Pump sounds like its not primed but has water at priming hole

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Garnet

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I thought my shallow well jet pump had lost its prime as i had no water in house suddenly. I left tub and sink tap open and went to pump to see if i could prime it. When i opened priming plug there was water right there and overflowed out of priming hole so cant add water.
Now no clue what could be wrong. Wondering if pump is shot or maybe pressure tank?
 

Brian Cannon

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I thought my shallow well jet pump had lost its prime as i had no water in house suddenly. I left tub and sink tap open and went to pump to see if i could prime it. When i opened priming plug there was water right there and overflowed out of priming hole so cant add water.
Now no clue what could be wrong. Wondering if pump is shot or maybe pressure tank?
What brand of jet pump is it?
 

Brian Cannon

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Red jacet quick set jet pump

50RJAS
If I remember right those are for pretty shallow wells. If you have an amp meter you can see how many amps its pulling. If they are low it sounds like the water level may be to low for the pump to pull water or the shaft could be stripped that goes to the pump. Jet pumps can be very fickle creatures. They are hard to diagnose without having hands on them but that's where I would start by checking for low amps.
 

Garnet

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When you say filter is that the same as a foot valve? Going to fight with check valve. Its new, only bout a week or two old. What would cause it to get stuck shut?
 

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If I remember right those are for pretty shallow wells. If you have an amp meter you can see how many amps its pulling. If they are low it sounds like the water level may be to low for the pump to pull water or the shaft could be stripped that goes to the pump. Jet pumps can be very fickle creatures. They are hard to diagnose without having hands on them but that's where I would start by checking for low amps.
Is amp meter and multimeter same thing? Also, is that tested at the little control box right at pump? Do you run the pump while testing ?
 

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The poppet in a check valve can go up too far and plug the water outlet.

An amp meter will have a clip around claw on it to snap around a hot wire. You can clip it around a wire at the breaker, the control box, or even the pressure switch. And yes the pump has to be running to test for amps.
 

Garnet

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K dont have amp meter. Ended up pulling pump out from under house and just tested it with pail of water. Pulled water from pail fine. Grrr.
 

Garnet

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If I remember right those are for pretty shallow wells. If you have an amp meter you can see how many amps its pulling. If they are low it sounds like the water level may be to low for the pump to pull water or the shaft could be stripped that goes to the pump. Jet pumps can be very fickle creatures. They are hard to diagnose without having hands on them but that's where I would start by checking for low amps.
Few questions on the suggestions. First if amps are low, does that mean the pump motor wont start? Or could it start but not be strong enough?
If there was enough power to run the pump before, what would cause it to not get enough now?
 

Valveman

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You should be able to tell if a jet pump is running just by the sound. Low amps would mean the pump is running and not pumping any water. Then you have to figure out if the problem is a suction leak, low water level, or a plugged line like if the check valve sticks.
 

Brian Cannon

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Few questions on the suggestions. First if amps are low, does that mean the pump motor wont start? Or could it start but not be strong enough?
If there was enough power to run the pump before, what would cause it to not get enough now?
If you pulled the down pipe and placed it in water and it pumped water the pump is probably good unless it's worn were it will not lift much water. Those pumps are for real shallow wells like 25' or 35' if I remember correctly. If you water level is deeper than that the pump will not be strong enough to lift the water out. If I was there I would check the static water level.
 

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Thanks for the replies, really appreciate the help. Here is an update. Since pump kinda seems to work, I wanted to test my intake line before I put it back under the house. I ran a spare piece of pipe from my regular intake line under the house to where I have the pump now about an extra 20 feet. After I primed the pump and ran it for about a minute and a half I had water. So this tells me the pump is powerful enough. Now I got to test if itcan deliver to the house
 

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Thanks for the replies, really appreciate the help. Here is an update. Since pump kinda seems to work, I wanted to test my intake line before I put it back under the house. I ran a spare piece of pipe from my regular intake line under the house to where I have the pump now about an extra 20 feet. After I primed the pump and ran it for about a minute and a half I had water. So this tells me the pump is powerful enough. Now I got to test if itcan deliver to the house
So if you tried it with known good down pipe I would change the pipe doing down the hole! I've actually have had a problem very similar to this. The old black pipe on the suction side of the down pipe had a crack going down the length of the pipe and would not pump or loose its prime. The crack would only leak out if pressure was supplied. Once we change the pipe all was well.
 

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So if you tried it with known good down pipe I would change the pipe doing down the hole! I've actually have had a problem very similar to this. The old black pipe on the suction side of the down pipe had a crack going down the length of the pipe and would not pump or loose its prime. The crack would only leak out if pressure was supplied. Once we change the pipe all was well.
So if you tried it with known good down pipe I would change the pipe doing down the hole! I've actually have had a problem very similar to this. The old black pipe on the suction side of the down pipe had a crack going down the length of the pipe and would not pump or loose its prime. The crack would only leak out if pressure was supplied. Once we change the pipe all was well.
K so i pulled out a plastic cap on bottom of the pump and it was a long plastic connection, not sure what its called and cleaned it up. It was covered in rust. Put it back in and hooked back up to well normally. Everything works now. Kinda weird.
 
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