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Section 2: Inspecting the Existing System / Removal of Old Pump

In this section, you will remove your existing pump and well cover and inspect your well for any obstacles that might obstruct the installation of the ADA100.

1. Remove your existing well cover. There are so many styles, you will have to figure this one out on your own. It may be necessary to use a cutting torch or reciprocating hack saw to remove the old pump from the casing. When cutting the existing casing, be sure to make your cut at approximately 16 inches from the ground as this will result in a desired final elevation of crank arm drive shaft point of rotation between 32”-36”.
2. Using a mirror reflecting the sun (don’t laugh it’s the best way), shine down the casing. If you have a straight well, you can see the water reflecting as deep as 200 feet. Now that you have determined that you have a relatively unobstructed path to the water, you can proceed.
3. In our experience, the most efficient way to remove the existing pump is to contact a local well drilling company. They will have a vehicle equipped with a hoist greatly facilitating the removal of the drop pipe string. The most difficult step in the installation of the ADA100 accessible hand pump is the removal of the existing hand pump. Again, in traditional hand pumps, such as the Monitor pump, galvanized steel drop pipe is used. Therefore, the drop pipe string is very heavy. If the well is relatively shallow, the drop pipe string can be removed by hand. Consult the user’s manual for the existing pump for more specific directions on removal. The well driller will also be able to extend or shorten the well casing (tell them your requirements before they get to the site so they bring appropriate equipment). The top of the casing is 16 inches above ground. They will also be able to make the top of the well casing level if asked. This will ensure that the pump will be perpendicular to the ground upon installation.

Note: Due to some adjustability in the pump height, the top of the well casing could fall in a range of 14-18 inches above ground and it will be possible to position the handle shaft at the proper height of 34” above ground level.

Section 3: Replacing The Existing Well Cover

1. After cutting the casing in Section 2, inspect the outer rim of the well casing. The ADA100 well cover is made to fit a standard 6″ pipe. The casing should measure 6-5/8″ on the outside diameter. Your new cover has 1/16″ clearance. Well drillers often leave torch slag on the casing. This needs to be removed if it protrudes beyond the outside diameter. A sharp flat file will remove it. A hand grinder will also remove the slag very quickly. Make sure the cut is level.
2. Install the ADA100 well cap to the casing using the four Allen head set screws. The ¾” male PVC plug in the cover is for water testing access after the ADA100 is in place. The ADA100 well cover incorporates a taper lock design to hold the ADA100 at the proper elevation with approximately 10 inches of height adjustment. The taper lock collar should be installed on the 2-1/4” O.D. riser tube about 2” up from the bottom of the threads on the riser tube in anticipation of a later assembly step. It may be necessary to use a large flat head screwdriver to slightly pry open the gap in the taper lock collar for easier installation past the male NPT threads.

Section 4: Pump Cylinder, Drop Pipe Installation

Tools / Supplies needed

• one pair of channel locks
• one pipe wrench
• two pairs of vise grips
• safety tool (P11)
• Allen wrench set
• Teflon tape
• one gallon bleach solution made up of 50% chlorine bleach and 50% water.

Before starting, let’s identify and organize the parts that we will need. On the ADA100, the drop pipes are all identical except the one that will be used on the top (D5). This one has male threads on both ends…1” threads on the bottom end, 1-¼” threads on the top end. A 1/16” diameter weep hole has been drilled at a point three feet down from the top fitting. The weep hole location is marked with magic marker.

