CLTS5 pump stops running as soon as prime is used up

[MikeGW]

My brand new Pentair CLTS5 portable 1/2 HP shallow well pump from Tractor Supply (Countyline brand pump runs just long enough to use the prime water and then it stops running. I tried tightening (CW) the pressure nut, but it didn't help. (The pump did not come with any pressure gages). I dip a 25' 1/4" hose into a very shallow well (about 12-14' down, where water level is about 8-9' deep). Any ideas?

 

[Bannerman]

I dip a 25' 1/4" hose into a very shallow well

Do you actually mean 25' of 1-1/4" pipe? Is the suction pipe semi-rigid poly pipe, or soft hose that will collapse under suction?

Is there a foot valve installed at the bottom of the drop pipe?

What pressure tank brand & model is being utilized? What is the pressure tank's air pre-charge pressure?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[MikeGW]

It is just a portable application, where I attach a 1/4" hose to the input connection and then dip the hose (with the fitting at the other end cut off so that it fits in the small opening in the well cap) down into the shallow well. I haven't seen any visual evidence that the hose collapses. This pump model has no foot valve, nor does the hose. It is a countyline (Tractor Supply brand) CLTS5 1/2 hp jet pump made by Pentair. The pump did not come with a pressure gage or a pressure tank, just the tank that holds the priming water. My neighbor has a different brand of jet pump with the same HP and with 1/2" pex for the intake piping, and his portable system works fine. The Pentair tech rep said he only has experience with using the pump in a permanently installed home water supply system.

 

[Valveman]

1/4" hose for a suction is too small and starving the pump. I wouldn't have thought 1/2" would work either, but maybe with such a small 8 GPM pump.

 

[MikeGW]

I replaced the 1/2" input hose with 1/2" pex piping and it worked fine.