Pump/Filter Issues...

[kammel78]

Hello!

New pool owner (old pool/new house) here trying to gain as much knowledge as I can and I must say I really appreciate the amount of information available to newbs like me on this site.

So...here's my issues.

25,000g IG with a Hayward sand filter that I started noticing pressure issues with. I couldn't get my Navigator to function right and noticed that water was only coming out of one of my eyeballs, so I started troubleshooting the filter/pump. I noticed the top teflon bearing was broken on the multiport so I went ahead and replaced it and all the gaskets/o-rings on the multiport (and a good cleaning).

Backwashed the filter, rinsed and had water out of both eyeballs again. Hooked up the Navigator and let it run for a while. Then I started having issues with air in the pump intermittently, so I backwashed/rinsed and everything worked fine again. Sure enough, after shutting the pump off to clean the Navigator and turning back on, it had issues pumping all the air out.

I decided to go ahead and replace the sand (no idea how old) and clean the filter good. Put everything back together again and everything worked fine for a while. Hooked the Navigator up and it ran for a while then stopped. Decided to just let it run with the skimmer for a while and while cleaning leaves noticed that again only one eyeball had flow. Turned pump off and when I turned it back on, it would not pump all the air out again.

Backwashed/rinsed and low and behold I got water from both eyeballs again.

So, could the suction line be clogged? Could the pump be bad? Or is the multiport bad (I did notice water on top of the multiport but figured it may be due to the increased pressure)?

Please help me figure out where I need to go from here.

Thanks!

 

[Richard320]

There's a restriction or air leak somewhere. Try the search box for umpteen threads about air leaks, losing prime, etc.

 

[kammel78]

Thanks, I did search but was hoping someone with much more experience could help me narrow it down a bit first to suction side, pump, filter, etc...

 

[Isaac-1]

If you have exposed fittings around the suction side of your pump, or suspect the gasket on the pump strainer basket, you can try good old fashion shaving cream to detect the suction side leak, lather up the fittings and have someone watch the return for soapy bubbles.

 

[duraleigh]

Since runs OK for a while after start up, I suspect you are clogging the system. What are you vacuuming up? Is the water clear? Do you have a lot of gunk in the pool?

 

[kammel78]

I did have a lot of gunk in the pool at first. Still greenish, but you can see the bottom and most of the leaves and such are gone now.

I disconnected the suction line and blew them out with a hose, and both the skimmer and main drain seem to be free.

The two PVC fittings going into the pump were both only hand tight and look like maybe whoever installed them shorted their straight runs and didn't have enough to thread them all the way on. Off to Lowes to get replacements!

Would tiny leaks in the PVC fittings cause pressure buildup? I would think it would cause the pressure to drop?

 

[duraleigh]

Would tiny leaks in the PVC fittings cause pressure buildup?

Your psi won't change but you can accumulate pressurized air in the filter if you have a suction side leak.

 

[kammel78]

So, I basically redid the plumbing for the pump and filter. The installer glued up all the PVC prior to screwing any of the male adapters into the ports limiting how much he could tighten them down. There was also silicone, plumber's putty and a number of unidentifiable substances used to compensate for the poor plumbing.

Anyway, everything seems tight now (thanks for the shaving cream suggestion, Issac-1!) and it ran at about 15psi for about an hour and then slowly creeped up. It seems to be holding around 20psi now.

The only place I'm still getting water is from the top of the multiport by the handle. I replaced the spider gasket. Could the spring be bad or is a little water on top normal?

 

[duraleigh]

Could the spring be bad or is a little water on top normal?

A "perfect" pool has NO leaks whatsoever. Perfection is tough to achieve (I can't ) so you can just live with that leak if it's small.

If the spider gasket was sealed in place just right, then it probably is the spring. If you replace the spring, reinspect the gasket carefully as it seems to be the cause of most all multiport leaks.

 

[kammel78]

Hmm...well the handle does not stay fully in the "up" position, so maybe it is the spring. Might as well go ahead and finish replacing everything on the multiport. :-D

Sometimes my OCD forces me to get as close to "perfection" as humanly possible