Booster Running for Unknown amount of time without main pump

[UnderWaterVanya]

I am an absentee pool maintainer. My Father-in-law owns a house 1.5 miles from me with the pool. He's not at all savvy about the pool - and we haven't closed yet. When it dropped below freezing I set the timer to ensure things were OK and then didn't get back for a couple of weeks - he assured me he set it back.

He did not quite do it right - but that's not the problem. The problem is that somehow the manual switch for the pool cleaner booster (Polaris see sig) was flipped on when I went over there the other day. The pump was running - no idea how long it had been this way - without the main pump. Father-in-law doesn't recall turning it on.

I felt the housing - it wasn't crazy hot. Nothing was leaking. I turned the main pump on and ran it about an hour - no leaks or problems noticed.

Thoughts on what might happen? Is this a big deal? I thought it was but maybe I have been overly concerned about making sure the booster got switched off before the main pump stopped.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Re: Booster Running for Unknown amount of time without main

Usually what happens is that water gets sucked in the returns by the booster. Not a problem, but sometimes it will pull debris in, which then gets lodged in the little screen the polaris has. Just clean that out, and everything should be fine.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Re: Booster Running for Unknown amount of time without main

Usually what happens is that water gets sucked in the returns by the booster. Not a problem, but sometimes it will pull debris in, which then gets lodged in the little screen the polaris has. Just clean that out, and everything should be fine.

Outstanding! I'm planning to try to finally close sometime in the few months just in time to open! LOL

Seriously I keep getting ready to and then something happens. This weekend I have an event to attend both days and just don't think I'm going to be able to tackle this until next weekend.

 

[msumoose]

Re: Booster Running for Unknown amount of time without main

Biggest problem is with the shaft seal for me....they get hot and start leaking. I usually see this a few hours to a few weeks after the issue. This is a 1/2 hour fix with a $10 (ish) part, so no worries here, just watch for leak to develop.

 

[Brewer]

Re: Booster Running for Unknown amount of time without main

this has happened to me a few times ( they call it a "senior moment" ), but as noted, the booster will draw water from the return. My return & cleaner ports are both about 1' below the surface and the booster is 5' below the surface, so the lines are always full of water. Just as when the filter pump is on solo, the booster will also cause my 380 to creep along the bottom.