Circulation Issues

[rdestryw]

Just found this forum within the last couple of weeks and am very appreciative of all the great information!

I've got a small inground pool that is probably 10-15 years old - I've owned the house for 6 years now. The pool has a sand filter and a Polaris 280 cleaner. Within the last couple of weeks I purchased and installed a brand new Polaris booster pump (the old one wore out). Since then I have noticed on occasion the pool quits circulating.

The first time it happened (a day or two ago) I backwashed the pool and everything started right back up to normal operation.

Earlier this morning the pool was circulating fine. I turned on the Polaris pump and it ran for a few hours and cleaned the pool and I then turned it off. Within a few hours after turning off the cleaner (booster pump) I noticed the pool was no longer circulating. I turned off the pool pump, waited a minute to let the pressure settle, then turned it back on and everything started working fine again (I didn't backwash it because I had just backwashed it yesterday or day before so didn't think that would be the issue).

It may be coincidental, but I'm thinking it has something to do with running the Polaris booster pump. One additional thing I will test tomorrow is if the circulation dies when the cleaner is turned on. Until then I wanted to get this out there to see if anyone might have experienced this before or might have any feedback to offer.

 

[Isaac-1]

I think we need some clarification:

1, does the pump motor stop running?

2, Does pressure on the filter gauge go up or go down when circulation drops off?

 

[rdestryw]

Thanks for the reply.

1. No the filter/pool pump does not stop running.
2. My gauge is broken. I got tired of replacing the gauges a few years ago so I can't answer that question. Sounds dumb I know, but the gauges seem to last only a few months, and I've maintained the pool just fine without it. Maybe I'll need to get one if this problem persists.

 

[Isaac-1]

Without knowing the pressure in the system it is hard to tell if the problem is on the suction or the pressure side of your pump, also you need a functioning gauge to know when you should backwash your filter.

 

[rdestryw]

There is a knob/valve on the filter valve that I can turn to determine if the water is getting through the pump. If water shoots out when I turn the knob I know the pump is working, which I assume is what you are calling the suction side? What is the dividing component between the suction and pressure sides?

 

[Isaac-1]

The pump is the divider, if you are lacking flow the problem is either the pump itself is not turning, the suction side (the side that feeds the pump) is not letting water get to the pump either from an obstruction of some kind or due to letting air in and causing the pump to loose prime, or you have a blockage on the pressure side of the pump.

Ike

 

[rdestryw]

So today the issue happened again. Last night I turned on the Polaris cleaner. While it was running I checked the returns for pressure and there was good pressure. Left the Polaris cleaner running all night and noticed first thing this morning there was no circulation (no pressure from the returns). I could tell water was flowing through the filter pump and into the filter because I turned the knob on the filter valve and water shot out with good pressure. After turning off the cleaner and filter pumps and then turning only the filter pump back on the circulation worked as expected.

Is it possible the booster pump could be creating a syphon effect, or hogging the water from the return lines, in turn causing the returns to lose pressure? Or could running the booster pump somehow be introducing air into the system causing the pressure loss?

 

[JasonLion]

What kind of filter do you have?

 

[rdestryw]

It is a sand filter with a multiport valve on the top of it. Is that what you're asking, or like what brand? I don't really know the specifics on it and I'm not home at the moment to look. 3 or 4 years ago I did replace the sand and also replaced the multiport valve sometime after that. Not that any of that work matters, just trying to provide some detail.