Having problems with my pump

[karenh]

I'm having some problems with my pump. I have a sand filter and a 1 1/2 hp pump. Last year we had no problems and did take the pump in for the winter.

I started noticing that when I ran my suction side cleaner (diver dave) that the pump basket would get about 2" of air in the top and the cleaner wasn't moving like he was supposed to. I tried the regular old manual vacuum and it did the same thing. I had thought maybe it was the hoses on Dave. When the vacuum is not hooked up there is not any problem with the air in the pot. I even replaced the skimmer plate. I have noticed that my pump pressure drops from 15 to 10 when a vac is attached.

I replaced the hose from the skimmer to the pump thinking that maybe there was a air leak somewhere in that line, but it didn't help. When the vac is hooked up it wants to try and suck the new pipe closed. (clear hose with reinforcement) I'm at a loss as to what is causing this.

There are no air bubbles coming out of the return, but sometimes I do hear some water gurgling sounds at the top of the sand filter. I've tried listening everywhere with a stethescope, but so far nothing really shows up.

Any thoughts out there for things I can check? It's driving me crazy.

We're thinking of just getting a new pump (3/4 hp) and just ditch the 1 1/2. We have a 100lb sand filter.

 

[MikeInTN]

Karen,

Are you burping DiverDave before you hook him up to the suction side? Place the end of the hose over your return to force all of the air out of the hose and vacuum; then keep the hose under the surface of the water and feed it over to your skimmer so you don't introduce air again.

I have an AquaBug that was doing the same thing, and I figured out that I forgot to burp it.

hth,
Mike

 

[karenh]

Hey Mike! I've burped him and anything else I can think of. I even blew out the hoses with him hooked on. (He didn't look like he liked it. LOL) It even does it when I've got the regular vac hooked up with a different hose. I've even hooked him up straight into the hole in the bottom of the skimmer without the basket and he still sucks air. The thing is, now that I've got the clear hose from the skimmer to the pump I can't see air moving through the pipe at all, so I don't think it's Dave causing the problem, I just think he's a casualty. DH wants to just forget about it and get a new pump, but I'm not ready to go there yet since it doesn't suck air unless a vac of some sort is hooked up.

BTW, have you been lucky enough to get any of the spotty rain yet? We got a few drops tonight, but nothing else for weeks. I'm so tired of looking at dead grass.

 

[matt4x4]

Karen,
as soon as you hook up a suction side cleaner you increase the suction pressure - meaning the pump works harder to pull the same amount of water into it.
This will immediately show you any air leak issues - in most cases it's in one of three places.
1. The gasket for your pump lid - try lubing it with pool (silicone based) lube - this is the problem in 80% of the cases
2. if your cleaner has the 3' sections of hose that interconnect, try connecting them tightly, not leaving those pesky 1/4" spaces because it's just too hard to push in, if it doesn't, try another hose, your hose may have a pinhole that's sucking air.
3. It could be a small leak at one of your connections, either at the pump or at the skimmer, try giving your clamps an etra little twist, sometimes that's all it takes. Some spray shaving cram on the connections and look for it to cave in, another way is to shut the pump off and look for moisture after about 1 hour - sometimes really hard to find.

 

[duraleigh]

Karen,

This is a sympathy post....mine does the same thing and I can't find it either. Here's the problem if you can just find the source.

As Matt said, when you hook up a vac or Dave (or in my case, Sharkey :lol: ), you are restricting the flow of water to your pump. You see a resultant loss of pressure at the filter because the pump can no longer push as much water into the filter as it would like.

It does create more negative pressure on pipes and valves all leading to the pump. Therefore, a tiny entry hole that normally wouldn't let any air in now will do so. I've check all my fittings, gasket, hose connections, etc. and can't find it. My last hope is to check where the stem on the ball valve enters the valve body to see if it's there.

One other thing you might check is almost all pump baskets have a drain plug (or two) near the bottom. If that's not sealed snugly with teflon tape, air can get in there. Mine's sealed but check yours out.

I'll post back when I solve this mystery......it's no big deal but it's making me nuts that I can't solve the issue.

 

[bestlandlord]

I had same problem 2 years ago. Had pool store rebuild pump even though he told me I probably had leaks still same problem. Ended up finding a few tiny leaks involving different spots including glue, clamp, teflon tape joints and lid seal. Very annoying and time consuming to locate. End result, at least for me, it was not pump and air in basket and poor vacuum performance stopped after leaks fixed.

