One of return eyeball has no water flow

[gg10]

Hi,

There are 4 return eyeballs in my pool and I just noticed today that one of them has no water flow coming out of it. The rest are working fine. I am not sure if it ever worked earlier since I am a new pool owner. Any idea what is going on here and how to make it work?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Are you sure it's a standard return and not a cleaner port?

If you are you could try running water backwards through it with a water hose to see if it'll flow that way.

It also may have a separate valve somewhere for it.

 

[gg10]

Not sure how to tell if it is standard return or cleaner port.

What I did was I put my finger in it when the pool is running and there was no suction or return flow. It looks exactly same as the other 3 eyeball return types and it is at the same level as others.

 

[gg10]

I tried several things today, played with the valves, tried the dyes to see if there is any suction etc but the port is still neither pumping nor sucking.
Any other ideas or has anyone seen something like this and figured out.

 

[duraleigh]

Two things come to mind. Both of which I doubt but I will mention anyway.

Could the returns have been plumbed in "series" so that return is the last in line to get water? The movement might be so faint as to be undetectable unless you use dye with the pump running.

Secondly, the return could be blocked....accidentally or intentionally. If it's intentional, it would show up at the equipment pad as a cut pipe, shut off valve, etc. If it's accidental, sticking a running hose onto the return in the pool (pump off) might produce enough backflow to dislodge something.

 

[gg10]

There is no cut pipe, shut valve so that option is ruled out. I will try the running hose tomorrow and check if it helps.

Thanks,