"Mikepier" wrote in message
...
On Apr 24, 9:36 am, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article
,
Mikepier wrote:

UPDATE: This morning I removed the well cap, and filled up to the top
with water, then tried the pump again, still water only coming out in
spurts, and not consistent.

I understand I need a check valve, but for the purpose of testing the
pump right now, shouldn't the pump work even without a check valve?

Why would you think that it should? Think about what the check valve is
for:
to keep water from draining out of the pump back into the well. If you
don't
have a check valve somewhere, the pump _cannot_ stay primed.

Like I said, I filled up the well pipe to the top,

And since you have no check valve, it all drained back into the well...

and I poured water
in the outlet pipe, so I'm sure the pump is primed.

And I'm even more sure that you're wrong about that.

I'm not familiar with pump operations, so please excuse my lack of
knowledge. If you say I need a check valve, can I put it on the inlet
pipe before the union?

If you filled the inlet pipe with water, and the water didn't drain back
down the pipe, I would think that there is already a foot valve on that
pipe, down in the well. If the pipe down the well is galvanized, as it
appears above the cement, it may be that the existing foot valve is frozen
from non use.