Our Well Pump stays at 40 PSI and just keeps running-for a long time?

Question

Facts

Shallow well pump- 3/4horse,3 years old, about 66' deep

Storage tank 2 years old

House has plenty of water

Pump is set for 30 on 50 off

Problem...pump stay on at about 40 psi...

and just keeps running

when I shutoff electric....no water or PSI loss....I am at a loss

Answer 1

you might need a new pressure switch. they do go bad

Answer 2

Yeah, the pressure switch is hanging up, or the pumps' got too much bypass, and can't buildup to the 50lbs to shut itself off.  Try turning the off lbs down to just where it shuts off, and see what pressure you're at.

Answer 3

On a shallow well that is slow to recover you can pump it dry because a shallow well pump at best can only suck water top down to about 24ft due to air pressure.If your casing is 4" or larger you might want to switch to a submersible because they push the water from much deeper.Or if 30-40lbs is ok with you you might want to adjust your cut off relay to a lower pressure.Or you can pull everything out;rent a huge air compressor(like trailer mounted for a jack hammer) and blow the sand at the bottom out to decrease your recovery time (ie enlarge the jug)

Answer 4

I'm a little confused here.  I do a little pump work from time to time and the last time I checked a shallow well was 25' or less, not 66'.   If your well is indeed 66' your pump is a deep well pump and should have two pipes coming into the front from the well, one the size of the well casing and the other smaller.  It's a good possibility that the jet inside the front of the pump is partially plugged with a piece of gunk, probably a piece of rust that broke off the inside of the pump casing.