I recently installed a complete new plumbing system for my mobile home. Everything is new from the supply pipe coming out of the ground from the well on. New water pressure tank, pressure switch, gauge, check valve, fittings, pipe etc. The pressure switch is supposed to be a 40-60 psi and the tank was pre-charged empty to 38 psi. My problem is my pump is shutting off before the tank is filled. It shuts off around 45psi on the pressure gauge. I took the cover off the pressure switch and the pump is shutting off while the contacts are still closed. They have never opened to shut the pump off. The pump justs shuts off on its own at about 45 psi. The pump is still energized, but for some reason shuts off. If I shut power off to the pump after it shuts off at 45 and open a faucet, I only get about 2 or 3 gallons before it loses pressure.The pressure tank just doesn't seem to be filling up before the pump shuts off. When taking a shower the pressure is fine but the pump runs the whole time. Any ideas ? Thanks

Is this a submerged pump? If so, is it new? I noticed you did not mention the pump was new.

Yes. Submersible pump that was here when I moved in about 2 years ago. Seems to work fine till it shuts off around 45 psi with pressure switch contacts still closed (pump still energized).

Do you know how far down it is?

No. I have no idea. Do you think it has something to do with the pump? Like I said it seems to work fine till it reaches 45 psi. It pumps good with several faucets open at the same time. Then when faucets are shut off I can hear the pump shut off around 45psi. Then when I open a faucet I can hear the pump start after only getting around 2-3 gallons out of a faucet. By the way I forget to say my tank is a 36 gallon tank. I believe that is just a rating and actual holding capacity is a lot less. Not sure on that though. I have a disconect switch between the load side of the pressure switch and pump that I shut off when I figured out the pump was shutting off while still getting power. I keep it off till I need water now. Then I switch it on and shut it off after pump shuts off. Do you know why the pump might shut off while it is still getting power? I was at first thinking I had some sort of constriction in the bladder tank and maybe the pump can only put out 45 psi, but that seems low to me. I do think that the tank is filling up more now than when I turned it on the first time. The pressure only got to about 40 psi before the pump shut off and I only got about a gallon of water before losing all pressure. I was thinking of bleeding all the air out of the tank (it is around 35 now) and then turning on the pump. I thought maybe the bladder was stuck together or something and it would open up more with no air pressure above it. But that still doesn't explain why the pump shuts off at 45 psi with the pressure switch points still closed and power going to the pump. I have forgot to shut off the disconnect switch a few times and it scares me a little to think that there is power going to the pump but it is not pumping. I can't afford to buy a new submersible right now!!

I'm at a little bit of a loss on this one. I would say a couple of things.

1. I would put a voltmeter on the switch (pump side) just to make sure you are still getting current even though the points are closed. Stranger things have been known to happen. The fact that it always seems to shut down at 45# just seems to scream "switch". It is also possible that one point is beginning to slightly open while the other remains shut. That will shut the pump down cold.

2. I doubt that the tank is an issue. Tanks have been known to not hold a lot of water after installation. This is because the tank is full of air and just a relatively small amount of water will raise the pressure enough to cut off the pump. However, in a few weeks the water will dissolve enough air to begin filling the tank more adequately. I am not aware of any way of getting around this "dissolving" process.

3. I mentioned the pump because it seems to be the only part that is not new.

Voltmeter reads 110 on both sides of pressure switch (line and load) when pump shuts off. The contacts are definetely staying closed when the pump shuts off. With the cover off and since the switch is new, it is easy to see they are staying closed. I drained all water out of tank and bled the air pressure in tank down to about 18 psi with tank empty. When I turned the pump back on I could tell it ran a lot longer before shutting off this time. About 2 minutes maybe. Then when I turned power off to pump and opened faucets I got at least 10 gallons of water out of bath faucet before pressure ran out. So now I am getting a lot more water in tank before pump shuts off but it is still shutting off when gauge on tank tee reads around 45psi. Since the pressure switch was supposed to be factory set at 40/60 it makes sense that they are still closed. I just can't figure out why the pump is shutting off while still powered. Have you ever heard of that ? Do you think it will damage the pump if it is still getting 110 volt but isn't pumping. I wish I could see what was going on down there. LOL My next move is to let pump run to fill tank... turn off power at breaker box... and back off nut on pressure switch till points open... which should happen at 45psi. Then I will back off nut a little more (I've heard 1 full turn of nut=2-4lbs psi)... and I should end up with a pressure switch set at around 20/40. Then I am going to keep an eye on it for a while to make sure the pressure switch does shut the pump off consistently at around 40psi and hope my pump stays capable of pumping 45 psi. Like I said before, I wish I knew why the pump quits pumping while it still is getting powered. I can definetely hear when the pump stops pumping so I am just assuming it is stopping running altogether.

OH. By the way... THANK YOU for your time and help so far... I appreciate it...

What you are proposing is exactly what I would do. However, that is just a cover-up for a problem which sooner or later is going to rear it's head and cause bigger problems. Still, the more usual problem is for the pump to pump up to a certain level (let's say 45# for example), keep running, yet not be able to get past that pressure. You say your pump is simply turning off at 45#. So the big question is, "What causes the pump to shut down?" I don't know. Perhaps someone else can speculate.

I can only guess that the pump might have some sort of safety feature that is shutting off the pump as the water level drops. That can be checked fairly easily by allowing the pump to run with a couple of faucets on and see if it will keep going for a relatively long period so long as the pressure stays under 45#.

Pumptec will protect your pump from running dry. (http://www.deanbennett.com/pumptec-well-protection.htm)

I ran the pump with all faucets closed to build up water pressure in the system. The pump shut off again with the points still closed. Pressure was about 44psi. I cut off power to the pressure switch and backed off the adjusting nut until the points snapped open. Then I backed off about another 1/2 turn. Turned the power back on, opened faucets and water ran for several minutes before pump kicked on. Ran water for a couple more minutes and then closed all faucets. Pump shut off at a little over 40 psi WHEN POINTS OPENED!! Checked a couple of times and pump seems to come on about 20psi and shut off about 40 when points open. So its working exactly as it should now. I was doing some research on the net about submersible pumps and I read about some being thermally protected to shut off so they don't burn up. That's not a good sign. So I guess that was what was maybe happening. I'm just hoping now that it stays capable of what its pumping right now and the pressure switch will continue to shut it off. I guess I'll just leave the cover off the pressure switch and check occasionally to make sure the points are open when it shuts off. Which, knowing me, will be every time the pump runs. LOL Thanks for your help.

Submersible pumps do have thermal protection. However, that usually involves a situation where the water level has dropped and the pump, after pumping for a while, runs the water level down to the pump. When the pump starts running dry, it heats up and the thermal protector cuts it off. When the well recovers its level, the whole cycle starts over again. Probably time to call in a well expert to at least see what you are facing.