pump and backwashing

[nick8403]

hi all, my pump is set to turn itself off after 1 minute of low flow, to prevent burn out. Whenever i backwash, my pump turns off after 1 minute, why is this?

Also, my sight glass on the filter is only half filled with water at all times, is this normal?

thankyou, appreciated.

 

[JasonLion]

When you are backwashing, the water is not flowing past the flow sensor, so the flow sensor thinks the pump has lost prime. One minute is too short a time for prime protection. If you are able to, you should set it to a longer time.

Having the sight glass only be half full is normal for some models.

 

[nick8403]

thanks for the speedy reply.

Another question if i may.

When i vacuum the pool with a vacuum head, my pump becomes quite hot. Not sure why this is. I vacuumed for 1 hour. After 10 mins, the jets weren't blowing as strong, the psi had risen and i continued to vacuum for another 45mins or so like this, and when i finished vacuuming i backwased (fixed psi and return jets issue). Pump was hot to the touch. Filter sounded different (needed to be backwashed i guess) during vacuuming and to be honest i don't know how the low flow wasn't triggered (looking at the water flow through the pumps cover lid).

 

[JasonLion]

Everything you describe is fairly normal. Vacuuming picks up debris, which clogs up both the filter and often the pump strainer basket as well. If you are vacuuming for an extended period of time you may well need to backwash and clean the pump strainer basket in the middle as well as at the end.