I've had this pool for 4 years and this year is the first time that this has been a problem. 3 times since my pool has been opened I have tried to vacuum it. I put the vacuum head on the bottom, turn the pump on high then put one end of the hose over the water coming out until the hose is full of water. As soon as I put that end of the hose in the skimmer hole, the water in the pump starts going down and down until it's almost dry. When I'm done vacuuming and pull the hose out of the skimmer, the pump stays really low on water. The only way to get it full again is to open the top and let the water come splashing up, hen closing again. I just bought a new vacuum head so I know it's not cracked or anything. Not sure how it could be sucking air in anywhere. It's an above ground pool with Hayward equipment. This doesn't seem like an equipment specific problem which is why I'm not bothering to list each piece of equipment. Let me know what you may need to help or if pics would help. No one in my area is familiar with pools. Thanks
Basket in my pump runs dry when I hook hose up to skimmer to vacuum
- Thread starter adinicola
- Start date
That doesn't make sense to me either. Could it be a suction side air leak that is only present when you increase the pressure by vacuuming? It might be the pump strainer basket o ring getting pulled out of place and when you remove and replace the lid it cures the problem. Lube up the o ring and see if you can tighten the lid a little more.
Nectarologist
Well-known member
- Apr 3, 2015
- 642
- Pool Size
- 21000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Could it be that there is something lodged in the hose restricting water flow? I know it's a long shot but I once had a piece of corner round molding stuck in my skimmer about half an inch down (from work being done on my kitchen). When the pump was on I couldn't see it because of the turbulent water. I finally checked it out w/o the pump on and bingo. Did this start w/ the new vac head? If so maybe it sits a bit lower to the floor and causes issues when you first connect the hose (if so, turn the vac upside down when connecting the hose so it faces the water, not the floor). Or you could have someone hold the vac end of the hose a few inches under water while you connect the other end to the skimmer. You can feel if there is good suction. Let us know what happens. 
Try reversing the vacuum hose. Could be an air leak at one end and it just happens to be on the surface this time. Submerging it will stop it.