Plumbing Question

[crudsrus]

Hello to everyone and Happy belated New Years.
I'm currently helping a friend with a 25,000 gallon in-ground pool, 3 returns,dedicated suction line,creepy crawler suction side cleaner. 3hp Pentair variable speed pump. The pump is one of the new types which local utility company offers a rebate. Whenever the valve is open to introduce flow from the cleaner line the pump basket begins to loose prime and will eventually become dry.

My suggestion is to keep the majority of the pipe buried and place a Jandy 3way valve between the vac line and main drain line directly in front of the pump. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Known issues:The main drain is clogged and the skimmer is missing the weir door. Pool is filled to middle of skimmer opening.


Converted from pucks to BBB Pool store told him that the "forums" told one of their customers to put orange juice in their pool.. That's another topic......

 

[duraleigh]

Whenever the valve is open to introduce flow from the cleaner line the pump basket begins to loose prime and will eventually become dry.

If I am following you correctly, the only issue is there is an air leak in that dedicated suction line or, perhaps, at the valve that turns it on and off. Once you find that leak, the pump will hold prime.

I am not sure why you want to alter the plumbing but perhaps I am missing something.

 

[CraigMW]

Your description sounded kind of similar to mine, in that whenever I switched the vacuum side to the cleaner line, I'd just get the pump basket filling with water. I thought it was a leak, but I've since cleaned out the line (by plumbing a special reverse flow circuit through the cleaner line) and now even if all of the suction is through the cleaner line, the pump basket remains free of air. I can't tell if you have another ball valve on the cleaner line so that shut down the cleaner line. The purpose of a 3-way valve is to simplify operation, but two ball valves can replicate the same functionality.

As far as the skimmer weir goes, that should be an easy fix. Measure the width and height of the skimmer intake where the weir door should fit. You might also find that there are indentations near the bottom of the weir where the weir door has flexible tabs that hold the door in place. Once you have those measurements, you can pick up a new weir door from your local (or online) pool supplier. Then, just put the weir door into the weir space, holding the tabs in if needed, and it will snap into place. At least that's the way my Hayward skimmer works. YMMV.

 

[duraleigh]

CraigMW brings up a good point that I overlooked. That dedicated suction line could have a blockage that might make it suck in air where it otherwise would not if the blockage was clear.

 

[swimcmp]

IMO the vac line needs to be no taller than the intake on the pump, at a slower rpm the pump cannot pull water in and is "creating" air in the line.