Plumbing enigma - Jandy check valve

What speed and flow are you using?

The pressure past the filter should not be high enough to get to the roof unless you are running high speed and flow.

What is the filter pressure?
 
Normally, VS pumps will have a short priming cycle at higher speeds when first started. This could generate enough pressure to fill the solar plumbing.
 
Normally, VS pumps will have a short priming cycle at higher speeds when first started. This could generate enough pressure to fill the solar plumbing.
It primes at 2800 and normal run speed is 2700 non-solar, gives me around 40 gpm if memory serves. I never go higher spped than that except when actually running solar I go up to 2900 to get it to the roof better. Filter pressure is low end of the “clean” scale like 20 I believe.
 
I was incorrect and am showing my igmorance, the value on the gauge on top of the filter chamber is 10, not 20. Not sure if that’s psi (not there to look at it now). I need to run that speed to keep the robot Pool Cleaner moving. It’s a delicate balance to keep it moving and get even a little suction through the filter basket - but that’s another discussion, not for now.
 
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5 PSI Loss in a filter at 40 GPM? That is a plumbing curve of 0.007. Even a small sand filter with a 1.5" MPV is less than half that.

Still, even 5 PSI has 11' of lift so I think water would still get up there.
 
10 psi is before the filter.

The pressure after the filter should be maybe 5 psi at most assuming the flow is not too high and the system is not restrictive.
Understood but that’s what I get. I’m sure my system is very very restrictive. It was put in long before I bought the house, all the equipment is in a small utility room off the garage a good 75-100 ft from the pool and spa. The plumbing is jammed into a relatively small space with valves for solar, spa, spa jets, heater, waterfall, salt, etc. Lot of angles and T’s and valves. Essentially at same level as pool. Don’t laugh at the photo- that’s just a piece of it. But it works well enough and I don’t have the room to modify it (or $ or time).
 

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Do you have a gas heater?

That is not in the signature.
I will try to compile some flow, pressure, speed data when I can. Note that my instrumentation is not very precise- just the little plastic floating ball flow meter on a pipe and the pressure gauge on the tank. I have a Pentair gas heater and relatively new and recently cleaned Jandy cartridge tank.
 
The pump shows flow (gpm), power (watts), speed (rpm) and system pressure (psi).

Use that data plus the flowmeter and the filter pressure gauge.

Get all numbers for about 5 different speeds.