Pump on Sears shallow well pump runs too long

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slackattack

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Hi Folks! I have a Sears shallow well jet pump 30/50 lb pressure. It works O.K, and the pressure is fine, but one problem: It seems to run too long. When it calls for water, it will run for 5 minutes until it shuts off.I realize that it will run as long as it needs to when it calls for water, but this one runs for 5 minutes after that! The pressure switch has that acorn nut that I was told was an adjustment for the pressure?The water is drawn out of a 50 gallon plastic barrel in my basement, which fills up and then stops with a toilet ball valve.The pump is still running even after it pressurizes the system. any ideas? Thanks!
 

Leejosepho

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The water is drawn out of a 50 gallon plastic barrel in my basement, which fills up and then stops with a toilet ball valve. The pump is still running even after it pressurizes the system ...

The pump is drawing from the drum, or is it drawing from a well?

Either way, reducing the shutoff pressure *might* let the pump build to shutoff pressure a little sooner. If it is pulling from a well, it might be having just enough difficulty pulling water to reach shutoff easily, and if it is pullling from the drum it could be the pump is worn and leaking (losing pressure) a bit internally.

The nut on the tall stem in your pressure switch adjusts the turnon-to-shutoff range, and the nut on the short stem raises and lowers that range. So, backing off the short one should reduce your shutoff pressure ... and then you might want to bring the turnon pressure up a bit.
 

hj

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pump

The pump may be worn out and that is all the pressure it can produce, regardless of the switch setting. If so, reducing the pressure setting should give you a few more months before the pump has to be repaired.
 

Gary Slusser

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The switch settings; both cutin and cutout are controlled by the tall screw, (tighten to raise) and then the short one controls only the cut out (tighten to raise). You should maintain a 20 lb difference between cutin and cutout but a couple lbs less won't hurt for a time.

In addition to what has been mentioned, you could have a partially blocked jet or something sucked up against the foot valve in water barrel.
 
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