FAQs for a water pump won't turn off, group 7.

These questions & answers help diagnose & fix a water pump that doesn't shut off.

This article series explains how to diagnose & repair a bore hole or well water water pump that keeps on running and won't shut off.

Water Pump Won't Shut Off FAQs

These questions and answers were posted originally at WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING where we explain what to do if the well or water pump won't stop running.

Be sure to review that article.

On 2019-07-0 by (mod) - no water to take a shower but the pump was running

The explanations for the situation you describe are given more completely in the article WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING so please be sure to review that.

It sounds however as if your well is running out of water.

On 2019-07-02 by Rob

This morning I had no water to take a shower but the pump was running so I turned the breaker off. When I came home I turned it back on and the pump started and I had water but it was not building up any pressure but I had pressure

On 2019-06-09 by (mod) -

Anon

If there is plenty of water in the well then most likely the pump impeller is clogged or damaged;

Our best suggestions for diagnosing this problem are given in the articleWATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING.. Please take a look and let me know if any questions remain.

On 2019-06-08 by Anonymous

there lots water pump will not build presure

On 2019-05-21 by Cindy

We replaced the well pump due to constant running, pump burned out. We cannot find the cold pressure tank(mobile home), we looked everywhere inside for the switch and found nothing, how can we locate the pressure tank, it must be buried?

On 2019-05-08 by (mod) -

Criss

Strictly a leak could cause a water pump to run continuously if the leak is fast enough. I would think you could just put the water softener in bypass and eliminate that from the equation.

On 2019-05-07 by Criss

It has a water softer hooked to it and the water runs though the softer could it be the softer the water runs though. It. Like a small leak

On 2019-04-16 by (mod) -

Please take a look at the WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING.

Causes and diagnostics above on this page and let me know if you have any questions

On 2019-04-16 by Eeng purnomo

My pump runs without stopping without reason

On 2019-04-09 by (mod) -

Yannak

Probably your pump runs without stopping for one of the reasons listed in the article above on this page. Please take a look and then don't hesitate to ask follow-up questions.

On 2019-04-09 by yiannakis

wilo water pump pressure runs non stop why?

On 2019-03-28 by (mod) -

Grace my very best, thorough, organized list of probable causes for your pump failing to reach its cut-off pressure are given in the article WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING. - better than an incomplete off-the-cuff guess.

Please try first going through each of and investigating each of those causes. Then let me know what you found.

On 2019-03-28 by Grace

Hi ! Our water pump suddenly won't stop running.. it's 20/40 but it can only reach 30 and it is so slow to load.. But if we lock the pipe from tank to the house it will load faster and will reach it's cut-off of 40.. And if we unlock again the pipe, the number will go down to 20 for about 9 minutes and it will run again even if no one is using any water

For now we tried to adjust the cut off to 10/30, it will shut off but took so long and still the level goes down even if no one is using it.. What would be the possible problems?

On 2019-03-28 by (mod) - what do I do if our water pump won't stop running?

Grace my very best, thorough, organized list of probable causes for your pump failing to reach its cut-off pressure are given in the article WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING - better than an incomplete off-the-cuff guess.

Please try first going through each of and investigating each of those causes. Then let me know what you found.

On 2019-03-28 by Grace

Hi ! Our water pump suddenly won't stop running.. it's 20/40 but it can only reach 30 and it is so slow to load.. But if we lock the pipe from tank to the house it will load faster and will reach it's cut-off of 40..

And if we unlock again the pipe, the number will go down to 20 for about 9 minutes and it will run again even if no one is using any water..

For now we tried to adjust the cut off to 10/30, it will shut off but took so long and still the level goes down even if no one is using it.. What would be the possible problems?

On 2019-03-14 by David

My pump seemed to be running constantly,and I had the tank drained and charged. Three times since,I've noticed it doing the same thing again.....I was hearing that electrical hum from the pressures switch,and the pressure just wouldn't get up to the shut off point. Turning the circuit breaker off and on seems to correct this. Does this sound more like a tank problem or a problem with the switch?

On 2019-03-12 by Anonymous

I bought a new house with a water well the well keeps losing Prime I reprime it found a leak going into my house repaired it now I put a Val on the backside of my tank I shut off the Val pmpstillkeeps kicking on and off and it still loses Prime

On 2019-03-11 by (mod) - does air in the pipes mean a tank issue?

To me that does not sound like a tank issue exactly,

but if you are seeing air discharge at fixtures then yes, take a look at

AIR DISCHARGE at FAUCETS, FIXTURES

to see the diagnostic and repair steps

On 2019-03-11 9 by Mike

I was doing laundry and it sounded like there was air in the water pipes.

I turned off the water and checked the gauge at the water tank,and it was at 30 and not rising even though the pump was running. I turned the breaker off and on,and the tank filled right back up and the pump shut off normally.

My plumber thinks maybe a pipe froze,because the same thing happened a week ago. Could it be the tank is on its way out?

On 2019-02-11 by Anonymous - Pump cuts in at 40 psi but gets up to 58 psi and won't shut off .

Have a shallow well (27ft) with a 1,1/2 hp submersible pump combined with a 40/60 pressure switch.

Bled the pressure tank and reset to 38 psi. Replaced the pressure switch with a new one. Pump cuts in at 40 psi but gets up to 58 psi and won't shut off .

