Something's not Right - Help!

[Ubrucen]

All was fine as of yesterday - I backwashed and rinsed, then set back to filter mode and left circulation on overnight in order to heat the pool water up for use today. This morning I noticed an unusual sound from the skimmer basket - and when I took the cover off from the coping area, it looked like the water was being pulled into the skimmer area in a steady stream as if it was being suctioned through like a vacuum. The main filter and lines in our pool house were also making unusual sounds, as if water was draining (the backwash line was shut). I shut off the filter. The water level in the pool was on the lower side from the backwash, however not the lowest it's been, so I topped it up, ensured all filter baskets were clean, checked that all valves were set as they should and turned the filter back on.

2 of the 3 return jets are not flowing normally - water is passing through but it's intermittent, humming and causing unusual bubbling at the surface near one of the return jets.

Sorry if I am weak on the terminology here and please let me know if I can provide more info - any ideas on what could be going on? Or should I just make a service call?

Thanks as always.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Sounds like your water level was too low and caused a vortex in the skimmer. Is your pump primed and is the pump basket filled with its normal level of water?

I wonder if you haven't got air in the lines and the pump still low on water level?

I'm sorry but that's all I can think of. I hope one of the pump experts will chime in here with a possible solution.

 

[Ubrucen]

Thanks. Yes the pump is primed and the basket is filled with normal water level. I should have checked these levels before adding water to the pool but I didn't. I was going to let it run to see if it would correct itself and any air in the lines but am scared to do anything that might make it worse. After I filled the pool to an appropriate level this morning, I ran the filter for about 5 mins and it was still bubbly and intermittent. Could it take longer than this to get all the air out - should I try again?

 

[Jimrahbe]

In my mind, the only way you can have a vortex in your skimmer is either the water level in the pool is too low, or the weir door is stuck up and not allowing enough water to enter the skimmer.

Jim R.

 

[Ubrucen]

That makes sense. Could it take a bit to work the air out then? The pool filter sounds kind of "drippier" than usual running to the pump; not sure how to describe it. And the return jets aren't bubbling as much but still noticing a small difference with bubbles at the surface of 1 jet. PSI is about 16-17, which is where it normally is - and there's a question I've never thought to ask - is that normal range for PSI?

does it seem foolish to let it run and see what happens?

 

[harleysilo]

If your pump is full of water while is running, I don't know what the harm could be. Did you check the skimmer door to make sure it's moving freely?

 

[Ubrucen]

Ok standing down. All seems to be back to normal- it took a while for the air to get out. Hopefully I didn't do any damage to the equipment; noted and lesson learned to not let water level get low again. Thanks everyone.