At My Wit's End - I need some help please

[Ineedaname]

Hello, I'm new here and have been reading all of the great information here. Thanks to everyone who shares their knowledge.

I'm fairly new to opening, maintaining and closing my pool so if my questions sound ridiculous I apologize.

I have an 18x36 inground vinyl lined pool with a DE filter. When I opening it 10 days ago it was a very dark green. I shocked it, swept it, backwashed, etc. and now the color is a lighter green, but not clear. When I first opened the pool, the jet pressure was really good. Now, not at all. The gauge on the filter is reading around 22 but there is hardly any pressure coming out of the jets. I took the filter apart and cleaned all the fingers and put more DE in the skimmers. The pump basket seems to have a little air in it. Would just that little bit of air cause the low pressure on the jets and the pool not to clean? Should I replace the rubber gasket on that pump basket?

I tried backwashing again this morning thinking that maybe that was the problem, but the water draining from the pump is clear (no algae).

Any help you could give would be appreciated. I've spent a ton of money on chemicals and can't afford to have a pool technician come out to look.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Casey]

Welcome to TFP!

Please read up in Pool School on cleaning the filters to see if you missed something. You may have air in the line. Someone should help you soon.

Also, please read the ABC 's of Pool Water Chemistry and SLAM'ing your pool. If you can swing a reliable test kit, the TF100, I would urge you to do so. Stock up on bleach.

Can you post test results, even if they're from pool store? We need a CYA reading.

 

[Ineedaname]

Welcome to TFP!

Please read up in Pool School on cleaning the filters to see if you missed something. You may have air in the line. Someone should help you soon.

Also, please read the ABC 's of Pool Water Chemistry and SLAM'ing your pool. If you can swing a reliable test kit, the TF100, I would urge you to do so. Stock up on bleach.

Can you post test results, even if they're from pool store? We need a CYA reading.

I'm at work right now, but can take another test when I get home. What is a CYA reading?

I will definitely look at the Pool School forum. Thank you.

 

[mrcarcrazy]

http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/123-abc-of-pool-water-chemistry

CYA - Cyanuric Acid - Protects chlorine from sunlight and determines the required FC level. (outdoors 30 to 50, SWG 70 to 80, indoors 0 to 20)

If you are using granular/pucks for chlorination this can get way too high way, and make your Chlorine ineffective. (essentially)

What type of test kit are you using?

 

[Ineedaname]

Hi, I'm using a test kit I got from the pool store. The chlorine is reading high on it and the Alkalinity is good as well as the Ph. I don't have the exact readings here at work though.

My biggest concern is that there's not a lot of pressure coming out of the jets and the pool pump is reading about 23. After reading a lot of these forums, I'm wondering if the pump basket is the culprit. After opening the pool originally, I removed the lid on the basket to check to see if pineneedles were building up. Since then I've seen the little air pockets at the top of the basket. Would something that small cause this big of a problem?

 

[Richard320]

Yes. an air leak can cause problems. If you've been vacuuming pine needles, you may have clogged the impeller in the pump with them. Instead of working like a fan blade, it's more like a spinning disk. With the power off, pull the basket from the pump and poke up in the motor end opening. If you feel anything, there's your problem.

 

[mrcarcrazy]

Hi, I'm using a test kit I got from the pool store. The chlorine is reading high on it and the Alkalinity is good as well as the Ph. I don't have the exact readings here at work though.

My biggest concern is that there's not a lot of pressure coming out of the jets and the pool pump is reading about 23. After reading a lot of these forums, I'm wondering if the pump basket is the culprit. After opening the pool originally, I removed the lid on the basket to check to see if pineneedles were building up. Since then I've seen the little air pockets at the top of the basket. Would something that small cause this big of a problem?

no. A small air pocket at the top of the pump basket area is not necessarily a sign of any leak...especially if your lid isn't smooth on the underside. Mine has Trusses/structural supports and they can at times trap a little air. It is possible to build up crud in/on the impeller. Buddy had that happen with pine needles.

Have you ever seen the filter gauge read less than 23psi when running?

 

[Ineedaname]

Yes, the filter gauge used to run around 15, but last year it was around 18 or 19.

I think other than taking the lid off the pump basket, I've done everything. I will check to make sure there are no pine needles inside the basket. I'm also wondering if I might have not put the gasket on the filter correctly when I removed the filter to clean the fingers earlier this week. (Oh boy, my son is going to kill me if he has to remove all those screws again)!

- - - Updated - - -

Richard320, do you mean right inside the basket pump? I've cleaned that area before, but there wasn't much there. Should I take something else apart?

 

[Richard320]

Yes, the filter gauge used to run around 15, but last year it was around 18 or 19.

I think other than taking the lid off the pump basket, I've done everything. I will check to make sure there are no pine needles inside the basket. I'm also wondering if I might have not put the gasket on the filter correctly when I removed the filter to clean the fingers earlier this week. (Oh boy, my son is going to kill me if he has to remove all those screws again)!

The filter is on the pressure side. If you had a leak there, water would come out. So if the housing is dry, you don't need to disassemble it again.

That is a bump-style filter, correct? Does bumping it help?

 

[Ineedaname]

You guys are amazing with your helpfulness! Thank you!!

It is a bump-style filter. Bumping doesn't help and the water drains clear so it seems that the green is not being sucked into the filter. I added DE again yesterday because I had backwashed so often.

Ughhh, I'm going to set my laptop up outside near the pool and work until I figure this out.

Of course this is all when I'm trying to sell my house and potential buyers are looking at my green pool!