Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to replace the foot valve on my older jet pump well system.

The problem I am having is that the two black hoses that go down into the well casing (4" ID I think) will not come out. I believe that the ejector / foot valve assembly may be rusted to the well casing and that is why it will not come out. The local well drilling company said there is a lot of magnesium in the water in our area and this may also cause the ejector housing to stick to the well casing.

I have tried lots of force including using a "Jack-All" and all I've managed to do is break the fittings from the top of the black hoses. The plumbers say to call the "well folks" and the well folkes say it's time for a new well ($$$). We are pensioners on a very limited income and the only problem we have is a leaky foot valve that doesn't affect pump prime but does cause the pump to cycle frequently.

Does anyone have any suggestions to remove the ejector. We've tried twisting and pulling etc... and are now thinking of fishing some kind of wire or cable with a hook of sorts down through the black hose hopeing to hook onto the ejector and try to break it free.

Thanks for any suggestion you can offer.

 

After consulting more people (well drillers, plumbers, friends, strangers etc...) all roads seemed to lead to the inevitability of having to drill a new well.

I thought about it some more and decided that trying to pull the ejector assembly up using the poly hoses would not work and then the idea came to pound the ejector down to break the bond to the well casing.

I fashioned a tool using a 4' long solid metal rod about 1 1/4" in diameter and welded a loop onto one end. I tied a 3/8" (10 mm) yellow poly rope onto the loop and lowered this "ram rod" slowly down the well besides the black poly hoses.

At about 30' down I felt the mass of the rod change leading me to think it had started to enter the water, at about 60' down it came to a soft thud that made me think it had come in contact with the ejector. I had secured the black poly hoses at the top of the well with some light cord in case they were drawn down the well too far. I then lifted the ram rod using the rope and dropped it a few times and "bam" the ejector bond was broken and the black poly hoses dropped a few inches. I pulled the ram rod tool out of the well and then slowly withdrew the two poly hoses and the ejector / foot valve assy...Hooray!!

All is well, talk of drilling a new well is over and I am now shopping for all new parts to replace the ejector, foot valve, tubing, fittings etc... The problem it turns out was a corroded galvanized coupler and not the foot valve although they both give the same symptom.

The whole experience kinda makes me wonder how many new wells get drilled unnecessarily.

 

Glad you found a solution.

There was another possibility if you were unable to retrieve the foot valve.
In some cases it is possible to install a check valve at the pump as long as the line did not loose enough pressure to completely loose prime.

 

Please don't ever delete this great idea! After reading this I was able to free my mothers foot valve using this method. I cannot thank you enough!