REPLACING and REWIRING our SUBMERSIBLE WELL PUMP by HAND | INSANELY HEAVY!

We are replacing and rewiring our submersible well pump, in this episode of our off-grid house build series. We replace the pump because it was 115v and took too many amps for the distance it was from our inverter. A 220v pump takes 1/2 the amps and will give us more water.
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Thanks for stopping by our off grid cabin build channel. We recently moved from the city with all of its conveniences to the middle of the forest near Sandpoint, Idaho. On our channel, we are sharing our journey from grid life to an off-grid homesteading life. We are starting from scratch on bare land. I hope you will come and join us on this journey as we build our off grid cabin and establish our homestead. You can learn more about our story here • Why we Choose to Live ...
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[@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving]

🔥 WATCH OUR OFF GRID CABIN BUILD FROM THE BEGINNING kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3jJppqcqt95gM0

[@Buzz-Of-Craze]

I miss spicy food challenge, you know what i mean, mr martin

[@ryanchristopher5906]

You need a pair of wide vice grips with a split 1” coupling welded to the tips .

[@babosing]

Pak Martin, please collab with youtuber Martin Arek Vlog. His name is also Martin. He is indonesian living in usa, vlogging his road trip now.

[@harlanmclain1719]

I put a valve in mine so when I take off 4 any amount of time it drains all my water lines so they can't freeze if heat goes down & not there works great

[@hubertwebb9869]

Wow, your son and daughter are just the right age to make a huge difference helping with projects and chores. And your wife and daughter are so pretty and they smile a lot.

[@couldabin]

The team that works together, wins together. Great job!

[@SirAnthony25]

That is the first time I’ve seen a deep well pump removed by hand ! Wow !

[@juliejohnson9531]

🤩

[@fisherus]

Marty, using string to pull wire through PVC conduit that has elbow joints is a no-no, as the string can cut into the inside of the joints. You should use the string to pull a flat piece of pulling tape back through your conduit and then pull the wire with the flat pulling tape to avoid damaging your conduit joints and elbows.

[@terrynichols7199]

When installing your wires to the pull string it helps to stagger the wires so you don't have the wires all bunched up creating a thicker diameter in one spot. Did a bunch of this cable pulling in my working years.

[@wulfclaw4921]

Thanks ! You gave me some hope. Attention people : This is what a family working together in America looks like ! Please note: Everyone isn't off in la la land staring at a smart phone. All working together for the benefit of everybody ! I watched my friends at Mylittkehomestead grow up and they all worked together also. It's awesome to see ! God bless everyone of you ! Oh, and lock that glue up ! LOL Love ya'lls channel! Wulfy

[@INTERNATIONALvids]

Why in America? A family anywhere around the world can work together.

[@AldoSubrotoPamudji]

Nice to see all Jhonson Family Gather again , i see Sarah was so Busy

[@TheProfessor936]

Wow, her green eyes REALLY illuminated when you were talking about her piling up roots.

[@HaroldReece]

Nice to see the whole family involved in the project. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[@sarah_henley]

Thanks for watching!

[@GlenS123]

Sarah is really maturing, looking more like mom every episode. Geat job on pump.

[@jimmrazek4533]

You four make a great team. Another of hard work. Been watching for a long while. I get happy tears. God be with you all. Love the songs you put on your videos. Thank you for sharing your life with all of us.

[@juliejohnson9531]

That’s awesome! Thank you for your nice comments.

[@freddien7]

Good to see the whole family back together!!!, Poor Jules all talked out!! get better. Good job on the wiring, Thanks from UK for the video. x x

[@charlessessions7293]

Love y'all's videos !! Nice to get a long video every now n then !! Sara is a beautiful young lady ! She hasn't met a Christian young man back in Tennessee @ College ? Marty the look on ur face when new 3\4 hp pump came to life was priceless !! It made all that hard work Worth It !! How is y'all older daughter doing we don't see her much anymore ! God Bless Y'all .....

[@johnseth8728]

Enjoyed your video. Took brakes while rebuilding a skid steer for our place. As your family has come to know there's always something to do and always something to fix. Stay safe. Enjoy Sunday Services with your other family.

