Water feature must be on for system to work properly…what did I do wrong?!?

masonandhismom

In The Industry
May 13, 2023
5
Arizona
After about 5 hours of running my water feature, I turned off the waterfall, turned off the pump, and called it a day. The next morning, I turned in the pump, it primed slowly, then NOTHING. No water coming out of the jets, no movement in the skimmer. I tried to turn on the aerator, but it didn’t turn on. I turned on the waterfall, and everything worked just fine. I turned off the waterfall, and everything stopped working. Any thoughts on how I correct this? I did the usual checking the skimmer, the pump pot, a blocked impeller, jets possibly turned toward the floor of the pool, etc. I can’t seem to get my system back to normal. Ugggg.
 
M&M

Tell us more.. Do you have two pumps? One for your water feature and one for your main pool?

If not, do you have an automation system the controls everything? If so, what automation system do you have.

Show us several pics of your equipment pad and maybe we can see something obvious.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
This is a 1-pump system, Pentair motor, sand filter, everything in great working order until I ran the waterfall. I’m currently turning on/off the system manually (although it has a timer, just not using it yet). I can send more pics, just let me know if the one I posted isn’t useful. Thanks for taking time to reply to me!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0716.jpeg
    IMG_0716.jpeg
    470.1 KB · Views: 12
It’s so strange to me that everything is working normally, but only if I have the valve to the water feature OPEN. When I close the valve, WOW! It’s SO NOISY, and water will leak from the Jandy handle on the valve. Once I open the valve, it all gets quiet, with no leaks, and I can use the Hayward suction vacuum, the skimmer, the aerator, all at the same time, with no issues. That’s never happened before. It used to be that I could only run the waterfall & the Hayward cleaner OR the aerator & the skimmer with the vacuum moving slowly, but not ALL of them at once due to low water pressure (primarily a neighborhood/town issue put in place to conserve water).
 
Last thing: this system is older than the iPhone. Nothing about it is automated, it’s all manual. Incredibly, it has been working like new until this unexpected issue came up. Thanks again, Jim R. and anyone else who may have an idea!
 
M&M,

With one single speed pump, and no automation, it has to be some kind of valve issue.

It sounds to me like your normal return path to the pool is not working and by opening your waterfall valve you now have two places for the water to go.

I assume the top Jandy valve is the one that selects if the water go to the pool or goes to your waterfall?? Is that true?

If so, then it sounds like that valve is not working or not working correctly. Is the handle on correctly?

In the valve's current position with the handle up, it seems like it would stop all the water coming into the valve.

I am assuming the water is coming into the bottom of the Jandy valve and (depending on the position of the valve) it would go to either the pool returns or the waterfall. I also assume the waterfall is connected to the pipe with the check valve. Is that true?

Anyway, it seems to me that the top Jandy valve is not doing what it should.

I'd move the handle so that it points straight down, which in theory would fully open the pool return pipe and the waterfall pipe.

Try that and tell us what happens.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
M&M,

With one single speed pump, and no automation, it has to be some kind of valve issue.

It sounds to me like your normal return path to the pool is not working and by opening your waterfall valve you now have two places for the water to go.

I assume the top Jandy valve is the one that selects if the water go to the pool or goes to your waterfall?? Is that true?

If so, then it sounds like that valve is not working or not working correctly. Is the handle on correctly?

In the valve's current position with the handle up, it seems like it would stop all the water coming into the valve.

I am assuming the water is coming into the bottom of the Jandy valve and (depending on the position of the valve) it would go to either the pool returns or the waterfall. I also assume the waterfall is connected to the pipe with the check valve. Is that true?

Anyway, it seems to me that the top Jandy valve is not doing what it should.

I'd move the handle so that it points straight down, which in theory would fully open the pool return pipe and the waterfall pipe.

Try that and tell us what happens.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Thank you for the suggestion. I tried your idea and a few of my own. Nothing changed from my original post. By the way, I think most of your assumptions are correct, if I understand you correctly. I’m not a valve expert, but it seems like the return valve on my system is not working properly. I say that because whether that valve is open or closed, nothing with my pool system changes. Also, the waterfall valve that leaks needs a new O ring. Could an old O ring cause all this to happen? This morning, the handle was visibly shaking when I initially started up the system, and it was super loud. It sounds like there’s something blocking the flow of water in the large pipe that is attached to the waterfall valve. It’s terribly loud and that handle almost vibrates right off the valve!
 
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.