Cleaned the pump skimmer basket now it won't turn back on...

Jump to latest Follow Reply
hawkeyes

hawkeyes

0
LifeTime Supporter
Mar 25, 2010
100
Dallas, TX
I cleaned out the pump skimmer basket and now when I turn the filter back on it shuts down while priming and the red "no flow" light on my intellichlor lights up...status of my intelliflo says "cell blocked" on the EasyTouch readout.

I have taken the lid back off/on 3 times and it still does the same thing. What am I doing wrong??? All was fine until I cleaned the dang basket! Grrrrrrrrr. :rant:
 
JohnT said:
Valves all back where the should be? Fill the basket housing with water?
Click to expand...

I didn't move any valves to begin with so I honestly don't know how to tell if they are back "where they should be". I only turned off the pump and emptied the dang basket. It wasn't even that dirty---was just walking by and decided to do it. My bad. Grrr. I tried to fill it back up with water but good grief it was like a losing battle b/c the water level kept going down.

Clogged impeller? Dear God...I don't even wanna know what that means or what I need to do about it. Let me open a bottle of wine and I'll check back in a bit. ;)
 
Update: Went back out and turned pump on. Same thing...red no flow when priming started. While I stood there fretting for a minute, it started to prime again on it's own and the basket filled fully with water. The bubbler on my spa shot up 8 ft high and the pipes started shaking---seriously sounded like a rocket was gonna go off. Just as I go to turn it back off, it settles into "normal mode" and the flow indicator is green and all seems well EXCEPT for the fact that now there are tons of air bubbles coming from the return jets again---so obviously there is air in the pipes.

:rant: :rant: :rant:
 
What's happening is when you open the pump strainer basket, you allow air into the system and you lose "prime". In other words, with the lid off, the water can drain from your pump, filter, etc back through the pipes and into the pool.

When you turn the pump back on, it is taking the pump a while to reprime as it tries to pull the water from the pool back up to the pump.....that's hard to do for a pump when all it's pumping is air.

The pipes rattling and such is simply the air being forced through the system back to the pool. Everything you described is perfectly normal for an IG pool.

What has it been doing prior to this when you cleaned the pump strainer basket? It should've been doing the same thing each time.
 
duraleigh said:
What's happening is when you open the pump strainer basket, you allow air into the system and you lose "prime". In other words, with the lid off, the water can drain from your pump, filter, etc back through the pipes and into the pool.

When you turn the pump back on, it is taking the pump a while to reprime as it tries to pull the water from the pool back up to the pump.....that's hard to do for a pump when all it's pumping is air.

The pipes rattling and such is simply the air being forced through the system back to the pool. Everything you described is perfectly normal for an IG pool.

What has it been doing prior to this when you cleaned the pump strainer basket? It should've been doing the same thing each time.
Click to expand...

Oh thank you so much!!!! Whew! So the air bubbles in the returns will work themselves out, too?
In the past it has never stopped priming and turned the intellichlor to "no flow"---it has always fired right back up.
 
-it has always fired right back up.
Click to expand...
Since this time it behaved differently and all you did was replace the strainer basket lid, then perhaps the lid did not get reseated properly. If air is allowed to get into the lid, the symptoms you describe will show up and it will very likely continue to pull air in through the lid causing some degree of bubbling constantly.

I would suggest you stop the pump, remove the lid and carfully examine the rubber gasket and make sure it seats nicely on to the pump body. If you get a good seal there, it should reprime as it did before.
 
hey hawkeyes, i think i have a similar set up as you and my PB showed me how to prime the pump by releasing air from the top of the cartridge filter by turning the PSI indicator to the left and pulling up on it and then that releases the air and then once water comes out of the top then i just turn it down into the normal position. that help the pump prime a bit quicker. do you have that ability?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
ajones02 said:
hey hawkeyes, i think i have a similar set up as you and my PB showed me how to prime the pump by releasing air from the top of the cartridge filter by turning the PSI indicator to the left and pulling up on it and then that releases the air and then once water comes out of the top then i just turn it down into the normal position. that help the pump prime a bit quicker. do you have that ability?
Click to expand...

Yes! I do have that ability. When exactly do you "turn and pull up"? The minute you turn the pump back on?

Dumb question: where exactly does that lubricated rubbber circle go? Does it go INSIDE the lid or does it go around the pump where the lid twists on? I remember that coming off when I unscrewed the lid and I bet I didn't get it put back on correctly!!
 
i always turn and pull it up before turning the pump back on. once the pump is turned back on you will hear air escaping from the valve and then as soon as the water starts to shoot out of the top (which means your pump is primed) then you can turn it back down into it's normal mode. the pressure then should begin to read out as it did before.

the rubber o-ring actually goes inside of the lid. there is a groove that it should fit into. i always clean this groove out and clean the o-ring off and then add some lubricant to the ring before replacing the lid. it will make it easier to to turn the pump cover and get it seated properly.

make sense?
 
Yep....makes total sense. The o-ring came out of that "groove" awhile back but I do think I got it back on correctly based on what you are describing. It may, however, need lubed as I rinsed it off but did not lubricate it. Would lack of lubricant on that ring keep the lid from sealing properly (thus allowing air in)?
 
it would if it was not seated completely against the lid. from my experiences, not adding lubricant everything you remove the lid can stretch the
o-ring and not allowing the lid to sit tightly around the pump basket. i purchased my lubricant at the local pool store but my guess is you could pick some up at any hardware store. hope that helps!
 
Bama Rambler said:
What tends to happen when you don't lube the o-ring is that during the installation of the lid the dry o-ring grabs the surface and instead of sliding smoothly it wrinkles and causes a crease that can leak.
Click to expand...

Got it!! Will pick up some lube today while out and about and add it to the o-ring tonight. Thank you all so very much!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply