Pressure max out at 15 and no squirt from guage

[JohnA902]

Opening seemed fine. But after pump was primed and things were moving I notice I don’t have good pressure and no water will squirt from the relief guage at the top of the filter.

I think I might have accidentally vacuumed while NOT having the pump’s basket in there. Think I sucked up some leaves or twigs that are jamming things up?

 

[mknauss]

Could be.

See if you can push water from the pump back to your skimmer with a water hose. If you can, next check the pump impeller. Be sure you remove the power from your pump by opening the circuit breaker. Do not rely on a timer or automation.

 

[JohnA902]

I’m not sure what you mean by pushing water back to the skimmer. It’s already full of water?
I took it all apart, added some o ring lube or whatever it’s called to everywhere I could. Backwashed and it’s now around 20 after running all night. I’m sure it’s really dirty and ready for another backwash.

Pool is crystal clear and ready to go. I wonder if I’m just doubting the psi #. I thought last year it was about 17-18 for clean and then 25 ish for dirty. Seems a little odd but I’m not sure what to do. It’s not making noise, seems fine just a few PSI short. Not sure whether to be concerned. I guess I’ll give it a few days and see what happens.

 

[mknauss]

I’m not sure what you mean by pushing water back to the skimmer.

If you remove the pump basket lid and basket and place a hose in the inlet coming from the pool skimmer, you can run water back to the skimmer to see if it is plugged with debris. But obviously yours is not.

When was the last time you completely broke down your DE filter and cleaned it?

 

[JohnA902]

If you remove the pump basket lid and basket and place a hose in the inlet coming from the pool skimmer, you can run water back to the skimmer to see if it is plugged with debris. But obviously yours is not.

When was the last time you completely broke down your DE filter and cleaned it?

I just opened so the filter is clean. I do a good hosing off at the end of the season and store it dry in the basement all winter. So it sure looks clean to me.

 

[mknauss]

Great. So take your current clean filter pressure and note it down. When it rises by 20% , time to backflush/clean the filter.

 

[duraleigh]

So your clean psi is a little lower (15) than last year (17-18), right? That's probably not a bad thing. When you feel the flow at the return into the pool, does it feel strong or perhaps even a little stronger?

If so, I suspect you have just done a great job of cleaning everything up so you just have a little less resistance and a little more flow.......nothing wrong with that.

If your relief valve doesn't blow out any water, it may be clogged..........remove it from the filter and inspect/clean.

 

[JohnA902]

If your relief valve doesn't blow out any water, it may be clogged..........remove it from the filter and inspect/clean.

I’ll check the returns tonight. The valve now blows out water but it’s more of a 2 inch little water arc rather than a water blast of a foot or so.

The valve started to blow water after I disassembled it all and put it back together.

Thanks guys!

 

[duraleigh]

Other than fixing the flow in the relief valve, I think you are ready to go.