Question
I bought a house that has a Well Pump.  It is in FL, so I assume it is a shallow well system.  It connects to 2 spigots, but more important it runs the water for a Water Cooled Heat Pump.  I am very handy, but know nothing about well systems.  The system has a small expansion tank on the suction line.  I have a couple of question.  First to get the pump to run I had to prime the pump and then the next day I had to prime the pump again.  I would imagine there is a check valve at the bottom of the suction line to keep water in the system, but maybe it is leaking.  On the suction side there is a 1.25" PVC pipe going into the ground.  I was going to cut the suction line a few inches above where it goes into the ground and see if the water in the line remains there overnight.  If not I was thinking I would replace the check valve.  My first question is how would one replace the Check Valve.   I have not started to dig to see what I have yet.  Do they normally run a PVC pipe inside another pipe.  I hope they did not dig and just put in this PVC pipe.  Is so how does one get the pipe out??  The other question I had is what turns the pump off.  I read that the cut-in pressure should be set 2 psi less than the tank pressure and the cut-out 20 psi or so above the cut-in.   But I do not see any pressure requlator that would turn on and off the pump.  Is the cut in and cut out built into the pump??  The home was bank owned, so no previous owner around to ask about the system.  

Thanks in advance,
Robert


Answer
You would need to remove the pump from the well casing and detatch the suction line from the pump, then pull the suction line out of the well.  The foot valve attaches at the bottom of the suction line.  As for the on/off situation, the pressure switch turns the pump on and off.  It is attached to the water line and fed by a small pipe, and is pressure sensitive.  There is usually a fitting below it where a pressure gauge is also installed.  Pressure switches are pre-set for cut in/out, and are labeled for the different operating pressures.