I have an approximately 19,000 gallon pool. It has paramount in-floor cleaners with the optional debris containment canister. We recently cleaned the filters and when we put the pump back on it would only prime when only the skimmer line was on. We have always kept it at 70% main drain line and 30% skimmer line. It does remain primed if I put it at 50/50. However, if I go any more towards the main drain line, the pump loses prime. I have also noticed that air is sucking in from the gray tube by the in-floor cleaning unit into the debris containment canister (don't know if that is normal or not) to where under the dome in the debris containment canister there is air and you can see the water coming form the main drain right down into the basket. What could be causing the pump to lose prime when I try to put it more towards the main drain line? It's never done this before and we've owned it for almost 3 years now. We've had a lot of wind lately with lots of leaves so I tried using a clog blaster, but I'm actually unsure which line to put that in to blow out through the main drain. I have not received any resistance to it.
Can't run pump on main drain line.
- Thread starter davetherave
- Start date
It sounds like you have a leak, which is letting in air, which is not normal and will cause the pump to lose prime. From what you said
it sounds like you already have a good idea where the leak is at least approximately.
Actually where the air is sucking in is an air tube for equalization I think, it's just not supposed to suck back in. I don't know what is causing the air to suck back in. The seal on the pump is good. The seal on the lid of the debris canister is good. But the water under the lid in the debris canister is supposed to look like the water in the window of the pump and it just keeps filling with air from the air tube. Water is coming in from the main drain into the debris canister but I don't know if it is enough. Should it be coming in more and faster? Could there be a partial blockage of leaves and things that is causing it to not get enough suction?
Well, it ended up being a partial blockage. We took the main drain covers off today and inside there was this huge plastic star stuck in there. Wasn't anything from us, so it was either there for 3 years and moved to cause a blockage or someone threw it in the pool over our fence. Anyway, I'm so glad we found it and that the pump is priming with the main drain line again. And it didn't hurt getting all the exercise from swimming up and down to the bottom to get all the screws off and on.