Pump Pressure yesterday 18...Today 27.

[boomingsooner]

Hello.

I just washed out the cartridges yesterday and did a really solid clean (I'm trying to get a MX-8 dialed in, which I did..perfectly).

Today the pressure is 27 and the Baracuda isn't moving at all. The valves are exactly where they were yesterday.

:grrrr:

Any thoughts? THANK YOU!!

Brett

 

[jblizzle]

What does your water look like?

Also, what are you pool and equipment details? A full set of test results would not hurt either.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[duraleigh]

Your filter is filtering junk out of the water, getting glogged up. Thus, the increase in pressure. Clean your filter and, importantly, you have to figure out what it is filtering out.

That's where your water appearance comes in....is it clear, crystal clear, cloudy. green?

Posting test results is always helpful.

 

[boomingsooner]

I just turned the water over (drained the pool completely and refilled) about 2-3 weeks ago. All the tests are coming back perfect when I do them. Took a sample to Leslie's and they didn't have me add anything either.
When I cleaned the cartridges saturday, they weren't really that dirty. I usually clean them every other month, every quarter at the least.

Here is my system.

White pump is just for water features. There is a hottub, two drains, one dedicated cleaner line and one skimmer.
From the black pump at 6:00, first valve is (i think) a valve to open and close the main drains. Valve at 6:00 to that is to select the dedicated cleaner line or the skimmer. If I fully close the dedicated skimmer return, the pump cavitates very badly, so I stop it. Saturday, I played with the valve until it stopped perfectly to get the MX-8 the correct amount of suction...it was dead on balls.
The tube directly below this valve comes out of the ground and is open. I think this is to suck in air for the spa, but i can't get it to work any more.
RETURN SIDE:
I have not figured this side out yet... :grrrr:
Thank you guys for looking at this! I appreciate what you do.
Brett

 

[257WbyMag]

A lot can happen to water in 2 to 3 weeks. Please post your test results for us to see. We need FC, CC, TA, pH, CH and CYA.

 

[duraleigh]

I just turned the water over (drained the pool completely and refilled) about 2-3 weeks ago. All the tests are coming back perfect when I do them. Took a sample to Leslie's and they didn't have me add anything either.
When I cleaned the cartridges saturday, they weren't really that dirty. I usually clean them every other month, every quarter at the least.

Nevertheless, a pressure increase (unless you have shut down some valves, or blocked something on the PRESSURE side of your system) is indicative of the filter getting clogged with something....not much else can cause it.

With a psi of 27, I suspect your are experiencing slower flow at the returns into your pool. If the water is flowing into the pool as it normally does, then I would suspect the gauge is bad

 

[boomingsooner]

A lot can happen to water in 2 to 3 weeks. Please post your test results for us to see. We need FC, CC, TA, pH, CH and CYA.

FC 4
CC 0
TA 220
PH 8.2
CH 280
CYA 20

These are my measurements with a TF-100 :-D

Thank you guys!!
Brett

 

[duraleigh]

Completely off the subject, but get your pH down to the mid 7's.

You should be experiencing lass than normal flow to the pool, is that correct?

 

[boomingsooner]

It is hard for me to tell, but I can say for certain I never get jet power to the spa any more.

 

[boomingsooner]

Is there a way to clean out the lines?

The spa used to blow out hard and blow bubbles as well. It is another thing that just doesn't seem to work well.

I could run the filter for a bit with no cartridges to see if that is the problem I guess.

 

[Raiken3712]

pool-school/read_before_you_post

It can help people help you in some situations if you have pool details in your signature as shown in the example on that page.

Also people tend to ask for Pool chemical test results so just posting them as shown in that post at the start is a good idea if the problem has any possibility of being an issue related to those.

I just recently started posting and didn't have all that, but someone linked to it and it makes a bunch of sense.

Good luck on your pool

 

[jblizzle]

So it is the white pump that is not making the spa jets strong any more? It looks like most of the valves are almost closed with only 1 open ... is that for the spa jets?

I would suggest adding a pressure gauge off of that return line and that can help identify problems. If the pressure were high, then maybe there is a blockage on the pressure side. If pressure is low, then maybe the blockage would be on the suction side or clogged impeller.

 

[boomingsooner]

Thank you for your response first!
The white pump is for waterfalls only. It has its own suction and return lines.
I'm going to check the impeller. I think you do that just downstream from the basket in the pump?
But if it was clogged, wouldn't it have high pressure behind it and not where the pressure gauge is?
Thank you Jason

 

[jblizzle]

You might be able to see the impeller, but a clogged impeller will not cause high pressure, it will cause lower than normal pressure.

So the Spa jets run off the black pump then?

It would be kind of helpful if you could edit your picture and label everything you do know (pipes, valves etc).

 

[boomingsooner]

I did it! Here is what I know and don't know (marked with a *)
Thank you again!

Again, spa doesn't blow out well and 0 bubbles come out. We moved in about 1.5 years ago and it worked well then with good jets, but hasn't for about a year.

Pool and equipment is about 3.5 years old.

 

[jblizzle]

I am not sure you have actually answered yet ... what does the water look like?

Try reporting some pressures in different configurations:
Only SWG to pool
Only to spa
Only to the feature on floor (and the other one you did not label)

Lets see if they are all higher than normal and less flow than normal.

You can just flip the switches on the actuators themselves to turn 1 at a time.

 

[boomingsooner]

Water looks fantastic!

I tried every conceivable configuration and can't get the pressure below 26-27. I can raise it to about 32, but not lower.

 

[jblizzle]

Your gauge goes to 0 when the pump is off right?

What that means is that your problem lies between the pump and the first valve after the heater.

You could try removing the cartridges and seeing what the pressure is without them that could eliminate them as the problem.

 

[boomingsooner]

About 1.5.
I have air being sucked into the spa "bubble" tube for the first time in a year. Something good happened!!

I will run this without the cartridges in place for a few days and see what happens.

 

[jblizzle]

What is 1.5? If that is the pressure reading when the pump is off, then you need to get a new gauge before you can figure anything out.

What is the pressure reading on the filter without the cartridges with the pump on?

If it is now circulating, then clearly your cartridges need to be cleaned or replaced ... as Dave said in the 2nd response.