Pump won't fully prime

[weird_tolkienish_f]

What are you referring to as the "pump basket gasket thing"? I'm going to try removing all the piping from the pump to the vales and re-tapping and lubing the gaskets

Thanks!

He means the pump strainer lid O-ring.

Yes I apologize for not being more clear.

This year when I opened the pool, I sprayed all the connections, especially those with rubber seals, with WD-40, before attaching everything. Seemed to work good, the pump primed on the first try this year. Never had it do it that easy before.

 

[jblizzle]

Use pool silicone lubricant not wd40 ... that may even damage the rubber.

 

[benjydog]

Thanks. Will try to find time to take a look. Picked up new valve gaskets this weekend, going to install them as well.

Still not fully primed, but getting a lot less bubbles out of the returns.

 

[Jeetyet]

... When we shut it off, there was no back splash and the pump kept most water...

Could you clarify what you mean by "back splash"? You're not talking about a brief spurt of water shooting out from underneath the basket cover each time you shut the pump down are you? From all the troubleshooting you've done I assume thats not the case but thought I'd ask anyway as I had priming issues along with that very symptom, which was fixed by replacing the cover gasket. If that is indeed whats happening with yours, since you've already replaced the gasket then there'd have to be an issue with the cover itself.

 

[jblizzle]

My previous pump would squirt water out of the lid when I shut it off, but ... it never pulled in air or lost prime. So that may not be the issue.

 

[benjydog]

Could you clarify what you mean by "back splash"? You're not talking about a brief spurt of water shooting out from underneath the basket cover each time you shut the pump down are you?

What I meant was when I shut off the pump, the water level of the pump would temporarily rise inside the pump to the point where the pump was completly full of water before it drained.

Only once did water come out from under the basket lid. That was before I replaced the gasket.

 

[benjydog]

Update: still no closer to full prime. Since taping all joints, when the pump is shut off the water holds in the pump. When I open the kids, then it drains into the pool.

The only thing I've noticed is it gets much closer to prime when running the filter on bypass or waste.

Also noticed there is no difference with any combination of my skimmer, vac, or main drain lines. Once 2 of the 3 arw fully open, there is no difference by adding the third. it also looks like it's air trapped in the pot basket, doesn't appear to be coming into the pot if that makes sense.