[@SomadTmg]

wow compact cooperation between family members, the dog helps too, good luck always

[@joshgnzlez116]

So happy for the successful projects & progress that you guys been doing! Love this channel! God bless you all!

[@genedegiorgio1617]

The back to back 90s at the house might make hard to pull in any additional wire, but everything you did looks great. I like how you all work together. Not enough of that anymore.

[@MAJ_TADean]

I’m really impressed how y’all tackle anything that needs doing. Love that you’re sharing your experiences too. Thanks

[@StephenCarmona]

I started watching because I'm interested in building an off grid home. I've gutted and rebuilt 3 homes. You're doing a great job. What I really appreciate is the family dynamic. You and your wife raised 2 high quality children. I love how they pitch in. It makes me think I should have got my boys out of southern California when they were young. You did it right. I'm envious.

[@tuckprior]

Thanks for the Happy Birthday at the end guys. It’s always a pleasure to watch you all, homestead is coming along great.

[@juliejohnson9531]

Hi!!! You have a very thoughtful daughter to contact us about your birthday. Thanks for your compliment.

[@usoda6974]

Happy Birthday, Mr. Prior

[@onlymise2758]

Lads ye are seriously inspirational ............ Loving the build .... Much Love and respect from Dublin Ireland

[@greywolfwalking6359]

Good job family! Good to have all hands on deck to help out!

[@loucinci3922]

“Well” done. Looks real professional. Inspector should be happy with your work. Thanks for sharing.

[@priusrepellent]

Marty, Would be a nice addition having a small well casing/pump house, keeping it all indoors as well.

[@peterthrupp3133]

I am not planning to built anything, but I love watching your progress. Love your family’s can do and cheerful attitude.

[@juliejohnson9531]

Very cool! Thanks for your kind compliment.

[@louisl.8724]

Put the disconnect high up on a post, so that it is not buried in winter snow.

[@sandravanlankvelt7975]

To tighten....righty tighty...lefty loosey LOLOL forget about misspelling things you'll get the drift!!! Wow you all did such a fantastic job on the well water hookups very nice for sure....yippeee it's done. Gods blessings to you all.

[@eltonnoway5692]

Just a suggestion... while it appears your pipe wrench trick to hold the pump when pulling it seems to work, my wife and I discovered our own trick that has allowed her to hold the pump by herself when I need to take a break from struggling with the weight. We've used it multiple times over the decades and it works great. Our well is not as deep as your... (only 480ft) but its still a lot of work. FYI: the last time we did it two year ago I was 70 and she was 69 (just the two of us) Barring a mechanical failure we're hoping the pump will outlive us and we've pulled outlast pump. Whew! NET: Use the rope tied to the pump motor to our advantage. When I start pulling it up, as the tubing and rope play out my wife grabs the free of the rope rope and heads towards the closest tree and proceeds to wrap the trunk two to three times around the trunk depending on the size of the tree. (A tree as small as 8" to10" in diameter works great with just two wraps). Anyway... as I'm pulling everything up she is easily able to pull on the rope and take up the slack. When I need a break I yell out to let her know then I slowly release my grip while she simply lets the weight of the pump assembly pull back on the rope and it tightens around the trunk. The weight of the pump assembly and subsequent friction of the rope against the tree trunk allows her to hold the entire weight with one hand and she does it all while sitting in a camping chair. FYI: For any folks reading this who have never pulled a well pump... the fun part is when you first start pulling it up and you think to yourself "Hmmm this isn't so bad"... then it instantly becomes becomes crazy heavy and threatens to pull your arms out of their sockets! FACT: When you first start pulling it up the pump and hose and pump are in still submerged in the water and are somewhat buoyant. However, after a couple more pulls the pump finally breaks the surface of the well water and you are instantly holding the weight of the pump, the weight of all that copper wire, the weight of all that poly tubing... AND... AND... the weight of hundreds of feet of water still trapped on the tubing which can weigh hundreds of pounds. As I've grown older over the years our last pump pulling adventure was "almost" more than I could handle as I could only pull in small increments but... my wife using a nearby tree was still able to easily hold it while I rested. We've had a great time working as a team together and find it bittersweet that age is catching up to us. We wish we could continue having fun together for another 50 years... but sadly that's not how life works. [sigh]..

