Most well pump failures give you months of warning before they quit. We see it constantly on service calls: a pressure switch that's been slowly corroding, a wiring connection that's been loose since spring, a tank that's been running low on air pressure for who knows how long. By the time the homeowner notices, they're without water.
Fall is the best time to catch these problems. Before cold weather, before the holidays, before a house full of guests makes a pump failure a real emergency. Here's what we look for.
If your pump kicks on and off repeatedly instead of running a normal cycle, something is off with the pressure switch or the tank's air charge. You'll hear it clicking on, running briefly, shutting off, and immediately starting again every few seconds instead of every few minutes.
Short cycling burns out pump motors faster than almost anything else. Each startup draws far more current than normal running, and the heat from hundreds of startups per hour destroys motor winding insulation over days or weeks. A pump that short cycles in October may be dead by December.
The fix is almost always a pressure tank replacement or an air charge correction. That's a straightforward same-day job. Ignoring it long enough means replacing the motor too. Catch it now.
Pressure switches sit outside, exposed to moisture, heat, and pests. In Marion County, that's a humid summer, mineral-heavy Floridan Aquifer water vapor, and a year-round pest season. Over time, the terminal screws corrode, the housing cracks, and the contacts pit or fuse.
We recently pulled a pressure switch on a service call in Marion County that had an active ant colony living inside the housing. The terminals and mounting screws had corroded from years of moisture intrusion. The pump was still running, barely, but the switch was one bad connection away from total failure. The homeowner had no idea anything was wrong.
If your wellhead does not have a weatherproof cover, this kind of damage is far more common than most people realize. A corroded switch either fails open, leaving you with no water, or fails closed, leaving the pump running continuously until the motor burns out.
During a fall inspection, we clean or replace the switch, check the contacts and calibration, and confirm the housing is sealed against moisture and pests. See our pressure switch repair page for more on what a failing switch looks like.
Pressure that drops when you run the dishwasher and the shower at the same time, or that's noticeably weaker than it used to be, is your system telling you something is off. It's easy to adjust to, which is why these problems tend to go unreported for a long time. By the time someone says something, the underlying cause has usually gotten worse.
The most common causes in Marion County are a failing pressure tank with a degraded bladder, a pressure switch with a scaled sensing port cutting the pump off too early, or a worn pump impeller that's producing less output than it used to.
Scaled switch ports are particularly common in Marion County because of the Floridan Aquifer's mineral content. Calcium deposits build up inside the sensing port over time and cause the switch to misread pressure. It's a straightforward fix when caught during a routine inspection. Left alone, the pressure continues to drop and eventually the switch fails outright.
Rather Have Us Check It?
We inspect pressure switches, tank charge, wiring, and pump performance. We fix what needs fixing, nothing more.
A well pump running normally is mostly silent. Some humming from the motor during a cycle is normal. What's not normal: grinding sounds during startup, a hum that's noticeably louder than it used to be, vibration you can feel through the pipes, or a pump that sounds like it's working harder than it used to just to maintain pressure.
These sounds usually mean one of three things: the motor bearings are starting to wear, the pump impeller has partial wear or obstruction reducing efficiency, or the motor is working harder because something else in the system, a failing tank, a scaled switch, is making it run more than it should.
The most important thing to know about unusual pump noise is that it almost always precedes something worse. A pump that sounds different is a pump that's worth having looked at before it fails completely.
Submersible pumps are out of sight by design, which means their problems stay out of mind until the system fails. If you can't remember the last time a technician checked the pressure switch condition, tank air charge, wiring connections, and pump performance, that's worth addressing before winter.
An annual inspection covers the components most likely to cause problems: the pressure switch contacts and calibration, the tank air pre-charge, wiring terminals at the wellhead, motor amperage draw, and overall system pressure cycling. Most of what we find during inspections is either free to address on the spot or inexpensive to fix. What we're catching is the stuff that becomes expensive when it fails without warning.
If your well system is over 8 years old and has never had a professional inspection, fall is a particularly good time to schedule one. Components that were fine at installation start to show meaningful wear in that timeframe, and Marion County's water chemistry accelerates that process for anything steel or rubber.
Why Fall Is the Right Time for This
A well failure in July is an inconvenience. You call, we come out, we fix it, you're back to normal. A well failure in January is a different situation entirely.
In Marion County, December through February means two things that make pump failures harder to deal with: cold snaps that can freeze exposed plumbing and cause additional damage to a system that's already compromised, and the holidays, when contractor schedules are compressed and you may have a full house of guests depending on running water.
The problems that cause winter pump failures don't appear in December. They develop over months. A pressure switch with corroded terminals that fails in January was showing signs of trouble in September. Wiring connections that arc and fail under cold-weather contraction were loose in the fall. A tank that finally loses its air charge during the busy season was already marginal when the temperatures were mild.
Corroded connections and worn components don't get better when temperatures drop. Thermal cycling from temperature swings puts additional stress on electrical connections, rubber bladders, and switch contacts. A system that was marginal in October is more likely to fail in January. Finding it now costs a fraction of an emergency call in the middle of the holidays.
The inspection we do in the fall is the same one we'd do after an emergency call, except you still have water, we're not running an emergency dispatch, and the fix is cheaper because nothing has cascaded into secondary damage yet.
What a Fall Inspection Covers
When we come out for a pre-winter inspection, here's what we're looking at:
- Pressure switch condition and calibration. We check the contacts for pitting and corrosion, inspect the housing for moisture intrusion, clean the sensing port, and verify the cut-in and cut-out settings are correct for your system.
- Pressure tank air charge. We measure the pre-charge pressure at the Schrader valve and compare it to your system's cut-in setting. A tank with the wrong pre-charge either short-cycles or fails to hold adequate pressure between pump cycles.
- Wellhead wiring connections. We inspect the wiring from the control box to the wellhead for loose terminals, frayed insulation, moisture damage, and pest intrusion. Loose connections arc and fail when the pump runs hard in cold weather.
- Motor amperage draw. We run the pump and measure the current draw against the nameplate rating. A motor pulling significantly outside its rated current is working harder than it should, which points to a worn motor, a scaling pump screen, or a system problem making it run inefficiently.
- Overall pressure cycling. We verify the pump starts and stops at the correct pressures and that pressure holds between cycles. Anything that doesn't look right gets investigated before we leave.
We fix what needs fixing during the same visit. We don't schedule a follow-up appointment for items we can address on the spot. If something needs a part we don't have on the truck, we tell you what it is, what it costs, and schedule the return trip to complete the work.
We don't recommend repairs just to pad a bill. If your system checks out fine, we tell you and explain what to watch for over the winter. If something needs attention, we tell you what it is, what it costs, and let you decide. Upfront pricing before any work starts. Call (352) 247-2220.
Common Questions
How long does a well inspection take?
My pump seems fine. Is an inspection still worth it?
Does Marion County get cold enough to worry about winter well problems?
What if I just replaced my pressure tank or pump recently?
Do you service all areas of Marion County?
Marion County Homeowners Trust Topside
Fall Well Inspections Throughout Marion County
Same-day available. No distance surcharges. All of Marion County.