Pump losing prime & suction

[henryforever14]

Moved from HERE

Sorry to hijack this thread.

My pool is sort of doing the same thing.

The pump loses suction (water line drops, no idea if it’s air being pulled in or it’s vacuum) when I shut off skimmer *completely*.

The pump is totally fine as long as the skimmer is open even for a bit.

I saw one of the posts here said to open the three-way valve? How do I do that? I am a 2-week old new pool owner lol. Not the most handy person either. If there is a video on how this could be done, it would be great!

 

[wireform]

Sorry to hijack this thread.

My pool is sort of doing the same thing.

The pump loses suction (water line drops, no idea if it’s air being pulled in or it’s vacuum) when I shut off skimmer *completely*.

The pump is totally fine as long as the skimmer is open even for a bit.

I saw one of the posts here said to open the three-way valve? How do I do that? I am a 2-week old new pool owner lol. Not the most handy person either. If there is a video on how this could be done, it would be great!

Henry,
I love you but you need to start your own thread. Hi jacking just confuses everyone.

 

[henryforever14]

Henry,
I love you but you need to start your own thread. Hi jacking just confuses everyone.

Sorry, thank you for moving my thread.

 

[henryforever14]

Bumping this up

 

[PoolStored]

Post a few pictures of your equipment pad so we can see all of it, and its parts...

 

[henryforever14]

Post a few pictures of your equipment pad so we can see all of it, and its parts...

This is what my equipment looks like.

Also, when using skimmer only, psi is about 15. When using drain only, psi is 9. Anything in between, even if I favor one more than the other, psi is at 17.

The pool guy suggested to get a diver to do main drain pressure test. I don’t know how much that’s gonna cost, but I bet it’s expensive. Plus, he said if it turned out there is an air leak on the main drain line, you just plug it. If that’s the case, I don’t really see the point of doing a test.

For reference, I haven’t done a bucket test yet. But from naked eye, I am not losing noticeable amount of water, which is to be expected, because for the moment I am running pump continuously and one wouldn’t leak water on the suction side if pump is running.

 

[PoolStored]

Here is the first step I would take...

1. Remove all three of these unions and take the valve out.
2. Rebuild the valve. See video and link to written instructions. Use silicone lubricant (NOT SEALANT) like Magic Lube II when you rebuild. Only use a screwdriver. Do not use power tools on screws.
3. Carefully remove the o-rings from the unions, clean and inspect. Bend around a bit and look for cracks. If cracked, replace. In either case, lubricate with same silicone lubricant.
4. Reassemble.

Rebuilding this will eliminate the valve and unions as a potential issue. Easier first step.

How To Replace Diverter Valve O-rings - INYOPools.com

This guide shows you how to inspect and replace your Diverter Valve O-rings.

www.inyopools.com

 

[henryforever14]

So, you suspect the diverter valve is doing this to me?