Well pump troubleshooting checklist

A ten-minute checklist for before you call a contractor: what is safe to check, what to note down, and how to turn it into the answers a quote asks for.

This is not a page about what has failed. For the reasoning behind each symptom, see Signs a well pump is failing and Diagnosing low water pressure on a well system. Everything on this page happens before the call, and none of it requires opening a panel or a pressure tank.

Safety checks first

• Do not open a pressure tank or remove any electrical cover. Looking and listening from the outside is safe; opening a pressurised or live component is not.
• If a breaker has tripped and will not reset, or resets and trips again within seconds, stop and call. A breaker that will not hold is an electrical fault, not a plumbing one, and repeated resetting risks further damage.
• If there is standing water anywhere near the pressure switch, control box or wiring, do not touch any of it. Shut off power at the breaker if that is possible without stepping in the water, and make the call from there.
• Everything below is an observation to make, not a repair to attempt. Well systems combine mains electricity with pressurised water.

Six things worth noting down

These are the same data points the two articles above walk through in detail. Here they are as a plain list to run through and write down, in roughly the order a contractor is likely to ask for them. Nothing on this list requires opening anything.

1. Scope: one fixture, or the whole property?
2. Pump behaviour: silent with no water, running continuously, or switching on and off rapidly (short cycling)?
3. Pressure gauge: what number does it read right now?
4. Breaker: has it tripped, and if so, more than once?
5. Anything unusual: sediment in the water, air spitting from taps, or a sudden jump in the electricity bill?
6. System age: roughly how old are the pump and pressure tank, even if it is a guess?

What each symptom usually points to

What you're seeing	Likely area
No water at all	Pump or power supply
Low or dropping pressure	A clogged filter or single fixture first, then pressure switch, pump, or the well itself
Pump runs constantly or short cycles	Short cycling: the pressure tank. Runs constantly: pressure switch, a leak, or the pump itself
A zone or head not working	Sprinkler-side fault, not the pump
Visible leak or wet patch	A pipe or fitting downstream of the pump
Routine service or winterisation	No fault, scheduled work

This is our own grouping of the symptom, not a diagnosis. It is also the same six options this site's own quote request uses under "What is happening?", so matching your observation to one of them before you call saves a round of questions. An on-site look is the only way to confirm the cause.

The first three rows are covered in depth in Signs a well pump is failing and Diagnosing low water pressure on a well system. A zone or head fault is a different system entirely; see When one sprinkler zone stops working. If the question is repair against replace rather than diagnosis, Well pump repair or replace sets the published costs against each other.

What to have ready when you call

A contractor, or the quote form on this site, typically asks for three things: what needs work, what is happening, and roughly how old the system is. Having all three ready before you call usually means one visit with the right parts rather than a first visit to look and a second to fix.

Beyond those three answers, three more details are worth having ready even though the call itself will not ask for them:

• Where the well cap, pressure tank and breaker are, so the first ten minutes of the visit is not a search.
• Whether the well or tank has had any work done in the past few years, and roughly when.
• Whether you want water tested after the repair, which some contractors quote separately.

None of this replaces an on-site look. It just means the visit starts with the right information instead of starting from zero.