Why did my water pump stop pumping?

Is there a valve in the wrong position (or not quite all the way in the correct position)?

Drain valve? Winterizing valve? Bypass valve? Water heater valves?

wa8yxm wrote:
Yup if you have plenty of water and there is a crack in the inlet side of the pump or the hose feeding it.. It can suck air once the water level drops below the level of the pump.. Many forget to empty the inlet strainer in the fall.

There may be a shut off valve.
The outlet strainer on the tank can clog (inlet strainers almost never clog because they are secondary to the outlet but .. it's not impossible)

Pump can fail in assorted ways.

And last... Did you VISUALLY verify water in the tank or trust the @Q#$#@ sensor panel?

Just pulled the dump valve on the FW tank. PLENTY of water coming out. I’m draining it for the trip tomorrow.

Forget the photos. They are only on my phone.

Pumps have limited lifespan…like us.

Wait until I upload a picture of where the pump is located. I’m going to need to cut an access hole or drop the power panel to get to it.

Yup if you have plenty of water and there is a crack in the inlet side of the pump or the hose feeding it.. It can suck air once the water level drops below the level of the pump.. Many forget to empty the inlet strainer in the fall.

There may be a shut off valve.
The outlet strainer on the tank can clog (inlet strainers almost never clog because they are secondary to the outlet but .. it's not impossible)

Pump can fail in assorted ways.

And last... Did you VISUALLY verify water in the tank or trust the @Q#$#@ sensor panel?

Deja vu… mine did that a few years ago. Suddenly no pumping and I’ll be dipped if I could find the problem at the CG with the general tools I had. It was the brass pex fitting at the pump inlet got a tiny crack in it. I got home and replaced it with a genuine plastic fitting and have not had any more problems. ANY tiny leak on the suction side will break the prime!
FWIW, I discovered an internal strainer at the water outlet of my water tank and I didn’t want to take a chance of that thing clogging up someday. I used a drill bit to get a hold of the strainer and it slid right out and then I put a strainer at the pump inlet. When I had my pumping problem I figured it was an air leak at that strainer but, hail no, it couldn’t be that simple.

Go a step beyond just turning on the faucet. Unscrew the aerator out of the end of the faucet. Turn the faucet on and and let the pump run.

Clogged screen, winterization valves or fuse is where I would start.