Wimpy waterfall

[restoman]

Hello all. New member with almost NO knowledge about pools!

I live in Southern California and we just had a massive rain storm with high winds over the last few days. This put a lot of leaves and twigs in my pool and before I had a chance to sweep them out, it looks like something has gotten clogged in the piping.

My Hayward Navigator vacuum seems to be working okay (same basic "speed" as normal), but the waterfall from the jacuzzi to the pool has gotten VERY WIMPY (it's usually about double what you see in the link), so I need to find out what I can do to fix this.

I've already cleaned out all the filters (pool skimmer and filter pump) but it's still wimpy. I also noticed that the large 4 filter housing that has the pressure gauge on top of it is registering 50 pounds, and that seems high to me.

Is there any way to back flush the system to dislodge whatever's in there? I have a PENTAIR INTELLITOUCH SYSTEM I5 with a CLEAN & CLEAR PLUS filter system.

Ed

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

Your situation does sound suspicious for an obstruction. I'll let other experts give you some advice on this.

 

[zea3]

If you do a google search at the bottom of this page for how to clear blocked lines, it should pull up several threads were different techniques are discussed. One of the methods is to try to thread a water hose into the line working from the pump basket back towards the pool and try to flush the obstruction out.

 

[Guest]

50psi seems high, looks like a cartridge filter and probably time to clean it. What hp is your filter pump? It looks like you have a separate pump for the water feature, is that correct? Your image shows the spa spillover, if that's the case, it could be your pentair filter. Ideally with no solar, my filter (which is the same as yours) runs at 15psi. When was the last time you cleaned it?

 

[restoman]

Sorry guys, I made a mistake. It's running at 30 PSI, not 50. My eyes aren't what they used to be!

We cleaned the 4 large filters just a few weeks ago actually. And before the wimpy waterfall problem, it was running at 20 PSI. (The 3 pump motors are 1.5 HP by the way, and I have one filter pump, one booster pump and one water feature pump.)

Does anyone have a drawing showing the water flow from the pumps to the pool/jacuzzi and back to the pumps? The manuals that came with the pool are TOTALLY useless! They only show the electrical diagrams and nothing for the plumbing. I'm assuming there's more than one intake from the pool to the filters since there's the vacuum AND the skimmer basket. Where does the water for the jacuzzi come in?

Oh, and I saw the thread on using the hose. It's too late tonight, but I'll see what I can do tomorrow.

And after a little more detective work, I found THIS THING at the bottom of the skimmer. What does it do? When I pulled it out, I also discovered that it's BROKEN! (HERE'S a close-up of the broken part.) There are two holes under this thing and one is sucking when the filter pump is running, but the other one doesn't seem to be doing anything. Could this be part of the problem??

Ed

 

[257WbyMag]

I believe that is an anti-vortex device for the skimmer.

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's a diverter that adjusts the flow from the main drain. The part that's broken is the adjuster flap. If the broken part was positioned just right in the hat it may affect the flow but then your filter pressure would be lower.

 

[restoman]

Thanks guys, but after putzing with the hose method for an hour with no success, it looks like I'm going to have to get a professional out here to unclog the line. I'll also have to buy a new adjuster flap, but how do I know what position to put it in??

Ed

 

[restoman]

Well, they came out a few weeks ago and blew out the lines with CO2, but nothing came out, so we replaced the 4 large filters. That didn't help either (it's still wimpy). However, I've noticed over the last few weeks that it's not wimpy all the time! Sometimes it works just fine while other times it's wimpy. The guy that came out says it might be the CHECK VALVE, so that'll be next on the list. There DOES seem to be a lot of noise coming from that area, so who knows. Can a check valve cause this problem and can it cause it to be intermittant??

Ed

 

[Guest]

What kind of check valve?

 

[Bama Rambler]

That's a spring held check valve and they certainly can stick. Just a guess, but it's most likely cocking to one side and binding partially open sometimes. It's hard to say for sure that that's the problem but replacing it will let you know.

 

[restoman]

Thanks Dave. I'm assuming I can just cut off the old one and glue in the new one like I do with the PVC pipes on my sprinkler system, right? Or do you have to use special pool pipe glue?

Ed

 

[Bama Rambler]

Just regular PVC glue is all you need. I use the all-purpose fast-setting type, but it's not required.

 

[restoman]

Perfect. Now to find one!!

Ed

 

[Guest]

I would replace it with a flap type and not your standard irrigation type.

 

[restoman]

Sal, what's a flap type? The ones I see on ebay and yahoo are spring type. Like THIS ONE.

Ed

 

[Guest]

Like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/Jandy-180-Degree-Ch ... _804wt_689

 

[restoman]

Thanks Sal. I'll get one of those.

Ed

 

[Bama Rambler]

Another good side effect of those flapper type valves is that they're rebuildable without having to remove them from the piping.

 

[restoman]

Even better. I noticed that this type is a little more expensive, but if you can rebuild them, then over the long run it'll be cheaper.

Ed