Help with priming

[dscut]

I am running into an issue with my pump priming this past couple weeks. It is a 25,000 gallon plaster based pool with a 2.5 HP pump & 60 Sq. Ft. DE based filter. The filter's pressure kept on high so I have manually washed the grid for several times and eventually ended up buying a new set of grids. The pool primped ok the fist couple time I washed the grids (we purchased the house two months ago) but then it keeps on losing prime. I tried several things to find the solutions:

1. wash filter, back wash filter;
2. turned to spa intake and then it all of a sudden primed ok;
3. checked all the valve for skimmer and returned line and lubricated the o-rings;
4. changed the torn spider ring inside the multi-valve;
5. use a stick to check whether the impeller was blocked and nothing came out;
6. turned the pump manually and it worked ok;
7. the polaris is not running without any water discharged from the outlet where the polaris connected to;

Now the pool is still not running as I have expected with the water flow intermittently. It led to algae buildup and a lot of cleaning on daily basis. Can anyone help please?

Dave

25,000 gallon water, 60 sq. ft. DE filter
Woodlands, TX

 

[btolley]

Two things to check
1-make sure that there is plenty of water in the pool, cover at least 1/2 of the skimmer with water
2-check to make sure the weir door on the skimmer is working properly, not stuck and not missing

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

2. That would point to a suction leak on the pool side
5. That will not do a good job cleaning the impeller ... although if it primes on the spa side, then there is no likely a clog there.

A missing weir door would not cause a priming issue.

Can you be more specific what you are observing? Is there just a lot of air in the pump basket?

 

[dscut]

Thanks for your suggestions.

1- My pool's water level is around 1/4 of the skimmer intake but have been running just ok in the past. Have tried to fill the pool with more water before but seems like I need to try this again;

2- I saw those doors open ok but again will report back with more findings.
:-D

Two things to check
1-make sure that there is plenty of water in the pool, cover at least 1/2 of the skimmer with water
2-check to make sure the weir door on the skimmer is working properly, not stuck and not missing

 

[dscut]

thanks!

2- Yes, I agree that there should be some issues with the suction leak but could you point to the direction to check it for?

5- would you suggest me to dissemble the pump to clean the impeller?

In terms of the air leak, turning spa valve on will have zero bubble with full water flow but when turning to the skimmers then it is most likely to be full with lots of bubble following by drops in the water flow to humming with no water and then it repeats the patterns again. The skimmers made those bubbling sounds when water repeated this pattern and there are bubbles coming from the jets in the pools as well.

I was wondering whether there can be sth to do with the pump itself but it seems to do ok with spa on.

Hopefully that gives enough info.

Dave

Welcome to TFP!!!

2. That would point to a suction leak on the pool side
5. That will not do a good job cleaning the impeller ... although if it primes on the spa side, then there is no likely a clog there.

A missing weir door would not cause a priming issue.

Can you be more specific what you are observing? Is there just a lot of air in the pump basket?

 

[duraleigh]

If I understand your description correctly, it sounds like you are sucking air at the skimmer.

Turn the pump on and go over to the skimmer and watch it. Does any air get sucked down in to it?

 

[dscut]

Yes. It does suck air in skimmer since the water flow is intermittent. That it, if the water flow drops from full stream to zero, then I heard the skimmer suck in air. Once the water flow turns to zero, the skimmer if full of water and it sits there and wait for the pump to suck in the intake.

Hope my terminology is correct.

If I understand your description correctly, it sounds like you are sucking air at the skimmer.

Turn the pump on and go over to the skimmer and watch it. Does any air get sucked down in to it?

 

[jblizzle]

Do you have a floor drain? Can you isolate it and not pull water from the skimmer?

Certainly sounds like your water level is too low in the pool and you are pulling air in through the skimmer and thus losing prime in the pump.

 

[dscut]

Great suggestions! I have not yet thought about the water level since the filter was running just fine before with 1/4 water in skimmer. I am running water hose to the pool to see whether this helps.

Do you have a floor drain? Can you isolate it and not pull water from the skimmer?

Certainly sounds like your water level is too low in the pool and you are pulling air in through the skimmer and thus losing prime in the pump.

 

[dscut]

One more question - I know this is only for the pump threads. But my polaris is not moving with no water feeding in, is there anything that I can do to check for this? It was running occasionally in the past and I am not sure whether the filter's intermittent water flow has anything to do with it. Now my water flow is full & without air bubble but the polaris is still not running...

Thanks!

Great suggestions! I have not yet thought about the water level since the filter was running just fine before with 1/4 water in skimmer. I am running water hose to the pool to see whether this helps.

Do you have a floor drain? Can you isolate it and not pull water from the skimmer?

Certainly sounds like your water level is too low in the pool and you are pulling air in through the skimmer and thus losing prime in the pump.

 

[btolley]

One more question - I know this is only for the pump threads. But my polaris is not moving with no water feeding in, is there anything that I can do to check for this? It was running occasionally in the past and I am not sure whether the filter's intermittent water flow has anything to do with it. Now my water flow is full & without air bubble but the polaris is still not running...

Thanks!

So did raising the water level in your pool solve the priming issue? If so, then your polaris should run fine IF both the main filter pump AND the polaris booster pump are running at the same time. If your filter pump is still not priming, the booster pump alone will not run the polaris effectively.