Hayward pump has no suction

[Ms506s]

I recently had a leak after the pump to the filter when I was at work. I came home and the pump had been running for 5 hours possibly with the leak. I replaced old pvc with the new this afternoon. I fired up the pump and there is now no suction which is causing pool to not circulate. I tried the hose in the pump basket, switching to spa only and everything possible and still no prime.

What can be done bc everything was running perfect until the leak we had yesterday from the original piping that is 8 years old.

I would Assume that if the pump was bad the motor wouldn't work. Thoughts?

 

[duraleigh]

Sounds like you have a suction side air leak. There is an article about them in pool school that may help you.

 

[bkfamily1]

Do you have a multi port valve between the pump and filter? I was having the same problem and found that taking the top off the valve and removing the innards dropped the discharge back pressure enough that the pump could get going. Of course as soon as it did it blew water everywhere out of the open valve body, but I would then shut off the pump and quick put the valve back together and turn it back on before it lost suction. In the end the shaft seal on the pump was going bad. Once I changed that the pump could self prime with no problem. If there is any water leaking out the bottom of the pump housing it is probably the shaft seal. If you have a strainer basket on the pump inlet be sure it is clean and that the lid seal is clean and lubricated and not leaking.

 

[YenkoZL1]

If it is not a suction side leak it could be the impeller. After your prime the system with water and you initially turn on the pump, does water splash inside the leaf basket indicating the impeller is spinning? Is the pump abnormally quite than usual due to no water movement? If this is the case, the threads to your impeller may have stripped out and you need a new impeller because it is not spinning. This will give a similar symptom to a suction leak. But the key indicator is when you first start the pump after you prime It the water in the basket stays stagnant on initial start up and doesn't splash immediately from the spinning impeller. It is a simple fix, and while you're at it you can replace the shaft seal too since you'll be in the area. Cost shouldn't be too much. I think I spent $50-$80 total when I did mine.

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Also, check the pump lid for cracks. If it ran for 5 hours without water, things get hot and the plastic top could have got hot and cracked. The lid is more expensive than the impeller...go figure.