problem is driving me CRAZY

[scotttate1]

Okay..i am a novice to major pool repairs so I have a question before I call in the professional.

2 days ago I was vacuuming my pool and during this time I noticed that the suction went down and the pressure shot up..30psi. I emptied out the basket and restarted the pool, but after a couple minutes of running normal pressure, the pressure shot back up again to 30 psi and the suction once again stopped.
Today I started trouble shooting the process... I turned the pool on, pressure was normal, the popups started the cycle or releasing air...pool was running normal... as the air cycle ended the pressure once again shot back up to 30 and remains there.

I purchased the hose attachment and hooked it to the skimmer side of the pool and flushed water through but nothing came out in the skimmer basket.

Do I have blockage in the line?
Should I keep running water via the hose and try to kick the blockage out?
Or is there something else...maybe something sinister going on?

Thank you so much and any knowledgable advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome to TFP! If I understand the scenario, .... if you are attempting to move water from the poolside skimmer to the pump strainer basket and not seeing anything flow, then it does sound like you have a blockage. You could try pushing a garden hose in from the other direction (the pump strainer basket), wrap it with a rag to try and keep it snug, then try to push water back towards the pool skimmer basket. Maybe something got lodged in there and can break-free the other way.

Also, please add your pool info to your signature by going to the top of the TFP web page (just under the Pool School button) and select "SETTINGS". On the next page look to the left for a menu bar that says, “MY SETTINGS” and go to "EDIT SIGNATURE" to enter your pool and equipment info there. Or you can click EDIT YOUR SIGNATURE. It will help us later. This link may also help you: Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post.

Nice to have you with us.

 

[scotttate1]

thank you. I will add in my pool settings.

This is where it gets weird. Water is coming into the pump strainer basket...however the pressure shoots up to 30 psi and the suction for the intake gets extremely low...my pool skimmer is barely working. This is what is driving my crazy

 

[JesseSchmidt]

Have you tried back-washing the filter?

 

[scotttate1]

That was my first strategy of attack. I backwashed 3 times but the pressure still remained high. It appears that as soon as the air is released into the pool the pressure jumps back up to 30 and the intake is very low.

What else could be causing this issue? Should I blow out the pipes with air?

 

[pooldv]

Sounds like the problem is on the pressure side. Add your signature so we know what we are helping you with. More here on what to put in it and how to do it, Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post

 

[max2k]

seems you have a blockage on the pressure side of the pump- if I understand you correctly you have no air in the pump strainer basket, just very low flow, correct? In that case it would make sense to investigate pressure side- pump can't push water out, something prevents it from doing this. Do you have spa you can direct filter output to instead of pool?

 

[Isaac-1]

Until we know what sort of a equipment you have it is hard to give much more advice.

 

[domct203]

Until we know what sort of a equipment you have it is hard to give much more advice.

Agreed, anything else is guesswork.

It would be great if the OP could post a pic or two of their equipment also.

Dom