I got up the other morning and had no water pressure. Went down to my pump and found that it was only running for about 5 seconds then kicking off for about 30 seconds and continues this. I shut the power off to the pump to prevent damage to the pump. We have tried it again since and we still have the same deal. If we let it cycle a couple times we have plenty of water and plenty of pressure from the facets. We have had the capacitator checked and its fine so we are not sure what to check next. The pump is just a few years old as well as the bladder tank. Any suggestions?

Surface pump or submersible?

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only running for about 5 seconds then kicking off for about 30 seconds

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Does that occur when no water is being used? If so how long does it run if a faucet is open? How long with several faucets open?

It is a surface pump. It occurs when no water is being used and there is no change when a facet is open.

Suspect a faulty check valve or leaking foot valve. Turn pump off and watch pressure gauge. If you have a check valve between the pump and the well, you have a faulty check valve. If you have a foot valve, you have a leaking foot valve or a busted pipe between house and bottom of well.

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found that it was only running for about 5 seconds

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That little part sure sounds like a waterlogged tank. If you have a pressure gauge, then watch it when the pump cuts on. It should rise slowly and gradually. Sounds more like yours is going up quickly to cut off pressure. There should be a little air valve at the top of your tank. Press the stem for a few seconds. If water comes out, then the tank has trouble.

But HK is certainly right about the CV. If the pump is cycling when no water is being used, then that points to a leaking CV or footvalve.

If the gage's falling when the pump's off the I'd suspect a faulty check/foot valve, Good luck, Tom

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Originally Posted by speedball1

If the gage's falling when the pump's off the I'd suspect a faulty check/foot valve, Good luck,.Tom

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Thanks for suggestions. We have checked the tank and pressure seems to be holding at about 20 pounds and stays that way even with the pump on. We also checked and no water comes from the air valve. I rocked the tank back and forth slight and it really doesn't seem like there is much water in the tank if any at all... not sure if that's normal or not. There are no pressure gauges installed on the well system at all which seems to make things much more difficult. We will be checking for check valves today. Also a friend of ours told us that they had a similar problem a few years ago and it ended up being an electronic switch that is mounted on the backside of the pump just under the capacitor. Does that sound like it could be possible?

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Originally Posted by mollieg

Thanks for suggestions. We have checked the tank and pressure seems to be holding at about 20 pounds and stays that way even with the pump on. We also checked and no water comes from the air valve. I rocked the tank back and forth slight and it really doesnt seem like there is much water in the tank if any at all...not sure if thats normal or not. There are no pressure gauges installed on the well system at all which seems to make things much more difficult. We will be checking for check valves today. Also a friend of ours told us that they had a similar problem a few years ago and it ended up being an electronic switch that is mounted on the backside of the pump just under the capacitor. Does that sound like it could be possible?

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We did replace the switch that I was referring to because it did appear to be damaged but we still are experiencing the same problem except now it seems the pump is only running about 3 seconds and then you hear a click when it shuts off. It also sounds like the pump is not running full force when it does run. We did check for prime and water came out of the prime hole. We also can only find one check valve which is between the well and pump and seems to have plenty of water flowing there. The best we can tell is the problem seems to be between the pump and the tank which doesn't have any filters, check valves, or gauges in between.

What kind of pump and tank is this. Twenty (20) lbs is very low. That is usually the cut on pressure not the cut off pressure.

Pump running for only 3 seconds is beginning to sound like a defective pump motor. That's hardly enough time for the motor to get started.

Can you unhook pump from tank.
Can you post picture.