was well…it all worked from start to finish. But all the testing was done with manually manipulating the equipment…not normal cycling. Friday proved to be a good day…but having it all come up and run normally (without my manipulating it) on Saturday morning would be the big test.
Come Saturday morning…IT ALL WORKED ! Phases 4, 5, & 6 completed. One left to go…and that one isn’t urgent.
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