Pool pumping to drain?

[ScottFL]

Hello,

I'm a new pool owner, and I came home to something quite interesting this morning. The pool water level was about 3 inches lower than it was yesterday. I set the timer and was not home when the pump turned on last night and this morning. Now when the pump primes up, water seems to be pumped right out of the drain. Any ideas on how to fix this? At first I thought it was a broken pipe problem, until I ran the pump a few minutes and water started flowing from the drain. I haven't moved any of the levers. I'm attaching pics of my setup, and the drain where the water was flowing out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Scott

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

I can not tell anything from the pictures you provided. Need more views of all the equipment.

What kind of filter do you have? What kind of backwash valve do you have? Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.

 

[ScottFL]

Thanks! I apologize about that. I have updated. Any way to get around the 250k file limitation? I'm already hitting the limit.

 

[duraleigh]

Now when the pump primes up, water seems to be pumped right out of the drain. Any ideas on how to fix this? At first I thought it was a broken pipe problem, until I ran the pump a few minutes and water started flowing from the drain.

Like jblizzle, we need more info. What drain do you mean? It seems contradictory that you say water "seems to be pumped from the drain" and then, "water started flowing from the drain".

???????

So, if the pool level is 3 " lower, you have developed a leak, correct? Any idea where that leak is? Have you been working on/around the pump?

 

[ScottFL]

Like jblizzle, we need more info. What drain do you mean? It seems contradictory that you say water "seems to be pumped from the drain" and then, "water started flowing from the drain".

???????

So, if the pool level is 3 " lower, you have developed a leak, correct? Any idea where that leak is? Have you been working on/around the pump?

I'll try to describe my situation in a bit more detail. Haven't been working around the pump lately, as it has started doing this when I was away for the night.

I'll start by saying the lot the house was built on has a fairly steep grade. There are drainage problems, so to mitigate this, there have been lines ran out to the street. From what I can tell there are a couple of places that collect water. There is a long drain that runs the length of the patio (it's screened in) as well as a gutter that runs off each side of the screen porch and into the ground. This water is sent to the street. On the outside of the patio, where the drain water is sent, there are rocks out there, and a PVC pipe sticking out of the ground. This looks like for over flow purposes the water comes out of the PVC pipe.

When I turn the pump on (at first I was thinking I was having priming issues) it will eventually prime and look like it's running normally. after some time the, water starts coming out of the PVC pipe in the first picture above. What I can't figure out is where this water is coming from. To the best of my knowledge, none of the valves have been moved.

 

[ScottFL]

Thanks guys. I also signed up for a membership, but my file size limit still is at 250k. Otherwise I'd attach a lot more pics.

 

[ScottFL]

When I turn the pump on (at first I was thinking I was having priming issues) it will eventually prime and look like it's running normally. after some time the, water starts coming out of the PVC pipe in the first picture above. What I can't figure out is where this water is coming from. To the best of my knowledge, none of the valves have been moved.

Here are additional pictures.

 

[Crackerjack4u]

Hello Scott. You can also use a site like Photobucket for your pictures, and do an entire Album there, and just copy and paste your entire album link in your comment here. I hope this helps.

 

[ScottFL]

Thanks.

Upon further investigation, it seems that the multi port may have been switched to the "drain" mode. I have no idea how this would have happened.

Now to find out what position the filter is...

 

[gtemkin]

Scott, to aid in future troubleshooting (and I know you're a new pool owner so it's understandable you don't know the names for things) but here's a couple of names you should use in the future.

In pool parlance, what you've been calling a drain, is really called waste. A drain is the grated hole at the bottom of a pool. A waste is the path you dump water to that you don't need.

A multiport is a pretty specialized valve. From what I can tell, you don't have one. You have Jandy pool valves (gray ones) and a ball valve (white), but no multivalve. Google "pool multivalve" to see what those look like. Your white ball valve seems to be the one that controls water flow to waste and may have been the one that was accidentally opened.

Good luck.

 

[ScottFL]

Thanks for the help in vernacular I'm sure that was confusing.

What's interesting here is that the waste PVC is actually on the opposite side of the house from where the pump is located.

I've attached some pictures of the ball valve. Looks like it's in the off position.

 

[ScottFL]

Re: Pool pumping to waste / drainage system?

Could I have a broken actuator? This would make the most sense as there weren't any changes made to the valves.

 

[gtemkin]

Is it easy or hard to turn? Does it stop at 90 degrees or spin all the way around?

 

[ScottFL]

So I had someone look at it. They turned down the pressure on the bench "jets" that are supposed to simulate a spa. And that seemed to alleviate the issue. Right now I guess it's a matter of knowing what the right pressure of water flow is being sent into the pool.

 

[jblizzle]

So that is tied to the bench jets huh? I was originally going to say it looks just like the pipe I had at my previous house that was meant to suck air into the spa jets.

 

[gtemkin]

I assume that means they adjusted the gray valve at the top left of your first photo. I don't understand how that would have any effect on the waste line.

Is it possible the waste line isn't really a waste line, but more of an aerator for your simulated spa jets? The odd cut in the riser potion of the waste pipe looks suspiciciouy like an aeration device.

 

[ScottFL]

So that is tied to the bench jets huh? I was originally going to say it looks just like the pipe I had at my previous house that was meant to suck air into the spa jets.

Yeah, that's what it seems like. Does it matter if those jets are on or off? The pump seems to be working harder (by noise level only) now there is more restriction?