Filter Pump Newbie

[chris.horney]

So looked at my filter pump and it was pretty clogged with junk so I turned everything off (like my pool builder said) and opened up lid to get some of the leaves and other junk out. Put it all back in and closed the lid and read not to run dry. Well it's not all the way full with water and didn't want to screw anything up. Do I just turn everything back on or do I need to do anything else?

This is my first pool and am nervous about screwing it all up!

 

[JVTrain]

What I would do is get a 5 gallon bucket, fill it with pool water and pour that into your pump basket until it's over flowing. Then, quickly put the pump basket cover on and turn on the pump. This is assuming your pool level is below the pump and if your pour water in your pump basket, it simply drains into the pool. It's OK for your pump to run dry or without prime for a short period of time in these situations. They are able to self prime as long as the plumbing is not leaking.

Some plumbing set ups such as valves on the return side and/or suction side can be closed when opening the pump basket, then opened after closing the pump basket to prevent long priming times.

 

[chris.horney]

Perfect! That seems to have worked!

 

[atttech-2]

That is how they started mine the first time, there was no water in any of the lines or filter PB just grabbed a bucket and filed directly into the motor basket as described by JVTrain. Since then I have taken the lid off a few times and not repeated the bucket prime, when I turn it on after cleaning the water comes flowing in with 1 to 2 seconds tops.

 

[JVTrain]

That is how they started mine the first time, there was no water in any of the lines or filter PB just grabbed a bucket and filed directly into the motor basket as described by JVTrain. Since then I have taken the lid off a few times and not repeated the bucket prime, when I turn it on after cleaning the water comes flowing in with 1 to 2 seconds tops.

Yep. Many times if the water lines are mostly full, even if you don't fill the basket with water manually, it doesn't take long for the pump to prime, depending on how far above the pool level the pump is in elevation. My pump is about 3 feet higher than my pool level, so I usually give my pump a healthy dose of water when closing it up again and it still takes about 2 minutes of "dry" pumping to get prime. I'm sure that adds to the wear on the pump itself, but probably very minimal.