DIY well drilling / trench digging for GSHP

[nokiasixteth]

Sccoupe is there any updates

[nokiasixteth]

Originally Posted by Ron342

I think that for 3/4" u bends, the hole is bored with 3 1/2 to 4" here.
I used 4" with 2 window weights taped to the bottom u bend fitting and the ubend full of water and it went right down easily.

We done it on a big rig one time we used a rod about 1 1/4 and made it where we could drop the hdpe down the hole and winch that monster up. It was around 17 ft . But we dug quick in sand withouta lotta jug mud the sandy layers dropped in at times so the 17ft of metal dropped in through it like a missal .

[Sccoupe]

Originally Posted by nokiasixteth

Sccoupe is there any updates

I've switched over to 50 foot holes to try and speed things up. Its just too time consuming with dropping and pulling pipe constantly. Two 90 foot holes, two 50 foot holes, and a 40 foot hole are drilled. The 40 footer finally done in the only core bit I have used. So not too bad for so much limestone drilling. Another bit is on order.
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The two 90 foot hole pipes have the pipe dropped in, but still no grouting. For the last 6 weeks or so, they have been taking in the heat from a 1 ton PTAC. The ducts from some rooms above my garage have been disconnected from the main heat pump and are running their own geothermal zone. Its all running fine with loop temps not going above 80F even with the A/C running constantly all day.
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The Grundfos circulator pump is doing its job. Its a simple 3 speed pump wired right to the compressor contactor. After much research, it seems that those flow centers are extremely over priced! Literally a tank, pump, and some fancy valves to make flushing easier. All of this can be done on the cheap and they are using the same type of pump i'm using at only 60 bucks. For $150 or so, there are variable speed pumps based on delta T, so one of these will be used for the 3 ton pump that will go in the main part of the house.
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As the drilling continues, the last part of the equation will be what kind of 3 ton heat pump to buy. Single stage PTAC's can be brought pretty cheap, though not as cheap as a diy conversion. This may be where some money needs spent for efficiency on a 2 stage pump with hot water heater. That's a big difference in cost though and it needs weighed out.

[nokiasixteth]

Originally Posted by Sccoupe

I've switched over to 50 foot holes to try and speed things up. Its just too time consuming with dropping and pulling pipe constantly. Two 90 foot holes, two 50 foot holes, and a 40 foot hole are drilled. The 40 footer finally done in the only core bit I have used. So not too bad for so much limestone drilling. Another bit is on order.
-
The two 90 foot hole pipes have the pipe dropped in, but still no grouting. For the last 6 weeks or so, they have been taking in the heat from a 1 ton PTAC. The ducts from some rooms above my garage have been disconnected from the main heat pump and are running their own geothermal zone. Its all running fine with loop temps not going above 80F even with the A/C running constantly all day.
-
The Grundfos circulator pump is doing its job. Its a simple 3 speed pump wired right to the compressor contactor. After much research, it seems that those flow centers are extremely over priced! Literally a tank, pump, and some fancy valves to make flushing easier. All of this can be done on the cheap and they are using the same type of pump i'm using at only 60 bucks. For $150 or so, there are variable speed pumps based on delta T, so one of these will be used for the 3 ton pump that will go in the main part of the house.
-
As the drilling continues, the last part of the equation will be what kind of 3 ton heat pump to buy. Single stage PTAC's can be brought pretty cheap, though not as cheap as a diy conversion. This may be where some money needs spent for efficiency on a 2 stage pump with hot water heater. That's a big difference in cost though and it needs weighed out.

Can't say that I blame you digging in lime stone rock and gravel makes drilling diy a mess and pain. Congrats on being able to do it your self that alone saved you a ton of money. Yea . Money spent now without inflation may be money earned in the future . Money seems to be everyone's shortcomings . I know it is one of my biggest.

Only bad thing with the 50 footers is they may not yield quite as much heat. I seem to have read less than 30 is the coldest . Then every so many feet it naturally rises. I looked on ac hackers diagram with the 17 feet holes. Obviously he hit rock unfortunately .

[Ron342]

Are your holes filled with water??? If not would they hold water you added??
Might eliminate the need for grout.

[nokiasixteth]

Originally Posted by Ron342

Are your holes filled with water??? If not would they hold water you added??
Might eliminate the need for grout.

If i added water and filled mine would take the water down to around 13 or so ft then stand being that is where the static level of water is . Here i hit a bearing layer of water bearing beach sand at 12-17 ft then all blueish clay until 300ft deep.

[Ron342]

Roughly the same here but I don't know how far the blue clay goes. Mine was water from about 15 ft to 100 where I quit. I added dry sand then bentonite pellets near the top.
I think the saturated sand gives better heat transfer than dry and hope it will be better than thermal grout, maybe as much a 3/4 or 1 ton for the 100ft.
Since Scoupe in in solid rock and probably can't get anything thick down the hole, I thought water fill would be great for him

[Sccoupe]

So far, all of the holes but one, stay filled with water up to about 15 feet from the surface, but I dont know if this is year round, so cannot count on that. The one hole, all of the water disappears into the abyss as fast as I can pump it in there.
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The plan was to flush the holes with pool filter sand and water until topped up with sand. I may go the extra and pipe in a half inch wetting system to the top of each hole to be able to keep the sand wet as that will conduct much better, so I read anyway. Wish I had more time to test and measure effectiveness, but winter is on the way with plenty more drilling to do and all this pipe still need buried.

[nokiasixteth]

Originally Posted by Sccoupe

So far, all of the holes but one, stay filled with water up to about 15 feet from the surface, but I dont know if this is year round, so cannot count on that. The one hole, all of the water disappears into the abyss as fast as I can pump it in there.
-
The plan was to flush the holes with pool filter sand and water until topped up with sand. I may go the extra and pipe in a half inch wetting system to the top of each hole to be able to keep the sand wet as that will conduct much better, so I read anyway. Wish I had more time to test and measure effectiveness, but winter is on the way with plenty more drilling to do and all this pipe still need buried.

I have seen that a lot have seen one take 500 gallons out of our tank . Makes a pain to dig. Yea I heard the same thing about sand better. You prob could fill it to the water level with coarse sand . Then drop grout to it from there to top. Time and money is an enemy no one can beat.

[Sccoupe]

Only one one the holes has ever flushed cuttings (pasty water) all the way out of the hole. The rest (other than the empty hole) dont fill much past 15 feet down and then it all still runs away before getting to the surface. So that at least is ok. Luckily no gravel. Its a real pain hitting a section of quartz though. cuts too fast, crumbles, and then its like trying to drill ball bearings until you get passed the mess.