Hayward Pump Priming Issues

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E

emmaleena

0
Jul 4, 2016
10
Piedmont NC
Pool newbie in south eastern US here. We bought a house with a pool, but have no clue how to do anything with it. It was open and "summer ready" when we moved in, so we haven't done much to it at this point, but our lack of pool knowledge is definitely showing now a month in to DIY-ing it.

22,500 gallons, in-ground salt system with a Hayward VARI- FLO XL sand filter/ pump system- that's all the info I know.

I un-primed the pump while cleaning the basket and can't get it going right again. After cleaning, I added as much water as I could and shut the lid, turned it back on, and it just sucked the water out but nothing came back in to take its place. Should I backwash it? Or something? There is no air pressure release valve (I saw another forum post that said this was normal and okay for some Hayward pumps), but I can't get any pressure built back up. How long should I let it run to do this?

I'm good with understanding the chemical balances, but am TERRIFIED of screwing up this very expensive looking machinery.

Thanks for your help! I can attach pictures of the pump/filter if needed.
 
Hello and welcome to TFP! :wave: When you turned-off the system to open the lid and clean the pump strainer basket, did you close any valves before or after the pump? Perhaps there is still a valve closed which is not allowing the water to travel to the pump? Also check near your poolside skimmer to ensure nothing is blocking water flow at that area to include the "weir" skimmer flap on the side of the pool.
 
Usually, before taking the lid off, we close the valves so that water doesn't keep flowing out of the basket. I'm guessing when you got that lid off a lot of water kept pouring out right? That water came from your plumbing and/or filter. Not a big deal, but it might take a little bit of time for all of that to fill back up as the pump has to suction that water back through everything. Your multiport filter valve should still be set to filter correct? I'd fill that pump basket with water one more time, close the lid, then let the pump run for about 2-3 minutes to see if that's enough time to pull water back through. Some pump manuals actually say their systems can take up to 5-8 minutes to prime. A bit longer than we want, but just giving you some perspective if it needs to fill everything back-up with water.
 
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