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In this video, I will be showing you how to prime your well pump. I had a few people request this and with the warm weather, it’s a good opportunity to show this as I’m getting the well ready for watering the grass. The one I’m specifically working with here is a sand point that has a check valve up top to hold the water in the pipe when the well is not being used.
Being that we’re working around water and electricity, make sure you have the main breaker off to the pump as a safety.
Below the suction pipe for the water supply is a drain plug. This is to remove water at the end of the season so it doesn’t freeze and crack the casing on the pump.
Below the check valve is a service valve. The is used to drain the well point for the end of the season, again reducing the risk of having the water freeze in the pipe. This is also used to hook up a hose for priming the pipe, it’ll push air out of the pipe and reduce the time needed for priming the system.
And finally is the check valve. When the pump isn’t in use, it works like a straw in a drink. When you stick your finger on the tip and list it out of a drink, it keeps it in place. So this reduces the need of priming the system every time before use.
You’ll have to excuse my handheld footage here, unfortunately there’s no room for a tripod inside the well.
First is tightening the drain plug if it’s not already.
Then remove the priming plug at the top of the pump.
I already have the hose hooked up and you’ll see that in a moment. This isn’t needed as not everyone has access to municipal water, but it does help cut on priming time. The pump may be your only source of water, so you would skip this step. Turn on the faucet for the hose.
As you can see, the hose is hooked up to the service valve. Open the valve and the pipe will fill up with water. You should be able to hear air being pushed out of the pipe, this will be forced through the check valve, up through the pump.
Once the air sound slows down or disappears, turn off the service valve.
Turn off the faucet for the hose and disconnect the hose at the service valve. Keep the valve closed, otherwise you’ll lose the prime in the pipe.
Now is priming the pump. Fill the pump with water from the top plug. The water will fill up from above the check valve to inside of the pump.
Water should be at the top of the hole, then install the plug and snug up.
Now turn on the pump. Unfortunately the pump was stuck from sitting, it can form a layer of rust inside which will prevent it from spinning. This is shown by humming, which means the motor is getting power but is not operational. Sometimes you can turn it on and off a few times, only running in a few second intervals. The pump should have an overload safety switch, so if it overheats it’ll shut off or kick off the breaker. I prefer not to get to that point, I tried it a few times with no luck. I removed the cover on the rear, accessing the fan and was able to spin it by hand to help unstick the pump.
Finally is operating the pump, being that it was stuck with the rust build up inside, I ran the pump for 30 seconds and turned it off. The pump was drained, flushed out, and then refilled to remove any rust debris inside which minimizes the risk of damage internally.
Run the pump for about 30 seconds, you may be able to see bubbling water in the clear line here and this is normal. This is the pump pushing out some of that water from priming. If no water comes out, turn the pump off, inspect to ensure there’s still water inside the pump and then continue again. Do not run the pump dry without water, this can cause internal damage.
This usually takes me about a couple of tries, air will come out of the line as it’s pushing water, then finally it’ll be a solid stream and it’s ready to be used. If there’s a constant need for priming the system, there is most likely an air leak between the check valve and sand point which will need to be repaired.
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28 июл 2021
