Hi a little help please Bolero ND Suction Cleaner.

[Lily]

Hi I am a little scared of using my cleaner, it is a Bolero ND suction cleaner. The trouble is I am new to all this and I have tried it and it works but the pressure gauge on my filter tends to go down and in the pump I can see the water level drop, I am afraid of blowing my pump. It is a new pump, as when i brought the house the pump that was already here was no good so i had to purchase a new one. Can some one please give me a guide as to what level the pump water is meant to be at and the level of the filter gauge (pressure). this site is wonderful! :-D Thanks

Oh and I am wondering if it has anything to do with the fact that I only have one return which is up the shallow end of the pool and it does not appear to have a main drain? should my pool have 2 returns mainly one at the deep end of the pool, I think it needs one? but I am not sure as I am only getting my head around all this. Some advice is needed please.

oh one more thing, my pool is a weird shape in the ground so I am really not too sure how to measure it, by the way I have read all the pool school advice, so i have some understanding, perhaps I can take some photos and someone can help me??
thanks again!

 

[duraleigh]

1. You won't blow your pump unless you allow it to run dry fo4r an extended period.

2. It sounds like you have a blockage in your cleaner or the line or some other restriction on the suction side.

3. What is your normal psi without the cleaner? What does it drop to when you hook up the cleaner? Are you in Australia?

 

[Lily]

what do you mean run it dry ?
, normal psi without cleaner is between 50-60 on medium speed on high it runs at 90 when the cleaner is on it runs at about 20-30 psi. yes I am in Melbourne Australia
is it normal for the water to drop in the pump when the cleaner is on?

 

[Lily]

ok here are some pics I will add a few more

 

[Lily]

here are more

 

[Lily]

and the last ones

 

[Bama Rambler]

what do you mean run it dry ?
, normal psi without cleaner is between 50-60 on medium speed on high it runs at 90 when the cleaner is on it runs at about 20-30 psi. yes I am in Melbourne Australia
is it normal for the water to drop in the pump when the cleaner is on?

By "run it dry" he means running it without any water at all in the pump. It doesn't sound like that has happened.

50-60 kpa is about 8 psi, 90 kpa is about 13 psi and 30 kpa is about 5 psi. Those pressures are about normal.

Yes it's somewhat normal to see the water level drop a little in the pump basket when you hook up a suction cleaner. However, if the basket empties completely, or almost, then you have a suction side air leak and you should find it and repair it. The pump basket lid and drain plug are common places to have a leak.

 

[Lily]

I am so confused, I am so scared to put the vac on, honestly I just want to give up, its driving me nuts! don't know what to do. I don't think there are blocks as the pump works fine and it fairly new. I don't think I have a drain plug, if I do no idea where to find it??
hmmm

 

[Bama Rambler]

The first thing to do is take a deep breath and calm down. It's not life or death so it's nothing to worry yourself over. You have a lot of threads going on and are getting advice in all of them. Just calm down and take this one thing at a time.

Another thing to consider is to pick one thread and list all you have going on in it and lets let the rest of the threads drop, at least for now.

Now, don't be scared to put the vac on. If it is sucking any water at all it won't run the pump dry and cause any harm to it.

The drain plug for your pump is going to be on the bottom of the pump strainer basket housing. Below where the suction pipe goes into it. Near the left foot in pic #4.

You can do this, don't give up.

 

[cheers270470]

The pump you have does no have a drain plug.

Other problems may be there or the nature o what you have.

1. Have you got the main drain plugged off where it connects to the skimmer box
2. How old is the sand in the sand filter - an more than six years I would reccomend changing sand
3. The pump you have slows down after a period of a few minutes. This may mean that there is not enough flow - often with automatic poolcleaners you need to set the P280 onto medium setting.
4.Worse case scenario s that you have a suction line leak. Although you may not loose water, a suction leak can often suck air when under extra stress like adding a pool cleaner. I would suggest that you get a professional out to assess the problem. The fix options could be quite long