OT: water well handpump fix?

[db454]

I am trying to get an old well pump fixed up good enough to use. The piston and sleeve that sets at the bottom of the pipe has a crack in it. It is made of cast iron and im wondering what you all would suggest to repair it. It is a small crack that goes up the cap of the pump itself. It is about 2" long, but there is no gap in between. I have heard if you were to put heat on it and weld it with some nickle rod it would be fine. What are your suggestions? Im pretty sure i only have one shot at this! Thanks

 

[KL-VA]

It really depends on the type of cast iron. Some types can easily be welded. One suggestion is to pre-heat the part, weld it, then bury the part in sand, so it cools slowly. I have welded some cast iron parts with my arc welder and they turned out fine. I believe brazing is generally a better repair method for cast iron, but I don't have a torch or any personal experience with that.

 

[old-9]

Just like tractor questions, need more info. Well pump and piston? Is this an old motor driven "piston " pump or a hand "pitcher" pump?

 

[Den N Ms]

DB454,You may be able to make a sleeve to fit on the inside of the chamber out of a piece of copper tubing,exhaust pipe ect,for the leather piston to work against.Welding may cause it to distort on the inside.Or a colder weld still have a crack down the bore and leak past the leather.If its not cracked on the threaded ends,JB weld mat be your best bet on the inside and outside.Then smooth the inside with emery cloth or a hone.

 

[Greg 2N (TX)]

Nickel Silver Brazing Rod, Flux Coated
Used in joining carbon and alloy steels as well as non-Ferrous metals.
1250 - 1750 deg F work temp

Premium Bronze Brazing Rod, Flux Coated
Used for everyday repair of steels, cast iron, copper based metals, galvanized and malleable irons or any combination of these.
1600 deg F work temp


Use with Oxy-MAPP Torch Kit from Northern Tool for example.

Be careful and use firebrick if possible or shield things in close proximity in the work area, etc.

Safety first!!!

Its up to you if JB weld is better...

Greg

 

[db454]

This is an old hand pumper. The pump or valve(not sure which one its called) is a dempster brand and its the one that sets at the bottom of the well. The part is the cap that goes from the barrel of the pump to the pipe. I would call it the cap. The crack is still tight together so it would probably still seal the pump ok, but im thinking as soon as i thread the pump and pipe to it the crack will spread some. I think im gonna braze it on the outside and hope for the best. The well is only 20ft deep so if it leaks its not a huge chore to take it back out. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[36 Coupe]

Brazing can be done with the carbon arc and a welder.Brazed a broken hinge on my shop stove while the stove was hot.

 

[jackinok]

its called a cylinder,and yes they can be repaired,BUT they must be perfectly smooth inside. If not they will eat your leathers up in no time at all,often in a matter of minutes. A better REPAIR is to sleeve the inside with either copper or plastic,and either replacing the pistons and things with the next smaller size or custom fitting what you have. Before you do any thing,make sure yours is not lined. they were made many ways. solid cast,cast lined with brass,straight brass,plastic just to name a few. Every single part is available,it may surprise you to learn that at least here tsc,attwoods,most other farm stores carries them in stock ,and the rest can order repair parts for you. Last i checked,a new 4" brass cyl was a little over $200 as i recall. New leather washers can be easily made by hand if you sleeve yours by cutting two discs out of either hard wood or metal about 1/8 " smaller than the bore you wind up with. then take a piece of OIL tanned leather,and cut it about 1/2 " larger than your bore. Sandwich it loosly between your two blocks on your rod and drop it into a pan of very hot parrafin wax (be careful parrafin can explode). After about 5-10 minutes in hot wax,quickly remove it from wax tighten bottom nut and imediatly pull it into cyl and let it stay until cool. (make sure you keep smooth side of leather against cyl)and you may have to set up a press to get it in the first time. Once its totally cooled drive it out of cyl and turn it over with edge up. some cyls use several seals,the deeper the well the more you need to hold the weight of water your lifting. Sometimes you will actually find several cyls stacked up a pipe on a deep well sort of like check valves. hope this helps. If you decide to sleeve it with plastic use sch 80 pvc ,sch 40 is not smooth enough inside,and dwv often wont handle the pressure.( by the way, sch 80 pvc Can be threaded for your cyl caps,replacing the whole barrel ,thats a common repair.)

 

[jackinok]

by the way,you Dont need a cyl neccesarily. It simply adds capacity to your well. You CAN remake the leathers and plungers to fit your rod and run directly inside a piece of pipe by following instructions above. By also increasing stroke on your mill to its greatest length also you can often even make up some of your capacity. Remember if you do have to change cyls mill must be set to match LENGTH of cyl. If by chance you have a 12" cyl and crack is short enough,its possible to cut it back to a 10" to remove crack and adjust mill head to compensate. probably would have to have a machine shop cut new treads for you or find a local plumber with a large enough threading machine to recut them.