Pump Won't Draw Water - TFP Newbie!

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SaltyMom

Member
Jul 2, 2022
7
Kansas
Hi TFP Community,

After enduring a terrible startup this year with many issues and frustrations with the pool company, I have found TFP and am hoping to take more ownership of our pool moving forward. (Test kit already on order...)

Last week, we finally had our pool opened. Since then, our pump (Pentair Superflo VS RJ-45 Plus) has been having intermittent issues drawing water. We have been experimenting with opening and closing flow from main drain and skimmers and it doesn't seem to be isolated to any one draw. We have also been backwashing the sand filter frequently since our pool was very dirty upon opening, and that would seem to resolve the issue for a time. My husband also replaced the O-ring on the filter. However, starting today, the pump now won't draw any water at all.

Any trouble shooting guidance or things we should try next would be much appreciated! Very much a newbie here so assume I know nothing!
 
Welcome to the forum!

When it is working, what is the filter pressure?

Often times during openings, the suction lines and/or the pump impeller becomes clogged with debris. Remove the pump basket and reach down into the pump impeller inlet hole and see if there is anything stuck in there. Also, make sure all the skimmers and the pump basket is empty of debris.

Also, make sure all suction valves and return valves are set in their proper position and 100% open.

I assume all gizmos have been removed from the skimmers?

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Thank you so much for the response - signature should be updated now :)

I reached into the inlet holes in both skimmers and did not feel any clogs, plus cleared debris which was fairly minimal. Can confirm valves are 100% open. When the pump was running, we definitely noticed the pressure in the filter jumping around, 30 to sometimes 40 psi (pump's max working pressure is 50 psi). My husband commented that he didn't like seeing 40 and that was higher than he has noticed in the past.
 
Mom,

Keep in mind that your filter pressure shows how much effort it is taking to push water through your filter. When a filter is clean, the pressure might be 10 lbs or less, but as the filter gets dirty the pressure goes up as it gets harder and harder for the pump to push the water through the filter and back to the pool.

I suggest you backwash and rinse your filter for an extending period of time and then see what the pressure is when running in the filter mode.

I suspect that you have algae... If so, it will clog your filter pretty quickly. You can't vacuum algae away, you need to kill it first.

This is how we do it...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Thanks, Jim! Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't shock without the pump working, can I? Can algae clog up the filter when the pool itself looks clear? Had the water tested today (albeit at the pool store...still waiting on my test kit to arrive), and these were the results:

FC = 5.16 ppm
TC = 5.16 ppm
CC = 0 ppm
pH = 8.0
Alkalinity = 304 ppm
Adjusted Alkalinity = 297 ppm
CYA = 23 ppm

Pool store instructed to add muriatic acid to get the pH down...
 
SaltyMom said:
Can algae clog up the filter when the pool itself looks clear
Click to expand...

Mom,

By the time you can see algae, you have lost the war. :mrgreen:

Obviously, I'm here, and you are there, so I can only go on the info you give me. It sounds like your filter is clogging very quickly, if true, what else will clog your filter quickly.??

As a test, put your system into the recirculate mode, this will by-pass the filter and see how things run.

I went back and re-read things.. I'm not saying algae is keeping your pump from running, I'm saying when the pump is running, if your filter pressure quickly goes way up, that is a good indication of algae, clear water or not.

Tell us more about what happens right now when you turn the pump on? Show us several pic of your equipment pad and maybe we can spot something.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
By the time you can see algae, you have lost the war. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...
Fair enough!

Great idea on the recirculation test. Tried it and it filled up right away and is pumping away as we speak. Interestingly, PSI is at 30 just doing recirculation alone.

When we have tried to filter, pump runs continuously but doesn't bring any water into the basket, essentially running dry. Even when we prime (and perhaps we are doing something wrong), water flows out of filter basket almost immediately and pump doesn't bring in any new water. Adding a few pics of our setup here. View of the pump from the top shows water going through when set to recirculate.
 

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Mom,

Who knows if the pressure gauge is ok or not... I'd want to know if the flow back to the pool "feels" good and strong or weak?

Since the pump works in recirculate, it sounds like your filter is clogged.

Some things to look at other than the filter would be the check valve after the heater, the cell to make sure it is clear, and the check valve after the cell.

Did you use Floc or any other Pool Store "magic" in your effort to clear your pool up this year?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jim,

In my opinion, return flow feels quite strong. And yes, while they didn’t provide specific details, quite sure the pool company used floc as they had to return to vacuum again once sediment “fell to the bottom,” as well as possibly the crab clearer/clarifier stuff. Sounds like that type of thing can clog a filter?
 

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You've done a good bit of troubleshooting already. Ensuring the system moves water freely on recirculate certainly helps. The thought of floc & clarifiers being in the sand is certainly a concern and could really impact water flow in the filter. Add to that organic matter from opening and the fact you did see temporary improvement on the filter setting after a backwash before it clogged-up again would seem to indicate the sand may be gummed-up. You noted decent water flow at the return jets on filter) before it stopped-up again, so II don't suspect a blockage. I think it may be time to open the filter and check the sand.
 
One more thing though. You mentioned that you tried to pull water from the drains & skimmer, but did you try them each one at a time for about 30 sec or so? For example, closing the drain(s) and pulling water only from a skimmer to focus all the suction pressure on that one line - like a big straw? A pump can find it easier to pull from one source at first. If that works, then you can slowly open the other suction source (drain). Since you also mentioned that a full pump pot could get emptied really fast but not fill back up, it made me wonder if it's just struggling to pull water from 2 sources at the same time.
 
Thanks for chiming in, Pat! Yes, we have tried isolating the sources on multiple occasions and the same issue occurs. If it is that the sand is gummed up, is a deep clean the right next step? Not sure if I should expect my pool company to have done this on opening? My husband did replace the sand a couple years ago (which I’m now reading probably wasn’t necessary) but it seems a deep cleaning should be done every year and we have definitely not done that unless pool co has without our knowledge. Was just perusing this post and video…Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter
 
Floc can really create a mess that goes beyond a deep cleaning, but since you two are familiar with the filter and getting in there, you can try a deep clean just to see if it helps with consistent water flow when on filter mode. If for nothing else, kind of a diagnostic effort if you will. If it helps at first then stops-up again, you'll know the sand was too compromised from the pool store gels to recover.
 
Well, after recirculating for a while, just went out and tried to backwash again and it worked like normal. Did an extended backwash (water in sight glass ran clear within about 10 secs but we let it run for quite a while longer), switched over to pump, and all seemed to be working normally again. Pressure was about 32 PSI, so 2 above recirculating PSI of 30. I fully realize we still haven’t solved the problem and have no clue why it is working now.
 
SaltyMom said:
I fully realize we still haven’t solved the problem and have no clue why it is working now.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the filter is simply clogged-up and needs relief. The backwashing helps to do that for now, or at least temporarily. It might improve slightly each time you do it, but it's appears to be congested with muck and if a deep clean doesn't resolve the issue, new sand may be the proper Rx. But at least you're making some progress. :goodjob:
 
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