On May 14, 7:19*pm, "Bob F" wrote:
Shy Picker wrote:
On May 14, 12:45 pm, wrote:
On Thu, 14 May 2009 09:10:15 -0700 (PDT), hibb
wrote:

Having a bit of trouble with my water pump not shutting off. Usually
when this happens I just have to pump a bit of air in the bladder
and it works fine for many months but this time that trick is not
working. I can get it to stop by shutting it off at the circuit
breaker for about 10 seconds and then turn the breaker back on and
the pump stays shut off until I run enough water for it to kick
back on.

Also, I'm running on generator power today because the storm knocked
out power out last night. It has not been a problem before but it
still makes me wonder if it has something to do with it or if it is
just a coincidence.

It was probably about 20 years ago when I installed this pump. Looks
like it is way past it's prime and might be time for a new one.

David

What is the cut out pressure set at? What is it when it is still
running?
You might just have a bad pressure switch or the pump might be worn
to the point that it can't make the switch setting. The answer is
watching the gauge when it fails.
Try backing off on the cut out pressure a couple pounds.

Now it's getting weirder. I started getting black water out of the
faucet in the bathroom and now have no water pressure there even when
the pump is running and the pressure guage on the pump is near 50 psi.

I ran the faucet in the kitchen for a little while and it started
doing the same thing.

Did this symptom go away after you got the pump working again? Is this pump an
in-well or above ground? It could be that the passage from the plumbing to the
switch is plugged up with debris, so it isn't allow the pressure to reach the
switch fast enough. Unscrewing the switch unit might reveil this.

The pump is above ground. I have it working ok now. Looks like when
the pump ran too long and over heated and the water pressure dropped,
it stirred up some silt when I got it running again and the silt
plugged up the aerators. I lowered the cut off pressure on the switch
and now it works like it should. I may go ahead and replace the switch
anyway.

Thanks, David