No psi reading on gauge when pump running in "Forward"

[Nate_P]

I am a complete amateur when it comes to this, I only learnt last night how to release water from the pool (in "Waste" mode) when we had heavy rainfall, I recent moved into a house with a smallish inground pool.

Here is the issue - When I turn on my pool pump the RetroChlor shows that it is running in "Reverse" for a short time and the ksi reading on the gauge goes to 10 which is normal and I see the jets start to pump water in the pool, it is all quite loud in the pump room. Then about 1 minute later it starts it in "Forward" and the ksi reading goes to zero (pic attached), everything quietens down. I can still see and feel the jets are pumping water, there are small bubbles coming from where the jets are pumping water in the pool, but nothing concerning, and both filter baskets have been cleaned/cleared, and are filled with water (no bubbles in there). I can also see water flow happening between pump filter, chlorinator etc.

I am a little bit perplexed. Both filter baskets are good and clean/cleared, the jets are pumping water so I would have thought it is a gauge issue, but when the pump runs in reverse the gauge is showing a reading, just not in forward.

Any ideas? Happy to post more pics or vids if needed.

 

[JJ_Tex]

I'm not following you when you say the system is running in reverse, but I would assume it would be a gauge issue. Those are cheap and easy to replace, so I would start there and see if it clears it up for you.

Center-mounted Pressure Gauge

tftestkits.net

 

[Nate_P]

Sorry I should have clarified it was the RetroChlor that seems to show it kicks off in "Reverse" mode at the start after I turn on the pump. The "Reverse" light flashes green then after a minute it goes in "Forward" and stays there.

I will try to unscrew the gauge and see what is going on there.

 

[4xWTub]

I'm not following you when you say the system is running in reverse ...

I think that is a reference to the RetroChlor chlorinator reversing current flow to 'clean' the plates. From a manual available here:

Clearwater C250 Chlorinator - RetroChlor CW30SC 30g/h - Generic

RetroChlor 30g/h Universal Retrofit Chlorinator. Generic Replacement for Clearwater C250 Reverse Polarity. No Plumbing Required. Shop Now.

www.bestpoolsupplies.com.au

... I took a screenshot mentioning that process:

 

[Nate_P]

Looks like the whole forward reverse thing is irrelevant, I just did a backwash and rinse and then it did the opposite, started in "Forward" and got to 10 psi consistently for a minute then went to "Reverse" and slowed down.....weird

 

[ajw22]

What model pump are we discussing?

Your Retrochlor has nothing to do with what you are observing.

It sounds like you have a VS pump. The pump will go into high speed prime for one minute while getting the water flowing. That higher speed creates higher filter pressure.

After the one minute of priming the pump lowers its speed and you have a lower filter pressure.

That all is normal operation.

 

[Nate_P]

It's a Zodiac FloPro E3 pump. That is what I was thinking, it kicks off things normally and then settles down. *edit - I just read the manual and it says exactly this. The setting is set to "Eco" mode which is the slowest speed after the priming. Maybe this is all working as intended.

I guess the only issue is when it settles down on the slow setting the gauge has a zero psi reading. Not sure if this is normal. I will try it in a faster mode and see.

 

[ajw22]

At low speed low pressure is normal.

You will find PSI is proportional to speed.

What RPMs is the pump running at?

 

[Nate_P]

I was just playing around with it and it runs at 1400 RPM in "eco" mode and 2850 RPM at 10 psi in "boost" mode. The middle setting is "clean" and I get 2150 RPM at 5 psi.

 

[ajw22]

I was just playing around with it and it runs at 1400 RPM in "eco" mode and 2850 RPM at 10 psi in "boost" mode. The middle setting is "clean" and I get 2150 RPM at 5 psi.

All sounds normal to me.

 

[Nate_P]

All sounds normal to me.

Yep, thanks. It all looks good now! I am learning fast.