Today I tried to have my house power washed and within less than half an hour my water pump was drained with no pressure reading on the gauge. AS I have done before, when pressure goes below about 20 lbs, I shut of pump. After it stands for a few hours it will usually begin to pump and fill my tank when turned back on. This time however I think it might need to be primed first. How do I do that? The pump is located in my basement.

To prime a pump, look on top of the impeller housing and find a threaded 1/4" hole with a plug. This could also have a pressure gage installed in the threaded hole. No matter, turn the pump off at the breaker and remove whatever's in there and fill the impeller housing with water until it runs out of the hole replace the plug or gage and turn the pump back on. If you can't fill the housing up to the top that would indicate a faulty check valve. Good luck, Tom