So after a lot of work (and a lot of help from this forum) we got our inground pool working smoothly this past Spring and it has been working very well up until a few days ago. The variable speed pump works with an iAqualink controller and turns on at 8:00am and turns off at 10:00pm. We are in SC and a few days ago we got a brutal cold snap which is unusual for this time of year. Overnight it is getting near freezing and our overnight lows went from the 50's to the 30's. Cold snap started Monday night (it is now Thurs morning) and it continues, and the pump has lost prime Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings.
When I pop the pump lid there is no vacuum...lid comes right off. I use a hose to fill the pump basket, put lid back on, turn on the pump and within a few minutes all is good again and the pump is running smoothly. Next morning, however, same issue...pump is dry (pump basket is empty of water, so it has lost vacuum) and pump cannot prime. I repeat the procedure to fill pump basket with a hose and then start the pump and all is well. So we must have a slow vacuum leak somewhere and it cannot be a coincidence that all of this started right as we got that abrupt cold snap. If I turn off the pump during the day, there are no obvious bubbling sounds indicating a leak, but the pool is off overnight from 10pm to 8am and during those 10 hours it somehow loses vacuum.
My question is, given the attached diagram of our pool plumbing, what/where is the most likely culprit for the air leak? I cleaned and lubed the pump basket lid/gasket so I believe that is Ok.
One other item, as shown in the diagram our pool equipment pad is about 8ft above the pool waterline, which makes it about 17ft above the main drain at bottom of the pool (house is on a very steep grade and the original owners had no choice but to set it up this way). So, in the diagram, the Jandy Backflow Valve (flapper) just before the pump is supposed to prevent water from being pulled back into the pool on the intake side because of this large height difference.
Lastly, on Monday night and Tuesday night both the Main Drain and Skimmer intake valves were open (as they usually are). On Wednesday night I turned off the Skimmer intake valve so it would only be pulling water from the Main Drain just to see if it was a skimmer-side issue...but had same priming problem Thursday morning. So I don't think the problem is at or before the Main Drain and Skimmer intake valves....it must be somewhere between the Jandy Backflow Valve and the Heater bypass valve. Any suggestions on where to start looking first would be greatly appreciated.
Chris
When I pop the pump lid there is no vacuum...lid comes right off. I use a hose to fill the pump basket, put lid back on, turn on the pump and within a few minutes all is good again and the pump is running smoothly. Next morning, however, same issue...pump is dry (pump basket is empty of water, so it has lost vacuum) and pump cannot prime. I repeat the procedure to fill pump basket with a hose and then start the pump and all is well. So we must have a slow vacuum leak somewhere and it cannot be a coincidence that all of this started right as we got that abrupt cold snap. If I turn off the pump during the day, there are no obvious bubbling sounds indicating a leak, but the pool is off overnight from 10pm to 8am and during those 10 hours it somehow loses vacuum.
My question is, given the attached diagram of our pool plumbing, what/where is the most likely culprit for the air leak? I cleaned and lubed the pump basket lid/gasket so I believe that is Ok.
One other item, as shown in the diagram our pool equipment pad is about 8ft above the pool waterline, which makes it about 17ft above the main drain at bottom of the pool (house is on a very steep grade and the original owners had no choice but to set it up this way). So, in the diagram, the Jandy Backflow Valve (flapper) just before the pump is supposed to prevent water from being pulled back into the pool on the intake side because of this large height difference.
Lastly, on Monday night and Tuesday night both the Main Drain and Skimmer intake valves were open (as they usually are). On Wednesday night I turned off the Skimmer intake valve so it would only be pulling water from the Main Drain just to see if it was a skimmer-side issue...but had same priming problem Thursday morning. So I don't think the problem is at or before the Main Drain and Skimmer intake valves....it must be somewhere between the Jandy Backflow Valve and the Heater bypass valve. Any suggestions on where to start looking first would be greatly appreciated.
Chris
