I've been on this issue for a over week, and am now officially stumped.
I came home 8 days ago and there was water around the pump. It was dry inside, and smelled burned. I guessed that it had lost suction and run dry all day.
There is 1 diverter valve on the pump suction side that switches from skimmer/drain to cleaner suction. I took it apart and found the O-rings split, and one had fallen out.
I replaced all the O-rings in the diverter. I then removed the pump (Intelliflo VS-3050) and replaced impeller, diverter, shaft seal, front motor bearing (had water corrosion, but was still good), and all seals inside and out.
I manually primed the pump, and it works fine. There is NO air visible through the strainer lid, and NO air bubbles coming out the returns in the pool.
Here is the issue:
If I SLOWLY move the suction side diverter valve toward the cleaner suction side, it induces some air into the pump (It did before, but was never an issue), and the pump loses prime; even if I quickly switch the diverter back to skimmer, it won't stay primed. Even if I just SLIGHTLY move the diverter toward the cleaner suction side, and a little air comes in (like bubbles trapped in the cleaner hose), the pump loses prime.
It then becomes a pain in the A** to reprime. I have to shut off the pump, fill the basket, open the filter air valve, and even then it takes 2 to 3 tries.
If I switch the diverter to cleaner suction, and run a hose in the pump strainer for 2 min's, I can prime it on the cleaner side, and the cleaner works properly. It's more difficult to prime on the cleaner side, but I think it's because the volume of water coming in is not as high as the skimmer side.
>>> Once primed (diverter set to skimmer/drain, or cleaner) it will run all day. It will stay primed, and restart automatically each day.
The filter pressure is slightly higher than normal, but I haven't cleaned it in 8 months. I plan on cleaning it tomorrow.
It appears that if I leave the air bleed on the filter open while priming the cleaner side, it makes the priming go much easier. I know this is normal but, I have to leave it open ALL the way, even when it starts shooting water, I have to leave it for another 30 sec so there's gallons everywhere.
Could the backwash valve cause something like this?
My impression is that there's pressure building up somewhere after the pump, making it more difficult to prime. If it's just a dirty filter, I'll slap myself for you, but the filter pressure appears to only be 6lbs higher than after cleaning.
Thanks for the help!
I came home 8 days ago and there was water around the pump. It was dry inside, and smelled burned. I guessed that it had lost suction and run dry all day.
There is 1 diverter valve on the pump suction side that switches from skimmer/drain to cleaner suction. I took it apart and found the O-rings split, and one had fallen out.
I replaced all the O-rings in the diverter. I then removed the pump (Intelliflo VS-3050) and replaced impeller, diverter, shaft seal, front motor bearing (had water corrosion, but was still good), and all seals inside and out.
I manually primed the pump, and it works fine. There is NO air visible through the strainer lid, and NO air bubbles coming out the returns in the pool.
Here is the issue:
If I SLOWLY move the suction side diverter valve toward the cleaner suction side, it induces some air into the pump (It did before, but was never an issue), and the pump loses prime; even if I quickly switch the diverter back to skimmer, it won't stay primed. Even if I just SLIGHTLY move the diverter toward the cleaner suction side, and a little air comes in (like bubbles trapped in the cleaner hose), the pump loses prime.
It then becomes a pain in the A** to reprime. I have to shut off the pump, fill the basket, open the filter air valve, and even then it takes 2 to 3 tries.
If I switch the diverter to cleaner suction, and run a hose in the pump strainer for 2 min's, I can prime it on the cleaner side, and the cleaner works properly. It's more difficult to prime on the cleaner side, but I think it's because the volume of water coming in is not as high as the skimmer side.
>>> Once primed (diverter set to skimmer/drain, or cleaner) it will run all day. It will stay primed, and restart automatically each day.
The filter pressure is slightly higher than normal, but I haven't cleaned it in 8 months. I plan on cleaning it tomorrow.
It appears that if I leave the air bleed on the filter open while priming the cleaner side, it makes the priming go much easier. I know this is normal but, I have to leave it open ALL the way, even when it starts shooting water, I have to leave it for another 30 sec so there's gallons everywhere.
Could the backwash valve cause something like this?
My impression is that there's pressure building up somewhere after the pump, making it more difficult to prime. If it's just a dirty filter, I'll slap myself for you, but the filter pressure appears to only be 6lbs higher than after cleaning.
Thanks for the help!
