Three parts fail, and almost never the expensive one first
A private well system has a pump at the bottom, a pressure tank in the garage and a pressure switch between them. Nearly every call is one of those three, and they fail in a predictable order that runs cheapest to dearest.
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Wells here are drilled into the Floridan aquifer through limestone, which means a submersible pump sitting a long way down a cased hole. That is the important difference from most of what is written online. Pulling a submersible is a rig job, not a Saturday, so the cost of guessing is not symmetric and the incentive to work through the cheap checks first is very high.
What each symptom usually opens
None of this replaces somebody standing in front of the equipment with a gauge. It is here so a homeowner can tell whether the person who is standing there has actually looked.
- Nothing at any tapAn electrical and controls question first. The breaker and the pressure switch contacts are both free to look at, and both fail far more often than a pump does.
- Pressure fades after a minutePoints at the pressure tank. A tank that has lost its air charge fills with water and stops doing its job.
- The pump clicks on and off every few secondsThe same waterlogged tank. This is short cycling, and it is what actually kills pumps here.
- The pump runs and never stopsA leak, a stuck switch, or a pump that can no longer reach cut-out. Check for a running toilet or an open irrigation zone first, because it is free and it is often that.
- Spitting, sputtering, air in the linesThe water level has dropped near the pump, or there is a leak in the drop pipe. Note whether it started after a dry spell or after heavy irrigation use.
- The breaker trips every timeThis is the one symptom that genuinely points at the pump or its cable. Stop resetting it.
The one thing worth understanding is short cycling
A pressure tank is not a water store. It is a cushion of compressed air with a rubber bladder between it and the water, and its whole job is to let the pump run for a decent stretch and then rest. When the bladder fails the air escapes, the tank fills with water, and the pump starts and stops every few seconds instead of every few minutes.
Motors do not wear out from running. They wear out from starting. A tank costing a few hundred dollars, ignored for a year, is the commonest reason somebody here ends up paying for a pump and a rig visit as well.
Before you agree to a pump replacement
A submersible replacement in a deep well is one of the larger bills a homeowner here will see, and the difference between it and a switch is a factor of ten. These are the questions that separate a diagnosis from a conclusion.
- What did the pressure switch read
There is a number. If nobody took one, nobody has diagnosed anything yet.
- What is the tank pre-charge, system drained
It should read around two psi below the cut-in setting. A tank reading zero is the fault, and it is not the pump.
- Failing to reach cut-out, or not told to stop
Those are two different repairs and only one of them is expensive.
- What do the drop cable readings show
Resistance and insulation are how a dead motor is told from a damaged cable without pulling anything, and any well contractor has the meter for it.
- How deep is the pump set, and how deep is the casing
It decides the price, and it should be on the completion report from when the well was drilled.
- If the pump turns out fine, what does the visit cost
Ask before, not after. A contractor confident in the diagnosis answers this easily.
The questions people actually ask
What are the common problems with well water pumps?
In rough order of how often they happen: a failed or waterlogged pressure tank, a worn pressure switch or burnt contacts, an electrical fault in the breaker or drop cable, and only then the pump motor. Pump motors are simple and built to run for years. What ends them is almost always something upstream, and a contractor who replaces the pump without fixing that will be back.
Can a well pump be repaired, or does it have to be replaced?
A submersible is generally replaced rather than repaired. Once it is out of the well the labour has already been spent, and the motor and wet end are sealed units. The parts around it are a different story: pressure switches, tanks, check valves, pitless adaptors and wiring are all ordinary repairs, and those are the majority of well callouts.
How often should you replace a well pump?
Not on a schedule. A submersible in clean water on a healthy pressure tank commonly runs well over a decade, and replacing a working pump because of its age is money spent on nothing. What shortens the life is short cycling from a failed tank, sand or grit in the water, and running the well dry. Two of those three cost a fraction of the pump to fix.
Why does my well pump keep running after the water is off?
Three possibilities. There is a leak the pump is chasing, which includes a toilet flapper you cannot hear and an irrigation zone stuck open. The pressure switch has failed closed and is not telling it to stop. Or the pump has lost enough performance that it can no longer reach cut-out, so it never gets the signal. Whichever it is, do not leave it running for days.
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About this guide
Ocala Well Water publishes an independent guide to private well water for homeowners in Marion County, Florida. It does not drill, repair, test or install anything, and it sells no equipment.
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