Pentair WHISPERFLO High Speed Pump not on after pool opening/Skimmers have no suction

No pictures are attached. On your suction line, is the valve open to the skimmer?
It is assumed that the VS Pump is your circulation pump. Is this correct and functioning?
Is our Whisperflow pump for the water features? But you say those are working. Pictures will help.

ejr2001r said:

All valves appear to be open. The VS pump is running, but I don't know if that controls the skimmers. The VS pump controls the water features.

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the VS Pump is closest to the filter and that is your main circulation pump. The WhisperFlo pump is the standalone pump that appears to control some of your water features. The pipes are not marked and you have not listed all your water features so hard to say which of the features it controls.

So on your VS pump - the suction has 3 lines and 2 valves. Non are marked so I will make some possible assumptions.
The 2 lines to the right that are connected by a single valve - one line is for the skimmer and the other line is for the main drain. The valve is set to 50/50. you see on the handle there is the word OFF. When it faces a pipe line then that line is off. So turn it one way and see if you have more skimmer suction or zero. Then turn it 180 degrees and the opposite will happen.
Then this line leads to another valve that looks exactly the same but it is also 50/50 (open/close). The single line to the left is most likely suction from the spa. Turn the handle such that the word OFF is facing that single pipe. That sets all suction only from the pool and it will be either from the skimmer or the main drain. I normally set my valve so it is 20% main drain and 80% skimmer - so the word OFF would almost be facing the line that you have determined to be the main drain.

Lets stop there and see if all of this makes sense after you try it moving the valves around.
Lets not play with the single pump yet.

ejr2001r said:

I just went out and turned the bubblers/waterfalls and deck jets on and noticed suction in the skimmers. I think I may just be mis-configured.

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We need to figure out your suction which was in my post above. Next we need to figure out your return system. Can you take some additional pictures of all the plumbing after the SWCG. It is hard to see in the overview picture you posted.
Also, take a picture of your right side of your filter (maybe move that black cloth)

Now on the single pump, there is one suction (my assumption is that it is from a main drain or possibly a side drain - this is on the wall of your pool). You have 3 returns - 1 is always on and the other 2 are controlled by the small blue valves. Can you identify which each of the pipes leads to? Maybe turn off the VS pump so there is no confusion as to what is system is pumping. Have just the single speed WhisperFlo pump running and identify what each of the return lines leads to.

Thanks. Lets focus on the main circulation circuit first.

On the return side - you show 6 return lines and have 2 automated control valves. Ensure those valves are open to allow flow.
The green light on the automatic controller denotes it is in AUTO mode and can be controlled by your automation system. Also the Red Led lights (24 of them) indicate the position of the diverter valve. It is very important that these valves are OPEN to allow flow to return pipes.

There are several return paths. On left side are the 3 bubblers (noted as B in your picture) - so you should see those functioning.
On the right side are 2 water falls (noted as WF) and those should be flowing as well. There is one other line (opposite the WF lines) which is not marked. I am assuming that is the standard return lines (exiting out the side of your pool). Are those pushing out water and how many do you have in the pool. They are plumbed in series which is why you have 1 line that provides flow to them all.

Now lets move to the Suction side. The suction side has 2 skimmers (DS for Deep Skimmer and SS for Shallow Skimmer). Both of those are open based on how the manual valve is set (handle crossways). The manual valve between those 2 pipes control if both are open or if either one is open and other is off. The 3rd line on the suction is shown as M and I assume Main Drain. There is a manual valve between the Main Drain and the line to the 2 Skimmers. It is currently set to have 50% suction from the main drain and 50% suction from the 2 skimmers. So lets change it to have only suction from the 2 skimmers.
On that middle valve (between the Main Drain and the 2 Skimmers), turn the valve such that the OFF word (on the handle) faces the Main Drain line. This closes all the suction from the main drain and 100% suction from the 2 skimmers.
Leave all the valves as you have set on the return side as discussed above. Turn on the VS Pump and ramp up to max RPM to ensure your pump primes and circulation is achieved. Verify your filter pressure and then go see what the skimmer suction feels like.
Also, verify what is flowing on the return side - is everything on?
Based on your findings and feedback we can determine next step.

ejr2001r said:

Our pool thanks you too!

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Nice looking pool. Thanks for the picture.

ejr2001r said:

Okay. It is working! I followed your instructions by shutting off the main drain, isolating the skimmers, bumped up the speed to 3450 and felt suction on both skimmers. I then isolated suction only to the deep end skimmer and could see the suction vortex clearly. So I think the main reason I couldn't feel the skimmers was the 50/50 valve configuration and that the speed was only at 2350. So I think we're good there. Now I need to figure out why the deck jets aren't working. Do the blue valves on the Whisper flow side control flow to them?

Thanks so much for your help!

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Great. So every pool is different on suction needs. I keep mine on about 20% open to Main Drain and 80% open to the skimmers. You may want to play around with your valve between the skimmer and main drain to see what works best. Obviously 50/50 did not provide sufficient skimming so maybe 80/20 or 90/10 may be best. I would always have some suction from the main drain open to keep flow through that plumbing system. Obviously as well you can play around with speed of your VS pump but these valves are manual on that suction side, so you do not want to have to go out everyday to change them. Try to find a sweet spot that gives decent skimming action at the lowest optimum pump speed. Then you can always ramp up your pump speed a couple of times a day to have more skimming action without having to change the valve between the main drain and skimmer or even the setting between the 2 skimmers. If you find that wind direction favors one way or the other you may want adjust your valve between the skimmers (rather than 50/50). This is something you can play with at your leisure as you learn more about your pool.

ejr2001r said:

Now I need to figure out why the deck jets aren't working. Do the blue valves on the Whisper flow side control flow to them?

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I think you are correct. However I am a little confused on the stand alone pump (not through the filter) as it has 3 return lines and a check valve between 1 and the other 2. My guess is that the 2 blue lines control your deck jets but where does the 3rd line go? You mentioned 2 waterfalls and 3 bubblers but those appear to be controlled by the VS pump (with filter).
I would turn off the main circulation VS Pump (just so there is no other noise of bubblers or waterfall). Then turn on your single speed pump. It will run at high speed. The 2 blue valves are closed so the deck jets should not be flowing but something has to be returning to the pool through that 3rd line. What is it? It may be just a standard pool return on side of the pool.
Now open one of the blue valves and note which deck jet (our assumption) flows. Then open the other blue valve and note that.
Report back your findings.
Also, do you know where the suction is for this pump? Do you have what appears to be a drain cover on the side of your pool? If so, then that is the suction to this water feature pump.

You can use ping-pong balls to test the relative suction of the various skimmers. Just pop them in front of the skimmer opening and see how fast they draw in. I also use them to see how my water is circulating so I can aim the return eyeball (affectionately called "the tickler" by my kids ) optimally.