Pump goes from working to not working in 30 second intervals

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R

rosariom

0
Jun 1, 2013
17
New Jersey
Hi

I'm having a strange issue with my Hayward Super Pump 2. The pump will go from working (moving water and filled with water) for about 30 seconds to then making a humming sound and the water drains out of the pump for a few seconds and then goes back to working. It does this the whole time it's running. There was water at the bottom of the pump so doing some research I replaced the seal assembly, and it seems to have gotten better in that the interval was shorter and there was less water but it's still not right. I'm thinking maybe there is a hairline crack at the bottom of the pump that's pulling in air? I've seen people talk about the pump not priming as a result of a air, but haven't seen anything where someone was saying the pump goes from working to not working in intervals like this.

It's been doing this for about a week and the water is still clear and it does move the water, but I'm worried that it's damaged my pump motor and I may have to replace it. It started squeaking today which prompted me to take it apart and replace the seal.

Anyone ever experience this?

Thanks!
 
Re: Pump goes from working to not working in 30 second inter

Have you checked to see that the water level is high enough in the pool that it is not sucking any air at the skimmer?
 
Re: Pump goes from working to not working in 30 second inter

The water level has been lower than usual, but I don't think low enough where the skimmer is sucking in air. I should mention that when this happens, the main drain hole (sorry I don't know what that's called) starts to fill up and then eventually drains out again. I don't know if it's because of this issue or because the pool's jets fire at different times. I don't know what this is called but I did try to pause it so that it fires from one jet only but that didn't resolve it.

Thanks
 
Re: Pump goes from working to not working in 30 second inter

rosariom said:
That's separate from the skimmer. It's a round cover without a basket inside. Not sure what that's called.
Click to expand...

The skimmer is a white plastic box, with a lid and a basket inside or are you possibly talking about the lid and basket that is part of the pump housing (black). The skimmer is at the pool built into the deck. A pic would help. I bet if you add some water to your pool your problem goes away.

Typical skimmer:
[attachment=0:u8nij2xd]swimming-pool-skimmer.jpg[/attachment:u8nij2xd]
 

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Re: Pump goes from working to not working in 30 second inter

If your water is high enough, though it sounds like it's not, you should check the o-ring seal on the pump cover. I just solved the same issue by cleaning my o-ring groove and o-ring and lubricating the o-ring.
 
Re: Pump goes from working to not working in 30 second inter

First thanks for all the replies. This is a great forum.

Here is a pic of the skimmer and the other cover. The square one is the skimmer. The round cover is the other one that I believe is where the main drain goes through.
[attachment=1:3pk7wnxa]photo 1.JPG[/attachment:3pk7wnxa]

This is a pic inside with the cover off. Shoudl the water level in here be low or high? When it looses pressure, it gets high as it it's not pulling any water. Then it goes back down when the pump seems to work properly.
[attachment=0:3pk7wnxa]photo 2.JPG[/attachment:3pk7wnxa]

Based on everyone's suggestion, I added more water to the pool but that didn't help. I then took the pump apart again and noticed that the housing gasket from the motor to the pump was deformed in one spot. I ordered a replacement. For now I added some greace and tightened the bolts. I also tightened the cover and it got better. It still alternates from working properly (I think) to losing pressure. It seems to lose pressure when it switches returns- before it would lose pressure while it was on one return. I still see some water under the pump, so I'm assuming that it's that gasket that's allowing air to enter the pump and eventually fills it with enough air to stop the flow of water before it pushes the air out through the returns and the cycle starts again.

Does that sound right?

I also took some videos and will get them uploaded if anyone is interested in seeing the issue. I should mention that the impeller ring is pretty damaged and I think that's what's making a loud screeching sound from the motor. Could this also contribute to air entering the system? I've ordered a replacement for that as well.

Thanks again.
 

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Re: Pump goes from working to not working in 30 second inter

The water shown in the picture is gravity flowing and it looks like it's coming from the skimmer.
What does the inside of the skimmer look like when the water is flowing?
 
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