Weir causing pump to lose suction. Please help

[prosoundbrad]

Hello all - Just bought a new house and the pool was missing the skimmer basket and weir. Pump ran fine for 2 months without them. I finally got around to replacing them and both fit fine, but now the pump seems to lose prime. It will have pressure for 30 seconds or so, then completely lose pressure, repeating this cycle over and over until I shut off the pump to prevent it from burning out the impeller. Water level in the pool is higher than at other times when I did not have this issue. I'm going to add some silicone to the filter cover and catch basket cover o rings. Any other ideas? Anything to do with the weir or just coincidence. I also have one of two jet eyelets, that is missing, because it is cross-threaded and the in wall coupler appears to be installed in a manner that would require demolition to remove. This is a whole other problem, but I'm not suspecting it to be related.

Thanks!

Brad

 

[JamesW]

Since the pump ran for two months without a basket, then it's possible that the line is clogged with debris. If the line is clogged, the pump will sound like it is straining and working too hard.

When the pump is on, the weir should drop just below the water level to allow the water to flow into the skimmer. Watch the weir to see if it is getting stuck, or if it is preventing water from entering the skimmer.

 

[JohnT]

It sounds like the weir is sticking. Sometimes you need to sand the edges to let them swing smoothly open and closed. If the weir is just a little slow moving, the pump will empty the skimmer and produce the loss of prime you are seeing.

 

[duraleigh]

pool water level should be about 1/3 to 1/2 way up on the skimmer throat....is it?

Look down in the skimmer with the pump running and see if you can see it sucking air. You won't burn the pump based on what you're describing but you need to get it fixed.

 

[prosoundbrad]

Thanks guys. Got a little side tracked with our baby shower since I first posted this. I haven't had any issue recently with the pump losing prime. We had a hard rain that brought the water level almost all the way up to the deck the other day. At this level, I noticed that the velocity of the water moving through the skimmer basket seems much slower. I see the same circumstance when the jandy valve is set to mostly feed from the floor drain (although I think that normally I should be feeding 75% of the water volume through the skimmer). Does this slower water velocity make the skimmer less effective at cleaning the debris off the surface of the water?

Brad

 

[Bama Rambler]

It could cause the skimmer to be less effective, but as with everything, there's a trade-off, You need the water to flow fast enough to be effective but you also need the level high enough not to suck in air.