1. Lay out all of your pipes with the capped ends away from you.
2. Take the pump cylinder (P1) with piston rod male threads protruding and thread on a female sucker rod end. Tighten the sucker rod couplers with two pairs of vice grips. Tighten to the point where the two fittings are shoulder–to-shoulder. Do not over tighten.
3. Apply Teflon tape and thread the drop pipe into the pump cylinder. Be careful not to cross thread. Hand tighten the PVC drop pipe into the SS body of the pump while holding the pump body with one channel lock or pipe wrench.
4. Pour the bleach solution over the pump cylinder. (Watch your clothes.)
5. (two persons) Now stand the assembly on end with the pump cylinder at the bottom, and insert the assembly into the new well cover through the 2-3/4” hole. When the pump passes through the port, slide the safety tool over the pipe and let it lay on the well cover. As the pipe is lowered, the safety tool will stop the drop pipe at the coupling. You can now let go of the drop pipe.
6. You should be looking at a female coupling with a male sucker rod end protruding about 4″. (The piston rod should be pushed to the bottom of the pump cylinder if it is not already there). Now take a sucker rod guide (D3) and slide it over the protruding rod and into the female coupling. Then take a sucker rod with female end and thread this onto the protruding male sucker rod end. Tighten the sucker rod couplers (DO NOT grip on the fiberglass rod) with two pairs of vice grips until the male and female sucker rod couplers are shoulder-to-shoulder. Do not over tighten. Do not crush either the stainless steel fittings or the fiberglass rod.
7. Take another section of standard drop pipe (D1) and stand on end with the blue plastic cap down. With one person holding the pipe upright over the female coupling in the well cover held in place by the safety tool, the other person can remove the blue plastic cap. Apply Teflon tape and then thread both pieces of drop pipe together making sure they are not cross threaded. Hand tighten the newly-added drop pipe while holding the outside of the female fitting of the already-assembled drop pipe with one pair of vise grips. DO NOT TIGHTEN TO MORE THAN 5/8” OF THREAD ENGAGEMENT OR YOU WILL DISTORT THE ROD GUIDE. Do not let the coupling spin on the safety tool, as it can work its way out. Lift the pipe string while the other person removes the safety tool. As soon as the coupling passes through the port, re-position the safety tool and hold it until the next coupling approaches. As the next coupling nears the safety tool, the other person can grab the sucker rod and pull upward helping to support the load and to keep the other person from pinching his fingers as the coupling comes into contact with the safety tool.
   
   NOTE: This process is repeated for each section of standard drop pipe. When you suspect that you might be near your water level, pull up on the sucker rod at any time. If you are not in the water yet, the rod will fall very quickly. When you are in water, the rod will fall more slowly. Sometimes, as the pipe is lowered, a gurgling sound can be heard when the pump is in water. You can also stroke the rod repeatedly and water will be pumped up the string. If you are in water, it will become harder to stroke after ten strokes or so. The pipe string is also much heavier with water in it.
   
   DO NOT OVER TORQUE THE SECTIONS OF DROP PIPE AS THIS CAN DISTORT THE ROD GUIDE AND CAUSE SEVERE BINDING. THE MALE NPT THREADS ARE TAPERED AND EXCESSIVE TORQUE IS NOT NECESSARY TO PREVENT LEAKAGE. TIGHTEN TO A MAXIMUM OF 5/8” OF THREAD ENGAGEMENT.
8. When you are ready for the top drop pipe, install it just like the others. A rod guide is required in the top fitting. Linear alignment of the top end of the top sucker rod will be controlled by the ¾” shaft and the rod gland at the pump head and the last, top rod guide. Lower this drop pipe down to the safety tool just like the others completed so far.

Section 5: Pump Head Installation

Tools / supplies needed:

• One pair of channel locks
• two pair of vise grips
• crescent wrench
• Allen Wrench set

