Frost Free Hydrant not draining....

[travlnusa]

For the past few months I have noticed my electric bill continue to climb. After searching for cause, dawned on me that it might be a bad plug on hydrant allowing the well to run all the time.

Tore it apart this weekend and sure enough the rubber stopper at the end of the rod was well beyond gone. Went and bought parts and rebuilt the unit, short of the pipe that is buried in the ground.

Problem here is that it is not draining after water is shut off. I know this because before we out the handle assembly on, we pushed the rod down and the water stopped pumping, but the pipe did not drain out. Later in the day when I went to use the hydrant, the water came out the second I turned it on, there was no delay for a few seconds to fill the pipe.

Question is why? Did I somehow install it wrong, or my thought is that if it has indeed been running all this time, the drain field is sooooooo saturated it is going to take a few weeks for the very heavy clay soil to dry out allowing the water to drain out.

If it turns out I have a bigger problem, I need to get it addressed before winter hits.

Any and all feedback is very welcomed.

Thanks as always.....

[agmantoo]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4661373_repa...d-hydrant.html

[Darren]

That's a good compilation at the link agmantoo posted. I'd add that the drain port on the bottom of the hydrant is designed for attaching copper tubing to allow the water to drain off. when I've installed or reinstalled hydrants I've always dug out a cavity big enough to hold two concrete blocks side by side. I line the cavity with geotextile, then put the concrete blocks in, and then fold the geotextile down over the blocks to prevent soil from eventually infiltrating the cavity. The tube from the hydrant should be routed into the cavity. You can also use clean stone to fill the cavity.

[travlnusa]

When we put the hydrant in, I filled the bottom of the pipe with gravel and covered with a large (20 gal?) muck bucket upside down to give the water a place to drain.

I do like the idea of hooking up a hose to the hydrant to backflush the line, but since all water lines are off the same pump I am thinking that when I turn on the water to the hose, then open the hydrant to allow the water in, they will just push against each other until they equal out the pressure between them

[travlnusa]

Never mind my last post. Of course the hydrant would be closed pumping water into it, or you would never have acces to the drain hole. Sometimes it takes me a bit to figure things out in my mind.

[HeelSpur]

If its not draining, it sounds like the weep hole is clogged some how.

[oregon woodsmok]

Not draining does not make your pump run. The pump runs because the washer is bad and water is still flowing and not being entirely shut off. Just like a running toilet makes your pump run all the time.

If you aren't getting any delay at all when you pull the handle up, your washer is really leaking badly.

First thing I'd do would be to pull the handle all the way up and let it run at full force for about 30 seconds. Then close it down and see if it works. Sometimes a little rock will get jammed into the washer and prevent the valve from closing completely. It works about 25% of the time, so it is worth a try before you dig up the frost free and replace the washer.

[travlnusa]

I understand that the drainage issues is not related to the pump running situation. The plug at the bottom of the rod was 100% shot. I fixed that.

It was after that was fixed that the lack of drainage problem showed up.

[bruce2288]

With the plunger down back blow the hydrant with an air compressor.

[jwal10]

If the valve is shutting off it is 1 of 2 things, either the drain hole is plugged or poor drainage....James

[wwubben]

I put a large area of pearock around the bottom of the hydrant.The water drains into the pearock.