Help! Manual vacuum doesn't have suction. Need 2 clean!

[lacigrl]

The first thing I would do is check to make sure the vacuum plate is making a good seal. Put the vacuum plate by itself—no hose attached—into the skimmer and turn the pump on. Now put your hand over the port. Does it have good suction? If not there's a problem with the adaptor.

If you get good suction at the vacuum plate with no hose attached, then there is really only one other possibility. The hose has air in it.

BTW, did you see Stan's post above about the hose?

Yes, the hose I have has "Attach vacuum head here" stamped on it, so I'm pretty sure it's the right end. The plate does seem to have good suction when put over the skimmer basket; it clamps it on pretty tight. It's just that that suction doesn't seem to STAY, and inevitably "bubbles up" in a minute or so.

Would plugging that second hole down there do anything?

 

[Beez]

You're saying the suction doesn't remain constant with vacuum plate installed and no hose attached?

 

[lacigrl]

You're saying the suction doesn't remain constant with vacuum plate installed and no hose attached?

Oh, haven't tried that yet. It's too dark out there right now, and I just backwashed the DE filter earlier, and I shouldn't run the filter til I put more DE in. Will have to wait til morning.

 

[lacigrl]

***Update: Just went outside to run the filter and show my husband what's up. Now the pump is SUCKING like a vortex. Like I've never seen it do before, almost like it was pulling so hard you could see the water sticking to the side of the basket as it went down and water couldn't replenish fast enough. I was afraid to get my hand anywhere near it. The return jets were shooting out like hot tub jets were on.

Is that normal? Did I somehow break something by backwashing? It really seems like it's now sucking TOO hard. The sound is incredibly loud.

And yes, we tried the vacuum again on it with the new suction and it STILL did the same thing. Pulled for a second or two (ewww, picked up a ton of earthworms), then stopped suction again. Arg!

Also put the vacuum plate on without the hose, and it did the same thing. Though I'm not sure that was the best idea, because it pulled in a lot of air with it.

Is it time to call a pro?

 

[Bama Rambler]

The increased suction you're seeing is most likely from the backwashing. If the filter was dirty you should see a marked improvement in suction and return flow after backwashing.

The symptoms you describe are exactly that of air getting into the suction allowing the pump to lose prime. There are many places where leaks are likely to occur.
1. Vacuum hose joints.
2. Vacuum plate.
3. Pump strainer basket lid.
4. Pump strainer basket drain plug.
5. Pump shaft seal.
6. Suction piping.

The easiest thing to do is have someone check the pump strainer basket to see if it gets air in it while vacuuming.

 

[Beez]

***Update: Just went outside to run the filter and show my husband what's up. Now the pump is SUCKING like a vortex. Like I've never seen it do before, almost like it was pulling so hard you could see the water sticking to the side of the basket as it went down and water couldn't replenish fast enough. I was afraid to get my hand anywhere near it. The return jets were shooting out like hot tub jets were on.

That just sounds like your water level is low which could contribute to the other problem as well... Have you verified that the skimmer weir is moving freely, not stuck?

 

[lacigrl]

***Update: Just went outside to run the filter and show my husband what's up. Now the pump is SUCKING like a vortex. Like I've never seen it do before, almost like it was pulling so hard you could see the water sticking to the side of the basket as it went down and water couldn't replenish fast enough. I was afraid to get my hand anywhere near it. The return jets were shooting out like hot tub jets were on.

That just sounds like your water level is low which could contribute to the other problem as well... Have you verified that the skimmer weir is moving freely, not stuck?

The skimmer weir is the plastic flap between the pool wall and the skimmer, right? My pool doesn't seem to have one at all.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Some skimmers don't have them but if yours is creating a vortex and sucking air in you need something to break it up so it won't suck air in.