With work planned to be done on our main drilled well this summer, I'm going to be firing up the old piston pump on the original dug well.
Based on the condition of the pump and tank, I'm guessing it has not seen any real love since the drilled well was installed back in the 1980's. This well I'm guessing, was replaced with the much deeper well because of water volume issues during the dry season. This house was a nun convent originally, and would have had to support 10+ people living in it.

Priorities will be to replumb this pump/tank to connect it to the house before the filters (currently still plumbed after filters as it was when I bought the house).
A new belt and mount will be needed (current belt is shot as is the wooden frame it's mounted too).

For the pressure, I'm wondering if I should turn it down from it's current 40-60PSI to 30-50PSI. Thoughts?

For the tank, I'm pretty sure it's bladderless. It does have the air connection and currently sits with ~5PSI air. How much air should I run in the tank without a bladder?

I believe this old well is located under the concrete slab in the middle of the back yard. There is no access points inside the well, so I can't check to confirm or access the foot.
The water quality the last time I ran this well was fairly good considering it had been sitting for so long.

Anything else I should consider to address before switching to the old well?

Here is an overall shot of the backup pump and tank. It's located in the middle (tall tank and old piston pump in front). Two other filters are now added to the system (carbon after the softener and a spin down manual backwash as the first filter in line) which are not shown in this older picture.



Here is a closer shot of the pump.


A top down shot of the pump and control box (not a great shot, but what I had on hand). It also shows the exit from the tank which feeds the house.

 

So I changed the belt on the old pump and gave it a start to see how she would run. Ran like a top considering it hasn't seen service in probably 20+ years.
I do need to change the gaskets as there is a bit of a leak around the piston shaft when it reached ~45PSI.
Going to see if I can do the gaskets this weekend, change the gear oil and bring the air pressure up in the tank. I couldn't find my bike pump, so I couldn't up the pressure from it's current ~5PSI.

Here is a quick video I took with my cell phone of the old girl running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBNCsX6qdrU And a couple close up shots. Need to figure out what screws to use to fill and drain the gear oil. A co-worker said he runs 5W 30 synthetic oil in his similar pump.

 

Not bad...... quiet and smooth. Not sure what you are going to find on the piston for a water seal..... maybe some kind of packing ? The packing/seal and the oil need to be complimentary too. Don't want the oil eating the old seal.

Easy to spot the drain plug. My guess is that big nut is for oil fill and level checking. I see where it says "check oil" on the one side but that's definitely not removable. Proper level would probably be at the bottom of the word "level"

 

I was kind of thinking the same regarding the fill for the oil.
When I talked to my co-worker (also a long time family friend), he indicated that his Pompco pump (which is the same as mine, only newer and now manufactured in Quebec) has a viewing glass where mine says Fill Level.
The original packing will be leather. I think the new kits are rubber, but will find out.
Apparently I failed to get the model number of the unit, so calling the local shop that has the rebuild kits for these will be useless without the model number.

As for the running, I'm very impressed with it. The noise you can hear in the background is the dehumidifier which was a couple foot a way. Otherwise, the electric motor is still quiet (no bearing noises) and the pump runs smooth.
I need to fab up a mount for the pump when I'm done the clean up and rebuild. I'm thinking simply dropping concrete anchors into the concrete base. Will put hockey pucks (or similar) between the pump and concrete to absorb any vibration and reduce the noise down to a light hum.

 

I don't know much about tanks but that tank looks like it's in pretty darn good condition. Or is it really impossible to tell just by looking at it. It looks kinda new.

 

I know my main drilled well was installed in 1985, so the tank is definitely older then that.
There is no markings on the tank so I don't know how old it is or anything else. I'm assuming it's bladderless to be honest.
That being said, it doesn't have any leaks that I could see. I had it at 60PSI for a couple hours before draining the tank back down.

 

Looks to me the farther you go back in time, the better things were made (sigh)!

Sad to say, but what do I know.lol

 

I think that applies to most things.
Stuff was built to last back then, not to expire and be replaced in X number of years.