No signs of leaks anywhere and have water pressure in house, so is pumping o.k. Any suggestions ?
Thanks
David

Moderator reply:

Usually in that symptom the problem is that you run out of water in your well that would be the first thing to check

Reader follow-up:

Water level is fine. I have a diverter valve in the system which bypasses the pressure valve/gauge, when I use the well/pump for filling my swimming pool, ( 55,00 gallons ). The well fills fast naturally ... I can run the pump into the pool for 8 hours a day and the water level never drops anywhere near the pump.

One other thing for what it's worth. When I switch back from the pool to the pressurized system for the house and the pressure reaches 58 psi and won't switch off, I manually lift the bar in the switch to shut it off , so it doesn't continue to run

then the pressure never drops down below 58 psi if we don't use any water in the house., so there doesn't appear to be a pressure leak ..... ?
Thanks again
Any more suggestions

Moderator reply:

incredible - 55,000 gallons out of a 27 ft. deep well using a shallow well pump. Where is that well?

Anyway with the apology that anyone's ability to be helpful by text is by definition rather limited. There is always more information on-site and often a critical detail.

That said, if a pump has plenty of water but can't reach its cutoff, with no leaks in piping anywhere, it could be that the pump itself is worn or has a damaged impeller.

On 2019-01-22 by (mod) - pump can't reach cut-off

I would look first for a pump that's having trouble reaching the cut off pressure perhaps because of a damaged impeller, low voltage, or low water supply in the well.

Try lowering the cut-off pressure by 5 PSI or more. That may be diagnostic.

Less likely is a completely different cause such as incorrect wiring or shorted wires or damaged switch.

On 2019-01-22 by Jeannie

I have an above ground 1 hp jet pump that will not stop running when it reaches the maximum psi. The pump and the switch were purchased new 3 years ago. The holding tank is just a little over a year old. I have replaced the pressure guage and the pressure switch with a new preset 30/50

I also replaced the small hose that connects to the pressure switch. I'm not losing water pressure and haven't found any leaks, but it still will not shut off even when it reaches 60 psi. Any suggestions?

On 2019-01-12 by Anonymous

HI. My submersible pump is 5 years old. Last year I changed out a 40 gallon tank to a 86 gallon as was needed for our amount of faucets.

Replaced all the plumbing to include a new pressure gauge at the well & 40/60 cut off switch. Aprox 30 feet from well is our salt softener with a double filtration & also a pressure gauge on the side of our house.

All new pipes there too. It worked beautiful for a year now. Suddenly my pump refuses to turn off. Sounds like a humming. The pressure at the pump reads 65psi, the pressure at the house reads 45psi

I changed the filters, checks for leaks etc.... then tried to adjust the pressure switch. Pressure went down to 55psi at pump but still the pump will not cut off. I'm thinking it is either a clogged or bad cut off switch but what bothers me is the noise made when I shut off power to the pump. It sounds like ALL the water is rushing through my pipes.

This occurs at the softener area too. I've never heard this before. AND being only 1 year old the switch shouldn't be bad. We have a serious rust sludge problem with our water.

On 2018-12-29 by (mod) - pump can't reach cut-out pressure - it's not a pressure tank's problem

it seems unlikely to me that the pressure tank is the cause of the problem here unless you're well flow rate and well static head are so weak and so small that your well is simply running out of water before the pumpkin fill the tank

If you leave the system off for 24 hours and turn the pump on and it still can't get above low pressure such as you describe I suspect at the pump motor itself or its impeller has been damaged.

On 2018-12-28 by Ron

I have a deep well and submersible pump servicing my home. I do not know what the brand or specs are as it was here before I bought the property.

My 50 gallon pressure tank’s bladder let out and I bought a new one that is 86 gallons.

For a couple of weeks I had to turn the pump on and off manually because it would not reach the cut off setting. (40-60) It did not have a problem pressurizing the 50 gallon tank prior to the bladder failure but after the new one was plumbed and a new pressure gauge installed it could not get any higher than 27 psi while continuously running.

This won’t even start filling either the new or old pressure tanks with their psi being set at 38 psi.

Could I have damaged the pump to where it works quickly to the 27 psi but now is incapable of achieving any more than that? I did read all posts related to this above and am not sure how to proceed. Thank you in advance for your help.
Ron

On 2018-12-09 by (mod) - pump turns itself back on

If there is a water filter or any blockage in the system that could explain the symptoms that you described so try changing water filter cartridge. If there's no water filter there may be debris clogging in the pressure switch.

On 2018-12-08 1 by Mike

My submersible pump is kicking out and then back in by itself with the pressure switch made. Eventually it will reach the kick out pressure and then kick out but it just takes three or four Cycles to get there

...

Continue reading  at WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING - topic home, how to fix a pump that won't shut off, home page, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see WATER PUMP WONT STOP: FAQs-8 - more-recent Q&A on why a pump can't reach cut-off pressure or won't stop running

Or see these articles on

How to fix a pump that won't shut off

• WATER PUMP DIAGNOSTIC TABLE a concise guide to diagnosing and fixing water pumps
• WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH to shut off a pump to prevent burn-up
• WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING

and check out

• WATER PUMP PROTECTION SWITCH to shut off a pump to prevent burn-up

Well pump is turning on and off too often,

• WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING CAUSES - why does the water pump keep shutting on and off so quickly?

Water pump won't start

• WATER PUMP WON'T START for ten things to check
• WATER PRESSURE PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS TABLE - diagnostic Table 1: Pump Won't Run, Wont' Stop Running, or Cycles Rapidly
• WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR
• WATER PUMP REPAIR GUIDE - home

Suggested citation for this web page

WATER PUMP WONT STOP: FAQs-7 at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to WATER SUPPLY, PUMPS TANKS WELLS

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