"JackpipE" wrote in message
...
you must have a leak on the suction side of the pump allowing air into the
system if not then the well point may be plugged up with sand.

Bob,
Thank your for your reply.
How can I check if I have a leak on the suction side and which side is
the suction side?
After your post I re-adjusted the check valve (thinking that it's on
the suction side). Disconnecting the check valve while the pump was
working didn't cause lost of pressure in the pressure tank.

That check valve will prevent priming water from reaching the well, from what I
can see. Is this a shallow well? That's what it looks like to me. If you have a
vacuum pump available, or some way to create a high vacuum, connecting it to the
priming port would suck air up out of the well until water reaches the top. I
have used the suction hose on a sandblaster nozzle to do this.

Alternative - attach a water hose to the priming port (from a neighbor?), and
set it for a small flow to force air through the pump and fill it with water.
With this running, cycle the pump few a second or 3, until it stops pumping.
Stop it, wait for it to fill with water again, and repeat. You might need to do
this a lot of times, but it will eventually suck all the air out if there are no
leaks.

Disconnecting the output of the pump so it free flows, or opening a large valve
to release the pressure will help this process. The easier it can pump, the more
air you will get with each cycle. This might even help with the way you've been
trying it.