Life expectancy of well pumps?

[Richard A. Maday]

How bout this one?

[Dale Duffy]

The pump looks new, the rest of the system is shot---

[Dale Duffy]

I'll take that back, the tank should have the rust brushed off and painted---

[Marc D. Shunk]

Somebody went to a lot of effort to make a nice nylon base for the pump motor and used Kynar piping for the pump, but didn't sit the tank on anything to keep it from drawing damp and rusting out.

[David A. Andersen]

The tank is on a vinyl tiled floor. They rust out because the cold water causes condensation on the outside of the tank. That moisture below the tank on the floor is most likely condensation.

[David P. Valley]

Simply recommend the condensation pipes be placed into a condensation pump and have the rusted tank sanded and painted.

[Linas I. Dapkus]

The newer steel tanks are thin and do rust through. I had one that lasted about 5 years and sprung a leak. I replaced it with a spun fiberglass composite tank.

[Joseph Hagarty]

http://www.inspect-ny.com/water/Pump_Life.htm

Jet Pump Life Expectancy:
An above-ground one line (shallow well) or two line (deep well) jet pump often operates for a considerable range of years, as few as 4 years or as many as 15 or 20 years before needing replacement.
A typical well pump life expectancy (lumping both the electric pump motor and the pump assembly together) is about 10 years in the U.S. and Canada, and about 5 years in Mexico and Central America.

[jkogel]

The label says '88 for the tank, so it's in reasonable shape. Looks like there is a metal ring under it, which is what's rusting out.

[Joe Farsetta]

Pump life expectancy figures are directly related to the number of cycles per hour the pump facilitates. As Joe H stated, the pump can last 3 years or 30.

Pumps and associated systems (tanks) are a matched set, and should be sized for the specific application, calculating around 6 cycles per hour as optimal.

[Jack L. Gilleland]

Rick my rule of thumb with a pump was let sleeping dogs lie. If it works.......... I personally have seen pumps (belt driven that sounded like an HVAC tech vac. pump) work great. Try telling a farmer he has to replace his well pump because it is old. Rather pick a fight with his 2 great danes. Let him know that due to age he might consider budgeting for a new one.

[David A. Andersen]

Wow Jack! Your daring!!

In this forum of "How old is this A/C etc.?", Are you going to get a reddie ?

I agree with you, but then I won't even answer the QOD on equipment age because age has nothing to do with anything. If it makes noise, my ampmeter and IR will tell me all I need to know. It is outside the SOP, but I feel safer outside than working off age.

[Jack L. Gilleland]

So David you mandate a change of the pump if it reaches a certain age even if it seems to be working correctly? Not drawing an increased amount of amps. I wont go in and tell someone a change has to be made because the unit is 10 - 12 years old. I will give them the facts, indicators and explain.

[David P. Valley]

In this particular situation, it's very easy to CYA.

Simply report that the tank was operating as expected, with no obvious defects noted at time of inspection. However, due to systems age, it is clearly beyond it’s life expectancy, so a professional repair of the rusted areas or replacement should be considered soon.