[@lloydwilliams8715]

Wonderful children you got back there. Teach them the way to go 👍👍👍💪🙏

[@PaullaWells]

Congratulations on this huge step, y'all! Lots of work, but well worth it in the end. Great job!

[@marilee324]

breaking ground on our DIY off-grid log home in SE Idaho this Spring. Your channel has provided a lot of useful information. Thank you for sharing. You have a lovely family.

[@erlwindegans3954]

I guess rules are different everywhere but in the UK we would have to add a yellow tape on top of the conduit as a warning line when digging at a later stage that there is an electrical service under there

[@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving]

Good idea but not required here.

[@MarkSterrett]

When connecting threads, remember to rotate backwards to feel the click like a camera lens to prevent cross threads.

[@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving]

Good idea.

[@GeoffreyWoolfendenbonbon]

You guys are always so up beat and happy, a joy to watch

[@juliejohnson9531]

😃

[@autoflowerfarmer3326]

You guys are doing a great job. BTW, the sealant on the heat shrink is actually a Double Heat Shrink. The inner is softer material and shrinks at a lower temp causing an inner seal while the outer thicker heat shrink causes a 2nd seal.

[@rhondacross850]

You are doing a great job Mat and family.

[@zanelile8192]

Glad to see the kids helping.

[@clivedredge]

Hi Martin and family... As a water well contractor I sorta cringed a little on your installation, but there again, you guys across the pond do things a little differently... I stopped using LDPE pipe around 30 years ago and have used HDPE and compression fittings since then... Another tip is to tape your cable and rope to the riser pipe at least every 8ft... I use a rubber car mat on the top of the casing to stop the pipe or cable getting hurt... (That is if I am not using a wheel)... Roll it into a tube and place into the top of the casing then fold the top back... You can then brake the pipes against the matt on the way down (and up) to give yourself a rest... Well done though - nice installation all round...

[@johndaniels7213]

Congratulations! I’m so happy for you guys!

[@jesusprado6394]

To save your back, you could use a tall step ladder with a pulley attached to the upper part, run your pump's safety rope through it and proceed to slowly and carefully lower the pump to it's resting point. Great videos you have.

[@blutothebear]

Replaced my pump last year!!! Set up a overhead roller structure to allow the water piping to travel out of the well and make a gradual 90° bend and then attach to ATV hitch. Effortless!!!!!

[@marjiebuckner2485]

Lots of manual labor, but one step closer to finishing your build! Good idea on Casper n the shop vacuum for running the feeder line.

[@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving]

Thanks. 👻

[@tiempo34]

Perfect example of Pacific north west volcanic activity of the last few million years. Caught between Cascades and Wyoming Ash everywhere!

[@bobjoncas2814]

..a lot of heavy duty fine tuning..good one. keep safe and have a great week...

[@droberts73543]

Y'all are assume and love watching your progress and seeing the kidos grow

[@sharpshorts]

The pipe wrench trick is a good one for holding the weight when you need to rest... When I lived in SW Florida I needed to replace my well pump ... I was working by myself so I backed my pickup next to the well head and used it's trailer hitch -- I wrapped the rope from the pump-&-pipe assembly around the hitch ball as I pulled it out of the well head (cutting the pipe every 20 feet). Did the same thing for the install except I glued the 20 foot lengths of pipe together with couplers as I lowered it down ... had to lower and hold the pump 9 times as I added the 20 foot sections together until I got to the 180 feet mark (10-15 feet below the water table level of my well) Had to do the same thing again several years later when the pump failed (the glued pipe held up without any issues)... Several years after that I had to add more pipe length because the water table level dropped by 25 feet

[@estellaknox4488]

Marty Sarah, seth,and mom you guys rocks that professional work look out license work Marty crew got this with a little 💪💪into it well done.

[@juliejohnson9531]

Thank you!

[@selador11]

Nice torch work there, Marty! In the future, you might want t get one of those small butane torches. I have much more control over the shrink with one of those, than with a propane sized torch. Also easier, because I can twist and turn the little torch in any direction or angle, and the flame doesn't change.

