How do I remove this well seal???

[samched]

I am in need of pulling my submersible pump but am struggling to undersntad my well seal and how to get it off. See pictures below. Previous house owners built an addition over the well so the trap door is what I am working out of. The spilt-top well seal and bolts are very rusted to the point I cannot even begin to loosen the nuts without them rounding over.

To remove the seal, my GUESS is I will have to force the seal off even with the bolts/nuts tightened down. I started playing with this with a pry bar and started to get the one side of the seal to budge but didn’t want to push it. At this point I am thinking I have two options:

• Keep prying on the well seal (the seal is slightly larger in dimeter than the casing, leaving a small lip to pry on) until it comes off and proceed with pulling the pump.
• Cut the plastic pipe going to pressure tank so everything is freed up, and apply upward pressure to the drop pipe somehow while simultaneously prying on the well seal.

I am partial to option 2 but I have a few uncertainties… I don’t fully understand how the drop pipe/pump is supported/what is bearing all the weight. In videos I have seen on well seals, the drop pipe slides freely in the seal, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in my set up because then the elbow fitting above the seal would be sitting flush on top of the seal. Does the seal squeeze the drop pipe when installed/tightened to the point it bears all the weight? And if so, if I remove the seal, is everything going to want to fall down in the well?

If I go with option 2, my tentative plan is to wrap some heavy gauge wire tightly around the drop pipe right underneath the elbow (see red arrow) and hook it up to a come-along to slowly lift on the drop pipe. My hope is this helps to lift the seal out of the casing as I am prying on it, and also act as a safety from the drop pipe falling down the well once the seal is loose. Also somehow glue or braze some sort of metal piece to each side of the seal and hook a safety line to it so I don't risk them falling down the well.

Any insight is appreciated or suggestions on better ways to handle this. TIA!!

 

[Valveman]

Brush those bolt threads with a wire brush and spray with WD40 or something and let sit for a while. You don't have to loosen the nuts very much to make the seal come loose. Do not remove the nuts or the bolts will fall in the well. The bolts just squeeze a rubber gasket that seals against the casing and drop pipe. It should not seal against the drop pipe enough to hold the weight like that. The elbow should be sitting on the well seal. Either the well seal it tight enough to hold up the pump, or the pump is sitting in a couple inches of muck, which isn't good.

A nylon lifting strap would work better than wire to grab the elbow. You can also stick something with a hook in the vent hole of the seal and pull on both at the same time. The sell seal won't come up without the pipe and the pipe won't come up without the well seal. With enough prizing and lifting everything will come up, bolts loose or not.

 

[RS]

I see now that you don't have a pitless adapter underground like we did, so your problem is probably in the well. Like Valveman said, clean the bolts and spray. In cases like that I would use a cold chisel and hit the nuts in the middle of the flats, that will expand the nuts and hopefully allow them to loosen. Good luck!

 

[samched]

Thanks fellas. I have already tried brushing and spraying the nuts and all I get is rounded nuts, or, on one of of them, I got the nut to turn but the bolt just turns with it. I like the idea of a nylon strap for pulling on the elbow... I think that's the route I am going to go with pulling on the elbow with a come-along and prying the seal... fingers crossed!!

 

[Valveman]

If the bolts will spin the gasket is not squeezed tight and the seal should come up with the pipe.