My Monster!

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H

Had20z

0
Feb 13, 2011
13
Houston,Texas
Hey guys and girls,


I bought the house I'm living in now a little over two years ago, and ever since I've owned the house. I have been chasing my tail, with the pool.

Last summer, I thought I was going to tackle the MONSTER and get it right. So, I drained the pool to have a fresh start and to clean the pool walls, floor etc.. to my surprise a week after having a fairly clear pool, I started having equipment issues (mainly with the pool pumps) I got very discouraged and ended up flipping the breaker and havent touched it till yesterday.


Pumping Station:

"Unknown Brand" booster pump, Leslie pump and DE filter...

It seems as if the pumps will not put out properly, as if they are to small (the impeller looks fine, and so does the volutte). When the system is running, there is very low circulation in the pool. Its been like this since ive owned the house


I'm under the impression that, either the pumps are undersized, or just plain worn out. Everything seems dated...





So, Where should I start? Should I replace everything? Keep throwing money at the existing equipment? etc. etc.?


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and...the Monster her self

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If that pump is working at all or isn't totally plugged up.............you should be having a nice litte geyser water feature directly above your pump.
The pipe sticking up off the pump is NOT an air vent. It has to be conected back to the filtration system. 10$ fix for the pvc pipe.
Dang nice pool when you get it up and running though!
 
I'm going to assume you had to cut the pipe so you could check the pump. Do you know what horsepower the pump is? If you could take a close up picture of the label we may be able to help you out. Usually when a pump goes out it doesn't work at all, and may have made a horrendous noise when it was on. If that is not the case and the pump has been that way since you moved in then you have been trying to circulate your water with a booster pump and that is not what they are designed to do. The booster pump provides power to a pressure side cleaner. It usually does not route water through the filter.

Richard may be right. If you haven't opened and cleaned the DE filter it could be the source of your problem. A dirty filter will restrict the flow of water substantially. If the pressure gauge on the filter reads higher than 20 you may have a clogged filter. It wouldn't hurt to open it up and check.

The Leslie's equipment looks like re-branded Hayward stuff.

If you can post close up pictures of the equipment labels, and if you want to video the pump when it is running that might be helpful too.

Good luck!
 
Yea, I took the elbow off to check the flow, and at max the geyser was 6inchs....


I inspected the filter housing and ended up replacing the filters and cleaned the housing out.

The booster pump was having low performance also, or it might have been the pool cleaner was just junk and falling apart...

I will get better pictures of the pump!



Thanks guys!
 
That pump, if working properly, should create a much more dramatic water fountain. That suggests a pipe blockage or a blockage inside the pump. The pump is less likely, but easier to check. Remove the pump strainer basket and check to see if there is any debris below it, also if you can see/reach in from there check the impeller (don't worry if you can't).

The more likely place for a blockage is somewhere in the suction pipe, possibly close to one of the skimmers. You could try running a garden hose into the feed pipe inside the pump strainer basket. You will need something, perhaps a drain king or some carefully wrapped cloth, to seal the garden hose to the pipe. By running the water backwards through the pipe with good garden hose pressure you can sometimes dislodge debris blocking the pipe, but it is difficult to be sure you got it all.
 
Jason posted while I was typing - I think everyone's on the same page here.

You obviously eliminated an output restriction, so...
Low output would mean:
1) input obstruction, such as a plugged skimmer, plugged pipe, plugged pump strainer basket
2) input leak, allowing air in the pump
3) pump problem, like impeller slipping on the shaft (since you've eliminated the impeller and volute)
4) motor problem running at reduced speed/torque
There ain't much else. If the pump can pump, and it can get something move, it should move it.
You can check the impeller for spinning by holding it and trying to turn the motor shaft, or vice-versa.
You may be able to reverse-flush the input line with a Drain King in the pipe from the pump body, might blow some garbage out of the piping.
 
here and there i have been working on my monster. I still havent been able to get the pumps to function correctly. And now the motor on my main pump sounds like heck. I believe the bearings are on the way out. Also, the main pump will not suck ( no water in the Inlet pipeing).

When I put a water hose in the suction line, I noticed water bubbling up from the strainer, which this was a shock to me. I would think the main pump would suck out of the bottem....right?

The more i think about it, the more i believe the pipe is not lined up right. and never has ran right since the Install.



Im absolutley ready to get this right and stop having this monkey on my back!
 

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Your main pump should be fed from both the main (bottom) drain (MD) and skimmer(s). SInce you only have one suction pipe at the pump you should have a diverter in the skimmer to adjust flow between the MD and the skimmer. I would pull the diverter out and try the pump again. You can also put the water hose in the discharge of the pump and blow water backwards through the pump to see if any debris comes out, if you haven't already done that.

If you could recap all that you've done so far it might help point to what needs to happen next.

Just take these problems one at a time and before long it'll just be a distant memory. We'll gladly help you get this fixed.
 
Where would the Deverter valve be at?

1. Washed back threw the main pump suction line, and verified there's no blockage.
2. Washed threw the booster pumps suction line, did not come out of the strainer, and acted like there was some head pressure. (maybe this sucks off the bottem?)
3. Cleaned the filters.
 
The diverter is in the bottom of the skimmer. It's either a disc or twinky looking thing. If you remove it there should be two holes in the bottom of the skimmer. One of them comes from the MD and the other goes to the pump suction.

Have you pulled the pump apart to see if the impeller is clogged?

The booster pump probably does pull from low in the pool.
 
Yes i have inspected the Pump, the Impeller looks good, no damage or junk on it.

Ill go look at the diverter now.....


Thats what I dont understand, Why wouldnt you want the Main Pump sucking from the MD and the booster from the skimmer?
 
The booster pump usually has a direct line in the side of the pool about the size of a return. Normally they are positioned lower than the returns and do not have an eyeball fitting. It should not be pulling from the skimmer or main drain.

While you had the pump apart, did you check if the impeller could turn freely?
 
The booster pump is just for a pressure side cleaner and not used for regular circulation. It just runs when the cleaner is being ran.

Your main pump is the only filtering pump. It draws from both the skimmer and/or the main drain.
 

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