Hi all,
Just got finished having our pool(inground, 12X22 gunite. Pump is Hayward Max-flo 2, 1 HP, and the filter is a Hayward Pro series 24 inch sand filter) renovated about 3 months ago, and everything has been somewhat OK. I know the pool has a leak, probably on the return lines, as the water will drop about 3/4 of an inch every day. Other than having to add water to compensate for the leak, it's been OK. But this weekend, a new problem started. I vacuumed the pool on Friday, then cleaned out the pump skimmer basket like usual. On Sunday, I turned the pump on manually(the pump normally runs on a timer) and noticed that there was no water moving, and the pump skimmer basket was almost completely empty. I took the pump lid off, filled with water, and started it back up, and everything was ok, other than knowing that the pump ran for the past 2 nights dry like this!!! Yesterday evening I checked the pump, and the leaf basket was almost completely empty again and the pump wouldn't prime, so it probably ran dry the past 2 nights!!! I primed it by filling the basket with the water hose, and it runs OK again. I looked all around the pump and filter and do not see any water leaking anywhere. I also checked the O-ring for the pump lid and it looks OK. It seems that this issue hadn't started until I vacuumed the pool the other day. Normally when remove the basket lid on the pump, the water will drain down to a certain point, as there is no check valve on the intake side. No problem as the 3 inches of water remaining in the basket chamber is enough to allow the pump to prime itself when the system is restarted. Now it appears the water is dropping even below that point when the system is turned off , causing the pump to not be able to prime. For the lasy 3 months, there has never been even a single air bubble in the leaf basket chamber of the pump, but now this issue. Last night after I got the system up and running again, I shut it off, and the water level in the basket chamber didn't go down, so whatever problem I have is a slow leak issue, and it's draining down slowly during the day when the pump is off. Any ideas or suggestions, before I have to call the pool company out?? I ran the plumbing myself(transitioned new pvc to the old copper lines), so if it's leaking there, it's on me, unless I want to pay them to come out.
Just got finished having our pool(inground, 12X22 gunite. Pump is Hayward Max-flo 2, 1 HP, and the filter is a Hayward Pro series 24 inch sand filter) renovated about 3 months ago, and everything has been somewhat OK. I know the pool has a leak, probably on the return lines, as the water will drop about 3/4 of an inch every day. Other than having to add water to compensate for the leak, it's been OK. But this weekend, a new problem started. I vacuumed the pool on Friday, then cleaned out the pump skimmer basket like usual. On Sunday, I turned the pump on manually(the pump normally runs on a timer) and noticed that there was no water moving, and the pump skimmer basket was almost completely empty. I took the pump lid off, filled with water, and started it back up, and everything was ok, other than knowing that the pump ran for the past 2 nights dry like this!!! Yesterday evening I checked the pump, and the leaf basket was almost completely empty again and the pump wouldn't prime, so it probably ran dry the past 2 nights!!! I primed it by filling the basket with the water hose, and it runs OK again. I looked all around the pump and filter and do not see any water leaking anywhere. I also checked the O-ring for the pump lid and it looks OK. It seems that this issue hadn't started until I vacuumed the pool the other day. Normally when remove the basket lid on the pump, the water will drain down to a certain point, as there is no check valve on the intake side. No problem as the 3 inches of water remaining in the basket chamber is enough to allow the pump to prime itself when the system is restarted. Now it appears the water is dropping even below that point when the system is turned off , causing the pump to not be able to prime. For the lasy 3 months, there has never been even a single air bubble in the leaf basket chamber of the pump, but now this issue. Last night after I got the system up and running again, I shut it off, and the water level in the basket chamber didn't go down, so whatever problem I have is a slow leak issue, and it's draining down slowly during the day when the pump is off. Any ideas or suggestions, before I have to call the pool company out?? I ran the plumbing myself(transitioned new pvc to the old copper lines), so if it's leaking there, it's on me, unless I want to pay them to come out.