Quote:
Originally Posted by Geo NR Gee
Thank you for answering my many questions and for giving suggestions on how to install a geothermal system.
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Geo,
Very nice to meet you & your family, too.
Super find on the HDPE bore-hole loops, too. Regarding that one pipe you said was kinked, I don't know if it is so badly kinked that it lost air pressure, but if this is not the case, I know that PEX can be restored to it's original shape by heating it up until it just begins to soften, then allowing it to cool back down. PEX starts out like as HDPE, then it is subject to additional processing that results in molecular cross-linking, so it's behavior is different. If you can get your hands on some HDPE to do some tests, you may find that you can fix the kink without needing to splice. But if it IS leaking air, you'll have to splice. Socket splicing is probably better than butt splicing, it certainly results in less fluid friction. But I have over 100 butt splices that stood up to 90psi air pressure testing.
Hope you don't mind, but I wanted to share some pix of your drilling rig. If you have any details to add, please do...
This pic is Geo's drilling rig. As I recall it is a used
Hydra-Drill. I guess it uses a gas engine of about 5 HP and has a planetary gear-reduction box to give it more torque and a rotational speed of around 2 revs per second. The original unit comes with the steel pipe upright pieces and it has simple tubes that attach to the drill motor unit and allow the drill to slide up and down as work proceeds, and more drill pipe sections are needed. It also has a water swivel to allow water (or drilling mud) to be pumped down the drilling pipe. As far as I could tell, the water swivel is made with a rubber case (it's not under a great deal of stress) and contains sealed ball bearings, I am sure. If you go to the linked Hydra Drill site, you can see that the original has a hand-cranked winch, and Geo replaced that with an inexpensive 12 volt electric winch, which should make work easier and safer.
I'm quite sure that many thousands of successful water wells have been dug with such a rig.
If readers think that they could build one of these out of a gasoline powered post-hole digger, they are right.
This next pic is the 'mud pit' that Geo has dug. The way it works is that the gas-powered mud pump pumps drilling mud down through the drill pipe, and this mud lubricates and cools the drill face, and flushed cuttings from the bottom of the hole up the hole (AKA: 'annulus', which refers to the space around the drill pipe.), then it flows out of the hole and into the mud pit where the heavy stuff settles out and the mud is picked up by the pump and down the hole it goes again...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geo NR Gee
One thing I am learning with this project is that it takes time to learn and even though the drilling machine came with a selection of bits, it was not the right bits for the conditions I have here. They may work in many places in the country, but here we have various obstacles.... rocks. Maybe after I get past the upper layer, it may get easier.
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Well, may I suggest a drill bit that is called a 'Tri-Cone' bit?
This little puppy was invented by Baker Hughes, who was related to the famous Howard Hughes.
They are supposed to be just the thing for rocks.
Drill Baby, drill!!
Best of luck,
-AC_Hacker