Trouble using a vacuum on my pump

[aksarben]

Ok, I'm having a big issue and it's been VERY frustrating. I have an Intex pool with the Intex pump that came with it. The issue is that I am consistently getting air into the line (I'm assuming this is the case) as it won't suck in from the pool with much strength.

Even when it is pulling in a decent amount of water, I go to hook up a vacuum hose, and it loses nearly all suction.

I really need to be able to use a vacuum in my pool, but I can't get it to suck up with any sort of strength.

Any suggestions? Is my pump just not strong enough? Is there something wrong with it?

I currently have a .75 HP pump on a 10,000 gallon pool.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

 

[CaptinSpaulding]

In my opinion, the pumps that come with them are sub par and not fit for pool use and probably not even a true .75hp to begin with. You might have a clogged impeller or something going on in the pump/filter.

Assuming the pump/filter is good and clean, to me it sounds like what you are experiencing is most likely that you are cavitating the pump, starving it basically. Since there is most likely only the one inlet on your pool, you will need to rig something up that will allow you to attach a hose to the inlet but still allow it to suck water from around the fitting. I am uploading an image of something I came up with recently when I had a similar problem. I used stuff I had around, an extra strainer cover, a threaded 1.5" pvc elbow, a small section of 1.5" pvc, the end of an old 1.25" hose and a 1.5" replacement hose cuff. Once screwed on to the pool inlet, the 1.25" inside hose sits in the pools inlet hole just enough to be close and have the most suction but enough out of the hole to allow the water to be sucked from around the 1.25" hose through strainer as well. You do not want the inner 1.25" hose to fill the inlet hole and make a seal or it will not be able to suck from the strainer. This prevents my pump from cavitating since I only have one inlet. Plus the 1.5" hose cuff fits nicely around a piece of 1.5" pvc and makes a perfect place to plug in our smaller 1.25" hoses nice and snug. The whole thing screws on to the intex type wall inlet. I used a hole saw to cut the strainer and then just twisted/pressed the threaded end of the elbow into the hole. The rest you can see how it was done. The 1.25" hose end I just pushed in very hard and twisted. It took me around 5 tries to get the length of that right, start long and cut small section off until you can completely cover the other end with your hand and feel a strong pull but water still gets sucked in from around the strainer.

Another good trick is to hold one end of the hose against the return until water comes out the other end and hold both ends under water while you walk over to the inlet to hook up the vacuum.