[@JourneyOnLife]

That was really awesome to see you pull the pump out. Because someday I may have to do that and since I like doing things myself I know it's possible.

[@juliejohnson9531]

I’m glad Marty is strong. 😆

[@runForrestrun62419]

hillo mr. Johnson family, i really like your corporation work and i am verey old subscriber since 2016 fron Saudi Arabia.

[@juliejohnson9531]

Wow! That’s awesome! Thank you.

[@Abatix]

So excited for all your progress! I bought some land in Oregon, and I wanna do the same eventually!

[@CreachterZ]

That string trick was awesome! Casper done good!

[@larrykelly2838]

Congratulations y'all, alot of hard and it paid off.

[@JourneyOnLife]

I like how you were able to dig that trench by hand. It shows it is possible if no availability of machinery.

[@davidhimeback9087]

Marty I had a pump replaced a little bit ago. My check value was 20 ft up from the pump. An they have casing Anti bounce around the water pipe. An they dropped Chlorine into the well to stop bacteria from that pipe going back in . After being on the ground..

[@JeepinMaxx]

Good job pulling that pump - smart move going with a 240V at 1/2 the amperage! BTW - I love it when you rock Matt's Demolitia shirt

[@tonyc6278]

my advice soldered wire on the water pump. When soldering, it is always a good way good connection.

[@seekingsubsistence2016]

MARTY I DID IT! You guys are an inspiration, and I can’t wait to get back up to the promised land in a few years.

[@juliejohnson9531]

Congratulations!

[@esam2017]

Hard work, Well" done. Looks real professional.Thanks for the video 👍

[@Kim-yt7mr]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

[@roscoepatternworks3471]

Watching your water setup with interest. I went a slightly different route. Same 2500 gallon tank, using a generator to drive the well pump, for now. For the pump from cistern to house, I'm using a separate solar booster pump. Gravity feed cistern to pump, no check valve and a delivery of 45 psi. I did it this way because I like having a backup system. If I have a problem with the main array, I can still pump water to the house. If I have a problem with the pump array, the main array can still drive the cistern pump. And can still use the generator to pump water from the well. Hopefully it will all work as planned.

[@johnkeyes5719]

What great life lessons to see the Johnson's working together....I am still amazed at Marty's knowledge.....Very impressive...But moreso the incredible attitudes y'all have. Many blesiings to the Johnson's........JK

[@juliejohnson9531]

😃

[@MarthallersMisadventures]

You have a lovely family. Thank you for sharing your projects, very impressive.

[@gocanes2]

Wowww what a cool channel. Great job mom and dad in teaching your youngins how all this works.

[@mariowickel456]

Marty is getting more technical terms in his narration " whoopty woo" in the pipe,

[@sarah_henley]

😂

[@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving]

Got to appeal to the pros you know. 🤣

[@harukrentz435]

It's kinda strange to see Sarah and Seth all grown up after watching them since theyre still kids back in Indonesia. I guess this is how all parents feel seeing their little babies "suddenly" becoming man and woman, btw Seth do you still like sambal pedas ABC? 😄

[@juliejohnson9531]

I agree! They are getting so mature. Yes, Seth still likes spicy food!

[@tonieveritt7045]

Love that motor bike and morning all it all seams to be coming together i bet u cannot wait to finish it all u all have done so well to get where u are now keep safe

[@Polarbear44]

I feel the pain. I have a well, about 150ft. I had to pull it up and out myself. My dad walked the pipe out straight. Putting back down was just as fun.

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

Omg! That looks so heavy! Well done

[@tomstack6871]

you should pile a bunch of gravel at the base of that frost proof faucet for drainage.

[@ernieleithes6545]

That was clever trick with the vacuum and the string.

[@normagarrett6753]

Enjoy what you guys are doing keep it going great work by the way

[@1955Critter]

Enjoyed your video. I learned a few little things that will be useful down the road.

