no water from my main drains

[Nashvillejoe]

i have a skimmer and two floor drains- i pulled the winterizing plugs from each of the drains that the previous owner had installed when they shut the pool down.

the two drains are connected so i put the vacuum hose into the skimmer return and then put the other end into the drain- the water pressure was pulling pretty hard from the other side- and did it from the other side also- so far so good.

i then took off the connecting valve on the other end where it T's into the skimmer return line and there were no plugs or impediments i could see- so finally i turned on the pump and it doesn't seem to be pulling at all from the floor drain-

i am completely flummoxed on this one.

I do have one of those pressure alarms installed after the shutoff valve before the connecting T- i thought perhaps that was the culprit but when i turn the Directional valve so that it is pulling 100% from the floor drain- it pulls all the water out of the piping and the pressure in the alarm valve rises as my pump dries out the line.

when i turn the directional valve so its 100% skimmer- it pulls hard from the skimmer- when set at 50/50 - it still pulls the same on the skimmer- its like there is some kind of blockage between my bottom drains and the pump....

i'm not even quite sure how to tousle shoot this.

anyone have any suggestions???

joe

ps.... there are two plugs on the base of each drain but i am working under the assumption that they drain into the soil underneath.... anyone think they could be the return lines by chance??

 

[Richard320]

To make sure I have this correct: the main drain piping comes out of the ground to a three-way valve that lets you choose whether you draw from main drain or skimmer or a combination?

IF that is correct, Shut the skimmer off and push a garden hose into the pump intake from the inside and seal it with a rag and have someone turn on the hose. You might be able to blow a bunch of sediment out.

 

[Nashvillejoe]

thanks for the suggestion- I did use a drain bladder- and it blew just fine- i could see the bubbles coming out of the drain- i actually had to cut into the return line- just before the 90 and the valve. okay so far..... all is well.

i reattached the valve- primed the pump and opened the valve- nothing. It wasn't pulling any water from the drains- so 2 possibilities-
1) whatever had been pushed out to allow the flow out of both drains had been sucked back in by the pool pump
2) the blockage was between the valve and the pump - which left the VacAlert or the valve.

so then i thought i will put the drain bladder back in only this time i put it after the Vac Alert.

i opened the pool pump and put it in the 6" piece before the 3 way valve( previous time i actually cut the 2 inch pipe before the 90 degree piece coming from the pool(you can see the purple PVC primer from the reconnection)).

when the unit is on the equipment side of the Vac Alert- it doesn't seem to pull at all. Now i am preparing to remove the vac alert, although i am expecting that what i will find is that what ever it is that is impeding flow- was perhaps sucked back into the system.

update- so i removed the Vac Alert and put in the drain bladder- it pushed out a piece of what appears plastic (whats used on the pool cover springs)- and there was barely any flow at all out of the drains. I removed the bladder reattached the VacAlert and turned on the pump- once again- it sucked all the air out of the pipe and nothing!

i am now on my way to HD to get some pvc to cap the VacAlert and try it one last time-

any suggestions would be appreciated.

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[Nashvillejoe]

final test- removed the VacAlarm- put in the plumbers bladder and closed all the valves- could feel the cold water coming out of the drains- but again when i turn on the pump it pulls all the water out of the line and then we are left with air.

I put the bladder back in the line pushing water into the pool and this time hooked the vacuum hose to my skimmer and thought i would try and pull while the hose with the bladder was pushing-

i connected the hose to one of the drains and then went to the other drain- i could feel a tremendous amount of suction. i put my hand over the hole and could feel the pressure- i also heard a little tic- of course underwater sound carries really well so i did it several times and each time i covered the hole i could hear a little click as if something was catching-

based on everything i know thus far i think the impediment must be just past the junction of the two drains- i pulled two 1" plugs out- i am wondering if there could possibly be a 3rd in there- if thats the case- it seems the best way to get it out is to use a snake from the drain- pressure from the drain side to push it towards the pump-

any ideas- i am pretty much past my pay grade on this one------ huuurumff!

 

[Nashvillejoe]

okay last question-

i have my two drains at the bottom of my pool and 1 skimmer- in the skimmer there are two plugs- one goes to the pump- and i assumed the other when opened just let water flow into the gravel under the pool- is it possible that this plug is tied into my drains- and also i have two plugs in each of my drains - one goes to the returns and again i assumed the second one was just for opening to let water run into the gravel under the pool -

anyone think these plugs need to be opened ??

 

[Richard320]

okay last question-

i have my two drains at the bottom of my pool and 1 skimmer- in the skimmer there are two plugs- one goes to the pump- and i assumed the other when opened just let water flow into the gravel under the pool- is it possible that this plug is tied into my drains- and also i have two plugs in each of my drains - one goes to the returns and again i assumed the second one was just for opening to let water run into the gravel under the pool -

anyone think these plugs need to be opened ??

You have a valve for the main drain, so the line in the skimmer is plugged fore a reason.

The extra ones in the drains are probably for hydrostatic relief valves.

I wouldn't touch any of them.

 

[Nashvillejoe]

thanks - looking at them - they appeared to be "purposefully" sealed kind of like the Akanatans Tomb in "The Mummy"- not meant to ever be opened.

any idea on the main drain return-

after reading several of the threads and looking for an unground Valve- my money is on a break somewhere in the line that when pressurized by the return pump- is pulling air in faster than water which results in my pump chamber emptying out- vacating all the water.

if i can make it through the season- i am thinking best option is to dig it up at the end of the season ;(

whoop whoop- a week with a back hoe!