Hayward tristar VS900

[Shoff]

Our pool is about 1 month old. We turned off the pump, removed the strainer housing cover, cleaned the basket, returned the basket with the hole facing the pipes, cleaned the filters as we had several bad dust storms. Now when I turn on the pump, the strainer housing unit fills with water, starts to circulate and then the water stops moving in the strainer basket unit.
No clue what is happening...help?

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! Sounds like you are losing prime and the pump "pot" is not filling or remaining full. First few basic things to check:
- All 3-way valves fully open
- Skimmer weir door not moving freely or stuck closed
- Pump strainer pot (clear) lid O-ring under the lid in place and lubed well with pool silicone.

If none of those things help, post some pics of your equipment pad so we can see everything.

Pool Care Basics

 

[Shoff]

Welcome to TFP! Sounds like you are losing prime and the pump "pot" is not filling or remaining full. First few basic things to check:
- All 3-way valves fully open
- Skimmer weir door not moving freely or stuck closed
- Pump strainer pot (clear) lid O-ring under the lid in place and lubed well with pool silicone.

If none of those things help, post some pics of your equipment pad so we can see everything.

Pool Care Basics

Hi,
Thank you for the response. So not sure what you mean by the 3 way valves. Yes skimmer door is fine and the strainer lid is good.
Not sure why is starts to prime and circulate and then just fills with water and stops moving.

 

[1poolman1]

Hi,
Thank you for the response. So not sure what you mean by the 3 way valves. Yes skimmer door is fine and the strainer lid is good.
Not sure why is starts to prime and circulate and then just fills with water and stops moving.

Does water stop flowing to the pool? Is there pressure on the filter gauge? A pump that evacuates all air from the pot will appear to not be moving water, but that isn't the case. It is good to see no air in the pot.

 

[Shoff]

Does water stop flowing to the pool? Is there pressure on the filter gauge? A pump that evacuates all air from the pot will appear to not be moving water, but that isn't the case. It is good to see no air in the pot.

So yes, the psi is normal but normally when you look at the clear lid on the strainer housing unit, you can normally see the water circulating. Now it isn't.

 

[mknauss]

Go feel the water coming out of the returns in the pool. Does it feel normal?

 

[1poolman1]

That is a good thing. You weren't seeing water circulate, you were seeing air. As long as there is water moving at the pool, all is good. Soon, you'll be used to it this way. When it goes back to what you saw before the questions will start again.
For some reason, virtually every Hayward TriStar, TriStar VSP, EcoStar (all the same pump, different motor), including mine have done that.