Can you prime off of one suction pipe?

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Aleforge

Aleforge

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May 31, 2014
296
Wentzville, MO
My marathon pool repair journey is towards its end finally, or so I thought. :( Tonight was a big night, I was finally firing up my pump after a month of digging and working in 100 degree weather. So far I have ran and connected one new suction (skimmer) pipe and one return (jet) pipe. I was told prior that if I had to I could just run off of those since the other two are deep near the bottom. So for now I wanted to get the filter running so that we could go ahead and use it as I finished up a few other things. Also the bottom return and suction inlet/outlet is plugged up at the moment. So cleaning, shocking etc would of been nice before diving down.

Anyways I can't prime... I know the lines are hooked up properly as I pressure tested them. I let it run on and off for awhile and it wouldn't even begin to pull water. Although I could see a few times that bubbles came out of the jets briefly. So I unhooked everything and blew air through the skimmer line backwards. A geyser appeared so then I used a wet vac and sucked through the line at the pump and I got water. The line seems to be OK.

But... it just runs... I don't even get the "gulps" going on if you know what I mean.

Any ideas? I wasn't sure if you could get prime via just one suction line. Or if for some reason this wont due to having one disconnected? I am stuck...

Thanks guys!
 
A,

Many, many pools only have one pipe as the input to the pump, most always from the skimmer...

The most likely problem is a suction side air leak at the pump lid...

Also the pump has to have a place for the water to go, so you need to make sure there are no closed valves going back to the pool.

Is the water up to the middle of skimmer?

Let's see what our other members have to say...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Thanks for responding Jim,

Ya the skimmer is filled fully, I have the pool water level just below the middle of its entrance. So say if there is air in the return pipe, would that block the pump from sucking water from the skimmer? I am going to re check everything tomorrow but that just came to mind.

Thanks for the help!
 
Air in the return would not keep the pump from priming. If the pump primes correctly, any air will get pulled/pushed through and purged completely. How high is your pump compared to the pool (elevation wise)? Have you verified the lid is on and sealed correctly? A leaky lid seal would cause the issue you are having.

Hopefully it is something simple. You should be able to run off a single suction pipe easily, so that is not the issue.
 
If you are able to pull water through the suction line with that shop vac then your issue is almost surely a suction leak right at the pump. The lid is the most common. Are the drain plugs snug? It sounds like you have the pump connected with unions, yes? Do the unions have the O-rings in them?
 
OK so you guys were right, I couldn't prime due to one of the couplings O-rings not being seated completely. It seems to not stay in well during tightening so it took me a few tries and I finally got it.

So some good news for once, lol.

But... I still am getting air into the pump. I can't get the bubbles out and after about 10 minutes I have to bleed the filter housing to stop bubbles from coming out of the return jets. I have been doing this all day just so I can keep the system running. Luckily it doesn't run dry so the pump seems happy enough (not getting hot).

I have spent also all day trying to trouble shoot where the air is getting in from. I can't figure it out for the life of me. The only thing I can come up with is some air might be being sucked in from the other valve side (bottom suction). The valves are from 2000 and I am not sure how well they seal off. Does that sound plausible? I don't have that line hooked up yet and I am hoping that might be the case.
 
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