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Water Pump Won't Stop Running Diagnosis, & Repair InspectAPedia®  -     How to diagnose a water pump that won't shut off - the well pump keeps on running Causes and cures of continuous water pump operation Water Pump malfunction diagnosis guide How to avoid damaging a water pump

Here we discuss how to diagnose & repair a water pump that keeps on running and won't shut off. This website answers just about any question you may have about pumps, wells, and drinking water. Even before performing water quantity, quality, equipment function tests, there is an enormous amount we can determine about a building's water supply just by looking at the equipment.

Articles here provide details on water pumps, tanks, controls, and wells and water supply inspection, diagnosis, and repair. The photograph shows a one-line jet pump, the water pressure tank, and a water softener. We know from the fact that this is a single line jet well pump that the well is a shallow one, probably less than 27' deep. Well depth may have implications for water quantity and quality and vulnerability to surface water contamination.

Why Won't My Well Pump Shut Off?

If the building has no water pressure, turn off the water pump immediately. Running a water pump "dry" risks causing internal damage to the pump. If there is no water pressure, see WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS GUIDE.

If your well pump is turning on and off too often, that is a different problem that we explain at WATER TANK REPAIRS and detail further at SHORT CYCLING CAUSES, why does the water pump keep shutting on and off so quickly?

If your building has some water pressure (check at a nearby faucet) but the well pump keeps on running and won't shut off, that's what we are discussing here. Several problems can cause a water pump to keep running instead of shutting off when it should, and each of these suggests its own diagnostic step to finding out what's happening with your well pump.

• Water may be running somewhere in the building. Check for a running faucet or fixture indoors, including checking for running toilets. Remember to check outside garden hoses and watering systems. If all fixtures are turned off, make sure that you don't have a burst pipe somewhere. Remember to check heating boilers and water heaters for leaks too.
• The well pump may have lost prime. See WELL PUMP PRIMING PROCEDURE for two methods that almost always work to get a dry well pump going again. Make sure that you have adequately primed the pump and do not let a well pump run dry - you are likely to damage it.
• The pump pressure control switch may be set to a higher pressure than the pump can achieve - this is more likely if someone has been fooling around with the switch. See Water Pressure Adjustment how to adjust the water pressure in a building.
• The well water level may have dropped and the pump is unable to pick up and deliver water in sufficient volume - this is possible if the well piping has a low-water tailpiece installed to protect a submersible pump from burnup. In this design if water level in the well drops too low the tailpiece causes water to recirculate through the pump rather than being sent up the piping to the building served by the well. See these articles: Well Flow Rate, Well Yield, Well Water Quantity: How Much Water is In the Well? Well Flow Rate, Yield Improvement Methods How to Get More Water From a Well without drilling a new well, and see Well Life Expectancy of Wells how long should a water well and its components last?
• The pump may have suffered internal damage to a seal, bearing, or impeller. The motor will keep running but the pump is unable to develop normal pressures. See Life Expectancy of Water Pumps - Well Pumps: how long should a water pump last? What affects pump life?
• The well piping may have a leak. This includes "hidden" leaks such as a leak in the piping inside the well or between the well and the building. If such a leak is present you may observe that water pressure in the system drops when the pump is turned off even though no water is running in the building.
• A leaky foot valve in the well or a hidden running water source in the building such as a running toilet can also cause this symptom. See Repeated Loss of Pump Prime for a discussion of well piping foot valves and the relation to loss of well pump prime.
  

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WATER PUMPS & WELL TANKS
WATER PUMP & TANK SAFETY
WATER PUMP & TANK CONTROLS & SWITCHES
  WELL PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL ADJUSTMENT
WATER PUMP TYPES & LIFE EXPECTANCY
  WATER PUMP, ONE LINE JET
  PUMP, TWO LINE JET
  PUMP, SUBMERSIBLE
  PUMP, WATER PRESSURE BOOSTER
  PUMP & TANK REPAIRS & COSTS
  PUMP & TANK SAFETY
WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING
WATER PRESSURE REPAIR GUIDE & COSTS
WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS GUIDE
WATER PRESSURE & FLOW MEASUREMENT
WATER PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL ADJUSTMENT
WATER PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL REPAIR
WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING
WATER PUMP PRIMING PROCEDURE
WATER SUPPLY & DRAIN PIPING
WATER TANK TYPES: WATER, OIL, EXPANSION, ALL
WATER TANK AIR, HOW TO ADD
WATER TANK BLADDERS & CAPTIVE AIR
WATER TANK CAPTIVE AIR vs TRADITIONAL WellMate
WATER TANK BLADDER PRESSURE ADJUSTMENT
WATER TANK LIFE EXPECTANCY
WATER TANK PRESSURE CALCULATIONS
WATER TANK REPAIRS
  CONTROLS & SWITCHES on WATER TANKS
  INTERMITTENT CYCLING WATER PUMPS
  WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING
  SHORT CYCLING DETECTION
  SHORT CYCLING CAUSES
  WATER TANK AIR LOSS SIGNS
WATER TANK REPLACEMENT
WATER TANK SIZE & VOLUME
WATER TANKS HOW THEY WORK
WATER SOFTENERS
WATER TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT
WATER TEST INTERPRETATION
WATER TESTING GUIDE
WATER TREATMENT EQUIPMENT CHOICES
  WATER ODORS, CAUSE CURE
  WATER QUALITY TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT
WATER QUANTITY IMPROVEMENT
WATER QUANTITY USAGE GUIDE
  WELL SHOCKING GUIDE
WELLS CISTERNS & SPRINGS
  Basement Wells
  Cisterns
  Drilled Wells - steel casings
  Driven Point Wells
  How Much Water is In the Well?
  How to Test Well Water Quantity
  How to Get More Water From a Well
  Hand Dug Wells
  Springs as Water Supply
  Well Pits
  WELL CLEARANCE DISTANCES
  WELL LIFE EXPECTANCY
  WELL PIPING CHECK VALVES
  WELL PIPING FOOT VALVES
  WELL PUMP TYPES & LIFE EXPECTANCY
  WELL PUMP PRIMING GUIDE
  WELL SHOCKING GUIDE

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