New Pool Owner - Pump Problem, maybe?

[mhodgson80]

I have had a few people who own pools and the guy at the pool store that does the water testing, tell me this is not an issue, but I am not convinced.

We bought our house in October, and the previous owner had the pool closed professionally. We had the same company open it a few weeks ago, but they didn't really give my wife a run-down on how to operate things. We have done the water testing and added the appropriate chemicals, and everything seems up-to-par there. We were having some suction issues with the vacuum, but that was resolved by backwashing and rinsing the filter. The skimmer and output jets seem to be working as they should.

The issue is, our pump is now doing this: Pool pump issues - YouTube

It's basically a cycle where the pump fills completely with water, gets some air in it, fills completely, etc. I have looked at videos about cavitation and air leaks, but can't find any doing the same thing as this.

I have some more photos of our equipment that I have posted up on Imgur: Imgur

Thank you for any help you can provide,

Mike

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello Mike and welcome to TFP. I don't agree with the pool guy or store in that this is not an issue - it is. There's definitely a flow (consistency) problem. Not sure if it's because of flow from the suction or a restriction on the pressure side. For something like this, I always start with the basics .... pool water level high/good up the skimmer opening, pump strainer basket lid O-ring lubed and secure, all fitting checked for air leaks. You might also check the pump's impeller area (with power off) to see if anything is obstructing or interfering with its movement. After that, if there any chance that during the early vacuuming that something became ingested into the vacuum line then into the suction line and is obstructing water flow?

Then, because you mentioned that you were having those suction problems before (then backwashed which seemed to fix it), it makes me curious about your filter and if there's a restriction of flow somehow in there. Have you opened up the filter and inspected it after the pool was opened? Those might be some good starting points and we'll go from there. You may see some other replies shortly. Nice to have you with us.

 

[mhodgson80]

Hi Pat!

Thanks for the feedback! The water level is good, and I replaced the strainer basket lid o-ring and lubed it. The old one was falling apart. I don't think anything could have gotten stuck when we tried vacuuming the first time, as there was not enough pressure to suck anything up. I haven't vacuumed since we backwashed, just made sure that the skimmer is actually sucking down water now. I have not checked the pump's impeller or opened the filter yet.

I am wondering if this could be caused by a blockage in the drain on the bottom of the pool? it had some sticks and leaves covering it, which I was able to brush away. I may have to swim down and take a look The good thing is that everything is working well enough that the water is clear and properly balanced.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[mhodgson80]

After days of frustration, figured out the problem, there is air getting into the skimmer somewhere. As soon as we turn off the valve for the skimmer, the air is gone and the pump starts functioning properly. Thanks for the trouble shooting tips!