Thread: HELP! Pump stays on & water runs back into well!

Hello, I have a 13 year old (Sta-Rite) pump that will not kick off. After installing a new control box and pressure switch it didn't fix the problem. Pressure tank is holding at 28lbs.. I kick on the pump via switch and it runs up to about 40 lbs. and stays there until I manually turn it off. When it kicks off the water literally runs out of every pipe back into the well (you can hear it) and the pressure creeps back down to nothing. When the pump is on there is a little water/pressure, but that fades quickly, even with the pump running. A friend and I pulled the pump and didn't find any leaks in the galvanized pipe. The pump was in approximately 15' of water at the bottom of an 80' well. I certainly am not experienced with this, but it has been brought to my attention that I may want to change out my check valve. Although the galvanized pipe looks good, I'm going to replace the bottom 40' of galvanized pipe just to make sure it's in good shape. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance for your helpclick here to send me a direct email

Hi dengood,

Do yourself a favor and replace the pump and wire. A 13 year old pump has already lived almost two lifetimes. I have to assume the impellers are full of gunk or they are nuking themselves from running dry. Either way, a submersible in a well that shallow should make at least 80 lbs.

All small submersibles come with a built in check valve. If yours has failed, the pump is close behing.

bob...

yeah, I replaced the pump, and replaced the drop pipe with schedule 80 PVC instead of the galvanized. I didn't replace the wire because it seemed to be in great shape. My pump must have sucked up a "chunk of gunk" which fouled all of my water lines including my water softener, which is why I had no pressure in the house because no water was coming in! The lines were so fouled that the outside spigots almost wouldn't turn back fully to cut off the water! The new pump (I was told was bought at home depot) that a friend gave me is MUCH quieter than the older one (StaRite) which I can also credit the schedule 80 pipe for helping with noise. The only thing I'm concerned about is that the new pump doesn't seem to pump at "full throttle" straight from the well with nothing attached. I was told that some more "gunk" probably collected around the screen on the pump and might have decreased the output temporarily but might improve over time. I may see if I can claim the whole deal on my insurance to see about getting a higher quality, heavy duty pump installed. This all seemed to have started with a lightening strike which took out my pressure switch and control box(and possibly the pump). What are your thoughts? Otherwise, after cleaning out all my lines(and I mean ALL of them), my softener, and my water heater, all seems fine.

When you bought a Home Depot pump, you got a Sta Rite. Probably a 10 gallon per minute pump which seems to be all they sell. YOu may have had a 20 or 25 gpm pump in there before. YOu can't buy pumps by only horsepower.

There shouldn't be that much gunk in your well that would plug up your screen. If so, I would have someone come and clean it out. Either blow it with air or pump it off if possible.

bob...

thanks for the info. Everything seems to be running fine and the pressure is good too. The first pump I had was far noisier and vibrated more. When it shut off there was always a loud "thump" through the ground. The friend who helped me do the install had this pump in his well previously and said the water sprayed out twice as hard directly out of the well(not hooked to lines yet). The "gunk" leads me to believe even more that lightning struck the system possibly knocking loose the "gunk" that has built up for the past 13 years from inside the drop pipe. Maybe not, but the water that first came out was black for a while:-( yuck! Now all is clear once I flushed and cleaned the softener. Thanks for your replies.

The sulphur typically leaves black water for a while after making improvements in the well.

If the smell is still there I can help you remove it with out Sulphur removal system.

Sulphur removal

bob...

I don't know about sulphur staining tile Dennis. But it can stain a lot of other things. Like your hands when you work on the well.

bob...

H2S lays down a black residue on sliver and inside tubing. Manganese leaves a black film too.

Gary
Quality Water Associates
www.qualitywaterassociates.com
Softener Forum: http://www.qualitywaterassociates.com/phpBB2/index.php

thanks guys, maybe you could help me with something else. I have a 5 year old Sears water softener with the digital timer/faceplate which I have replaced 3 times already. Is there some kind of adapter I can install on the current Sears softener tank that would allow me to install a Fleck 5600 head to replace the Sears head and faceplate? At $150 a pop it's getting a little expensive to replace. Thanks! Dennis

I sell softeners and so does Gary. Neither of us sell units that can't be worked on by most other repairmen. Sears, Culligan and a few others make sure we can't get parts to fit their units. Even if we could get the parts, we would still recommend new units with equipment that is easy to work on and parts are easy to come by.

With a good brand name piece of equipment, you won't experience the problems you are having now.

Gary, your thoughts?

bob...