 

[karenh]

Thanks for all your help guys! I've relubed that stupid o ring so many times I lost count. :lol: I also sprayed 1/2 can of shaving cream all over everything and nothing showed up. I also posted over on PS, and Waste suggested drilling holes in the vacuum plate and it worked like a charm. Apparantly Dave was stuck to the floor too hard to move around much. I knew it was going to be something simple. Dave is now happily swimming around freely. Thanks everyone for all their input.

And I definately appreciate the sympathy post. Things like this just drive me crazy and I just have to find out what is causing them.

Thanks again everybody!

 

[MikeInTN]

Hey Mike! I've burped him and anything else I can think of. I even blew out the hoses with him hooked on. (He didn't look like he liked it. LOL) It even does it when I've got the regular vac hooked up with a different hose. I've even hooked him up straight into the hole in the bottom of the skimmer without the basket and he still sucks air. The thing is, now that I've got the clear hose from the skimmer to the pump I can't see air moving through the pipe at all, so I don't think it's Dave causing the problem, I just think he's a casualty. DH wants to just forget about it and get a new pump, but I'm not ready to go there yet since it doesn't suck air unless a vac of some sort is hooked up.

BTW, have you been lucky enough to get any of the spotty rain yet? We got a few drops tonight, but nothing else for weeks. I'm so tired of looking at dead grass.

Hey Karen,

Glad to hear you got your problem fixed with Diver Dave. First time I tried to burp the bug, it just sat there in the pool (normally it'll come to the surface, and all of the air comes bubbling out); I ended up having to manually flip it over to get out some air that was trapped in the Bug itself. So ol' Dave was stuck to the bottom of the pool?? Dang! What size pump do you have??

We didn't get any of the rain earlier in the week, but we were lucky enough to get a decent shower yesterday. I'm with you on the "so tired of looking at dead grass". I told my DW that "if God wants my grass to grow, He'll water it". Evidently, God hates my grass.. :lol:

 

[karenh]

Hey Mike! I've burped him and anything else I can think of. I even blew out the hoses with him hooked on. (He didn't look like he liked it. LOL) It even does it when I've got the regular vac hooked up with a different hose. I've even hooked him up straight into the hole in the bottom of the skimmer without the basket and he still sucks air. The thing is, now that I've got the clear hose from the skimmer to the pump I can't see air moving through the pipe at all, so I don't think it's Dave causing the problem, I just think he's a casualty. DH wants to just forget about it and get a new pump, but I'm not ready to go there yet since it doesn't suck air unless a vac of some sort is hooked up.

BTW, have you been lucky enough to get any of the spotty rain yet? We got a few drops tonight, but nothing else for weeks. I'm so tired of looking at dead grass.

Hey Karen,

Glad to hear you got your problem fixed with Diver Dave. First time I tried to burp the bug, it just sat there in the pool (normally it'll come to the surface, and all of the air comes bubbling out); I ended up having to manually flip it over to get out some air that was trapped in the Bug itself. So ol' Dave was stuck to the bottom of the pool?? Dang! What size pump do you have??

We didn't get any of the rain earlier in the week, but we were lucky enough to get a decent shower yesterday. I'm with you on the "so tired of looking at dead grass". I told my DW that "if God wants my grass to grow, He'll water it". Evidently, God hates my grass.. :lol:

I've got a 1 1/2 hp pump. Definately stirs up this little 18' pool. Sometimes Dave pops up when I burp him and sometimes he just raises a little. According to how well I filled him with water first.

We got .5" of rain Friday, just enough to make the weeds grow. I'll admit I've been watering some (just around the pool area so it looks nice) Plus if we light the chiminea we won't set the neighborhood on fire. The front yard is gone, but I can't see it from the pool, so who cares. Looks like another dry hot week around here. Pool is at 92 deg. now, I think it's time to take up the solar panels.

 

[waste]

I knew this sounded familiar

 

[MikeInTN]

[

I've got a 1 1/2 hp pump. Definately stirs up this little 18' pool. Sometimes Dave pops up when I burp him and sometimes he just raises a little. According to how well I filled him with water first.

We got .5" of rain Friday, just enough to make the weeds grow. I'll admit I've been watering some (just around the pool area so it looks nice) Plus if we light the chiminea we won't set the neighborhood on fire. The front yard is gone, but I can't see it from the pool, so who cares. Looks like another dry hot week around here. Pool is at 92 deg. now, I think it's time to take up the solar panels.

Doh! There it is, right there in your sig, too. If it was a snake, it woulda bit me . I'd say that pump does stir up that "little" 18 footer, all right. I've decided to cut back on my pump size. I'm getting tired of subsidizing TVA.

The shower we got was just enough to wet the ground, too. Kept the dust down so I could mow the weeds. 92 degrees already?? Mine was at 86 this evening, so the blankie stays on for a little while longer.