First time vacuuming...losing pressure after 15-20 minutes

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J

jbb2388

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May 8, 2017
102
Wolcott, CT
First time pool owner with newly built IG pool. Started vacuuming for the first time Saturday. Bottom of pool had lots of dirt in it from the somewhat sloppy backfilling job and from a very heavy thunderstorm on thursday night that splashed a LOT of dirt into the pool. (That's a whole nuther issue....controlling the dirt while waiting for deck to be installed...UGH!) All new equipment...vac, hose, skimmer plate, etc. Had trouble at first priming the hose first couple tries using the return so I found fishing the hose down into the water easier. Once I figured out how to partially close off the floor drains the vacuum worked well. However, it lost all suction after 15-20 minutes each time I started vacuuming and the pressure at the filter dropped to near zero. So I would shut the pump off, clean the pump basket, re-prime it, set filter to backwash and re-start it. Once waste water was clear I rinsed, then set it back to filter and would try vacuuming again. Hugh PITA doing this but I managed after 4-5 times to get most of dirt off floor of pool but I would still like to clean it up a little more and understand why this may be happening. This isn't normal, correct? I know not to lift vacuum head out of water. The vacuum is one of the triangle shaped clear blue plastic ones. I looked thoroughly at the hose and do not see any cracks or holes, etc. The skimmer seems to be functioning properly when not vacuuming. I hold the skimmer plate under water and then transfer over deck down into skimmer so I imagine a small amount of air enters the hose when that happens, but like I said the vacuum seems to function fine but not for longer than 15 min. :confused::confused: PLEASE HELP! :)
 
Hi. It will stop working correctly once your filter is full or the pump basket is full. It's normal (not common b/c you won't have that volume of dirt all the time). This won't be an ongoing issue just temp since you have so much dirt etc to clean. You're doing the right thing by stopping to backwash and empty the basked (though it's a pain). Keep this in mind when you close. Leaves can do this too so be sure to close correctly and get leaves out of the pool before closing up.

I had the same exact problem with the dirt too...there is a fix! I didn't finish the decking area until the following spring. The first rain was a very heavy quick passing storm. I literally watched as my pool turned from crystal clear to dark brown. As you know it was all the mud splashing into the pool. Go to Lowes HD type place and by tarps. They are cheap. Cut them so they are about 2 feet wide and lay them down. You'll need to use rocks or wood 2x4s if you have any laying around to hold them in place. This will stop the splatter. I had this set up for my first summer and it solved my problem after 2 heavy rains (also had plywood with an outdoor rug on it leading to the stairs). Unfortunately you need the rain to allow it to settle so it's not terrible that happened. But the tarps will stop or greatly minimize that.
 
Hi Nectarologist. Thanks very much. Yeah, I was thinking of getting some plastic to put down but then I thought that the rain was necessary for the soil settling process. I am also holding off on buying a solar cover thinking that I will be a complete pain to put it on and off with the dirt. Maybe I will get some plastic sheathing and cut it a foot wide and put it around the perimeter. I'll have to see.

OK so then the vacuuming will last longer as the pool floor gets cleaner?? It didn't seem to get progressively longer the more I did but will continue plugging away. Maybe I wasn't backwashing quite long enough. Was trying to walk a line between not eliminating too much water and cleaning the filter enough between vacuuming. I think there's just a small layer of silt in some spots in the deep end although the water is still too cloudy that its difficult to see.
 
I have a cartridge filter so I'm not sure about the sand filter. I know with my cartridges one year I got to a point where they were old and would clog/fill up easily so I replaced them. But with sand, from what I understand, this is not the case. Maybe some with a sand filter can help. How much does the filter pressure drop after a backwash? Or next time you vacuum notice how much it has gone up. This year I had a bunch of leaves and a ton of acorns. I noticed that it was not vacuuming well after a 3 psi increase. Sand may be different though.
 
Thanks again. While vacuuming the pressure drops to almost zero. I would then turn the pump off, backwash and the normal pressure would return. There are no leaves, just a lot of dirt. Most of which is now removed. Gonna vacuum again the next chance I get. Fighting sediment is gonna be a problem for weeks. I had an idea yesterday to put landscape cloth down around the pool to mitigate the dirt problem but still allow rainfall to penetrate and help the soil settle and compact before the deck work starts. I also got a longer discharge hose which was a problem.
 
The landscape cloth is a great idea. This is brining back memories. I remember on windy days seeing the dust blowing right into the pool. I felt like once the ground settled it got much better. In any event next year will be a breeze compared to the work you're doing now.
 
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