Return Flow help/advice on a pool thats been up 2weeks

[cbooth8674]

sorry for a long question, just trying to give the info needed for a good answer/reply back.
i have a return flow question,
the past two days ive noticed after a couple hours, my return flow is low, hardly any flow pushing through.
when i take the cap (?) off of my pump where the basket sits, and release pressure, its fine for another couple hours.i am only loosening the top screw to the lid to get basket out/release pressure. not the one on bottom side.
i feel i am not doing it correctly as it should be full blast flow longer than a couple hours right?
ive looked in the manual to find troubleshooting for this, and did not see anything.
there is no debris in basket, and should not be in the lines as i use a pool cover all week, and was hardly any debris to skim. and my skimmer has been pretty clean/empty as well.
possible when i hung my cya by panty hose in front of the return some could have backed into it to cause clogging?
idk lol but thats whats going on with my return, and i shouldnt have enough debris to where anything is blocked.
am i releasing the pressure the wrong way?? any adv would be great, thanks

 

[pooldv]

It doesn't sound like you are backwashing the filter. Check the owners manual and find the directions for backwashing the filter and follow that.

 

[cowboycasey]

It sounds like your sand filter is dirty, what is the clean (just after backwash) pressure and then the pressure after 2 hours?

 

[cbooth8674]

It doesn't sound like you are backwashing the filter. Check the owners manual and find the directions for backwashing the filter and follow that.

judging by what the pressure gauge is reading, its not time to backwash? staying in the high green/low yellow.
this is a new set up pool. swam in just a few times, few meaning 3 or 4 lol
would it really need backwashed so soon?
sorry im a newbie to all this, and regretting getting the thing daily

 

[cowboycasey]

no need to look at the colors, you need to backwash and afterwards look at the clean pressure, (say 10 PSI) then you would backwash at 13 PSI or 25% above clean pressure.. it may hit 13 PSI within a couple hours if something is growing in the pool..

 

[cbooth8674]

*UPDATE*
Backwashing was definitely needed! did that this evening...

NOW...noticed pump basket is not completely full of water, has some air in the top.....is this normal?
also, i can see/feel water coming through the suction/skimmer of the pool hoses/ports, but when i put my hand in front of the suction, i personally dont feel any suction. and my skimmer seems not to be catching much debris...am i expecting too much out of the suction effect lol or am i doing something wrong?

 

[cowboycasey]

good, what was the clean pressure right after backwash? is your water in the skimmer making a little vortex/tornado looking thing, is so you need to raise your water level, if not and a little air bubble in the top is fine

 

[cbooth8674]

are you referring to my wall mount skimmer "in" the pool. if so no, theres hardly suction.
the skimmer basket on pump, it is not tornadoing (lol spelling) either i do not think. theres just about an inch of air between the lid w/the nut/gasket?? and the water in that pump/basket area.
do i need to add water to that manually? or is anything wrong. i have read different opinions on that, but cannot really find anything about fixing it, and the few things i did try, ended up making that "air" bigger, rather than lessening the air there.
man... this stuff is really confusing lol makes me wish i had did WAY more research then i did before committing to it :compress:

- - - Updated - - -

oh, and the clean pressure , i assume by reading the gauge, was at 0, completely on the green. it really needed that, thank you! now that i know from research its a weekly task for most ppl, regardless of what pressure says, i will be adding that to my honey do list on saturdays lol