Start up after cleaning pump basket

[Titan7]

I have a Hayward Tristar pump. Today I wanted to clean out the basket, EQ off, opened the lid and cleaned the basket out. I noticed all or most of the water in the pump drained out, and when I fill the basket area with more water it just drains.

So should I have shut off the intakes to the pump first before opening the lid? I don’t want the pump to run dry before priming as there in not a lot of water in the pump now.

So how should I proceed and what’s the correct procedure? Pump will not come back online until tomorrow morning.

 

[PoolGate]

??? This is how pumps work. When you open the basket to clean them and then put the lid back on, they prime.

 

[flynwill]

Show us some pictures of your equipment pad. You should be able to fill the basket area up to the level of the inlet line, and the pump should prime fine with that.

My system will siphon most of the water out of the pump if I open the basket. To avoid that I shut off the return entirely when opening. But that may or may not be possible depending on your valve setup.

 

[frbruno64]

So should I have shut off the intakes to the pump first before opening the lid? I don’t want the pump to run dry before priming as there in not a lot of water in the pump now.

That's what I do and it works nicely. I also shut off the return and booster lines for good measure. I lose almost no water when removing the basket lid and there is no need to prime.

 

[Titan7]

Got it, needed to shut off the lines before opening