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Guide
No water from the well: what to check in the first ten minutes
Most no-water calls end with a switch, a tank or a control box rather than a new pump. A few minutes at the breaker panel and the pressure tank narrows it before the truck is even called.
The breaker
Start at the electrical panel. A tripped well breaker that resets and holds is worth noting and worth a call, because something made it trip. A breaker that trips again immediately is a pump drawing far too much current: a seized impeller, a shorted wire in the well or a failing motor. Leave that one off. Running a pump against a short cooks the motor within hours and turns a repair into a replacement.
The pressure switch
Next to the pressure tank is a small grey box with a gauge beside it. With the taps open, listen. A click and then silence means the switch is calling for the pump and nothing is answering: the problem is downstream, in the control box, the wiring or the pump. No click at all with the gauge reading zero means the switch itself, or the little nipple under it blocked with scale.
What the pump is doing
Four behaviours point at four different faults. Silence with power at the switch: the control box, wiring or the pump motor. Running and never stopping: a leak, a worn pump or a switch that cannot reach cut-out. Clicking on and off every few seconds: a waterlogged pressure tank. Humming without delivering: a jet pump that has lost its prime. Telling the person on the phone which one it is decides what goes on the truck.
The tank
Tap the pressure tank near the top and near the bottom. A healthy tank rings hollow above and thuds below, because there is air over the water. A tank that thuds all the way up is full of water, the pump has been short cycling, and that is very often the whole story.
What not to do
Do not keep resetting a breaker that keeps tripping. Do not open the well cap. Do not pour water into a jet pump without knowing where the priming plug is. Call, describe what was found, and the visit gets matched to the fault.
Straight answers
Short answers
Why is there no water but the pump is running?
The pump is moving nothing: it has lost prime, the water level has dropped below it, the drop pipe has split, or the pump has worn out. Switch it off and call, because a pump running dry does not last long.
Why does the well breaker keep tripping?
Too much current on the pump circuit. A seized impeller, a failing motor, a shorted wire in the well or a control box breaking down. Leave it off until it is tested.
Can it be fixed the same day?
The above-ground faults usually can, because the switch, box and tank are on the truck. A pump pull depends on depth and on the day.
Related work
What this turns into on site
No Water Emergency Service
Seven days a week when the house has gone dry and nobody knows why.
Well Pump Repair
No water, weak pressure, a pump that never shuts off: the failed part found before anything is replaced.
Pressure Tank Replacement
Waterlogged tanks, rapid cycling and worn pressure switches put right before they kill the pump.
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