1. Find the 3/4″ diameter top pump rod (P3) and thread it onto the sucker rod at the well cover. Tighten with two pairs of vise grips. Grip the 3/4″ rod only at the upper end where flats have been milled for a crescent wrench.
2. Apply Teflon tape to the male thread at the top of the drop pipe string. Thread the 1-1/4” female end of the 12-1/2” PVC adaptor onto the 1-1/4” male end of the drop pipe string. The female/opposite end of the adaptor has been bushed to 2” to attach to the male/bottom of the 2” riser tube. We have provided a 1-1/4” slip coupler that can be used (if necessary) to shorten the PVC adaptor if for some reason the pump piston is operating too close to the top of the pump cylinder. Two of these adaptors and a short length of 1-1/4” PVC pipe can be used (if necessary) to lengthen the PVC adaptor if for some reason the pump piston is operating too close to the bottom of the pump cylinder.
3. (two persons) Apply Teflon tape to the 2” male thread on the riser tube. Slide the pump head / cabinet assembly over the 3/4″ shaft being careful to guide the 3/4” shaft through the rod gland mounted inside the pump head which is mounted in the bottom of the cabinet. The cabinet weighs 50lbs, so be careful.
4. Once the 3/4″ rod is inserted through the rod gland (3” is ideal), with a 3/16” Allen wrench, loosely tighten the three Allen head bolts holding the taper flange to the well cover. This is a snug fit. Rotate the assembly counterclockwise if needed to arrive at a final elevation of approximately 34” as measured from the ground to the input crank drive shaft centerline. Snug up the three Allen head bolts to hold the elevation until the final function check.
5. Install the pre-assembled crank handle, crank arm, drive shaft, bearing housing, counter-weight assembly through the 2-1/8” hole in the cabinet (from the inside-out) with the crank handle leading. Tighten the bearing housing to the cabinet wall using four 5/16”-18 X ¾” Allen head bolts. Do not cross thread.
6. After positioning the two cam rollers in the yoke tracks, install the yoke to the 3/4” rod by tightening the 3/4” rod using a crescent wrench (gripping only on the flats of the top end of the rod). A few early models had right-hand threads on the yoke and the 3/4” rod. Later models had left-hand threads on the yoke and the 3/4” rod. Left-hand threads, when tightened, will not tend to untighten sucker rod connections.
7. Tighten all bolts and connections except for the three bolts in the taper lock on the well cover that were left snug in an earlier step.
8. Rotate the crank arm to bring water to the surface. The cam roller in the crank arm has been installed at the maximum stoke / rotation position which is at the end of the crank arm. This position describes or results in a cam roller rotation path of approximately six inches in diameter, resulting in a stoke of approximately six inches in length. Ideally, this six inch stroke should be in the center of the sixteen inch available length of pump cylinder. If the crank arm does not rotate freely, it is likely that the piston is not centered in the pump body and the piston is hitting either the bottom or top of the cylinder. There is one way to re-position the piston relative to the pump cylinder — by increasing or decreasing the length of the 12-1/2” PVC adaptor threaded into the bottom of the riser tube. (PVC slip coupling fitting included, but you must use locally-sourced PVC cement). We have provided a 1-1/4” slip coupler that can be used (if necessary) to shorten the PVC adaptor if for some reason the pump piston is operating too close to the top of the pump cylinder. Two of these adaptors and a short length of 1-1/4” PVC pipe can be used (if necessary) to lengthen the PVC adaptor if for some reason the pump piston is operating too close to the bottom of the pump cylinder.

Section 6: Pumping Water. Finishing Touches

It will require about three rotations for each foot of water depth to get the water up to the pump head. 100 feet will require about 300 rotations. There is a very small bleeder hole about 3 feet below the pump head, in the top drop pipe. This takes about 15 minutes to drain and protects the pump against freezing. Each time you go out to pump after a period of pump inactivity, it will require about 10 to 12 rotations to get the water back to the pump head. The check valves in the pump cylinder allow a very small amount of leakage over time. Over several days or weeks, you may need to pump a few extra rotations to get the water back to the top.

Adjusting and setting up the pump

In this section we will be making adjustments to the force required to operate the pump, as well as completing the final steps of pump assembly.

It is now time to adjust the force required to operate the pump. The counterbalance has already been configured so that it takes five pounds of force (at a maximum) to raise the weight to its elevated position. We will use this fact to help us position the track roller bearing in the correct hole of the pin arm. Begin cranking the pump. After ten to twenty revolutions, water should begin pouring from the spout. The 180 degrees corresponding to the upstroke of the piston should feel as “hard” to crank as the 180 degrees corresponding to the elevation of the counter weight.

• If the 180 degrees of the upstroke of the piston is more difficult – the track roller bearing needs to be moved closer to the shaft
• If the 180 degrees of counterbalance elevation is more difficult – the track roller needs to be moved further from the shaft
• If the full revolution feels consistent – the roller bearing is positioned correctly

With the correct roller bearing position determined, tighten roller bearing using Allen wrench.

Be sure that the roller bearing is fastened securely.

SIMPLE PUMP ADA100 PARTS LIST

Updated June 1, 2013