[@qapla]

Good job on getting the well upgraded. Having a 220v pump with the above ground controller is much better than what you had in there. Great seeing the whole family joining in. When gluing a long run of PVC pipe/conduit in a ditch, if you glue a "domed/rounded" cap on the end of the pipe first, you can just stay at the bundle of pipe and glue each piece on and shove the pipe in the ditch. It will follow the ditch as you add new piece to the end. This saves you from having to move every 10/20 feet along the ditch to glue the next piece. The rounded cap allows the pipe to move through the ditch without digging in and keeps the pipe clean. This way, the pipe is already in the ditch when you glue the last piece on. You can try to knock the cap on without glue, but they often don't want to come off when you do that, so I just glue it on and cut it off when I get done. I have glued thousands of feet of pipe using this method installing irrigation for many, many years. Also, they do make trenching shovels (2" or 4") for digging a much narrower ditch. It would have made digging that potion of the ditch at the house go much quicker than that standard round-nosed shovel you used - and you would have had much less dirt to fill back in.

[@glimmermomma4373]

Well I now have a new word!!! Have fun!!

[@juliejohnson9531]

😂

[@GhostPrefix]

Rocking it out Team !

[@jerrysgaragethemoneypit2028]

In my working life (getting a paycheck) I used this installing a pull line in over a 1000 feet pulls.. Also If you are pulling a pull wire you have to make sure the wires are all parallel, Great Job!

[@jesusprado6394]

I always remove the foot valve on deep well pumps. I install an above ground check valve. It makes future pump removals a lot easier. After the check valve I install a Cycle Stop Valve which will lengthen your pump's life spam as well as providing you with a constant pressure. Your pump must be capable of producing at least 50psi. foo proper function. Great videos you have.

[@aprilsteel9466]

What we do in Australia is we pull the conduit over the wires first ,then work one conduit at a time on and seal with glue then bring the next one down. Usually on a run we will use talcum powder so any change is easy to pull through.

[@markallisonmc]

Yes it will work 😊

[@selador11]

I wonder if you could have made something like a tripod made of 4x4s or something, and used a few pulleys, to help lift that pump out?

[@louisl.8724]

Yes and yes.

[@jdarst100]

Been there done that had to replace our 120v pump with a 240v pump last summer when we replaced our lead acid with a Tesla Powerwall 2 tesla in the Tesla will NOT work with a 120v pump but the 240v pump worked fine. Keep trucking in The Payette National Forest Idaho off-grid place. Like your videos.

[@phuongvo3051]

I’m just love your Chanel, great family ,great team work too ,👍❤️

[@larryprimm5204]

Good job Marty oh, I know what it's like and it's a lot of work!

[@j.a.r.family2576]

Never seen your channel it popped up after I watched wild wonderful channel. Glad it was suggested. I'm diggin it.

[@bram7504]

We use to use a tripod over the well-point and pulled on the rope with a tractor, had a 150m well on the farm

[@robinfrazier9763]

I realy enjoyed your video and I hope you 'll lots of luck in the futur . Rob.

[@wegetoutdoors2521]

Thanks for this guys, really fuelling a desire to do the same thing.

[@flatliner2713]

best part, torque arrestor, absolutey needed

[@josephg.3370]

This is a great video!

[@hamadaarifi9041]

thank you and keeps up

[@breakheartorchard4761]

“I’m never doing this again.” I have said that at least a dozen times in building our house. Well done! (Pun intended).

[@freeatlast1020]

"If it goes bad were just going to sell the house" Hahaha! Good one!

[@guygrotke8059]

I actually had a root canal on Tuesday, and that looks worse. Pulling wires through a long conduit works a lot better if you can put your wires on a spool that rotates as you pull.

[@juliejohnson9531]

😂 sorry for your root canal. Yuck!

[@mariowickel456]

Use the pink to put a line in the conduit ,then we pull a mule tape in then pull the wire with the mule

[@davehalloween1684]

Here a crazy idea to late for you but what do you think. If you took a 3” x12” white plastic. Slid it on black pipe. Connect black pipe to well . Slid white pipe up to well and put stone or patio block under it so when fill it don’t shear connects. But it could give your connection a little more protection.

[@dan-scos4140]

Nice job!

[@herbostenkamp8982]

It warms my heart to see those kids working so hard. You just don’t see much of that these days.