Just Like They Taught in Science Class..

[Jimrahbe]

Ok, I admit it, I'm an idiot! I'm rehabbing a house which has a pool. The water level was a little low so I threw a hose in the pool and turned it on. When I got ready to leave, I turned off the faucet, disconnected the hose, and put the freeze cover back on the faucet, leaving the other end of the hose in the pool. I suspect you know where this is going.. The hose became a siphon and drained about a foot of water out of the pool. Water level dropped below the skimmer level and the pump ran all night without any water.. (Idiot!!!) I discovered this tonight, but by the time I got the water level back up, it was too dark to see. I filled the basket back up and the pump spins and tries to prime, but I never got any pressure. I'll look at it again tomorrow, but my question is .. Does running a Hayward 1 HP, single speed super pump, with no water, automatically ruin it? If so, what should I expect when I open it up?

Thanks, Jim R.

 

[JasonLion]

The odds favor some pump damage after running for many hours without water, but damage is by no means certain. When the pump runs without water it gets hot. If left running dry long enough it will often get hot enough to start deforming the plastic. That tends to do things like make the seal between the pump and the lid of the pump strainer basket fail to seal together correctly. However, actual results vary from no effect at all to total loss of the pump.

Failure to prime is likely to be an air leak of some kind. The strainer basket lid is the obvious place to look, but there are other possibilities.

 

[JamesW]

Also, if the pump basket is noticeably deformed, then the MTAs going into and out of the pump are most likely slightly smaller due to shrinkage from the heat. That is another place to check for air leaks.

 

[Jimrahbe]

I guess I lucked out as I did not see any obvious deformities with the plastic. Turns out the pump basket O-ring was almost as hard as a rock. I lubed it and the pump primed. I'll get a new O-ring tomorrow. But... I think the pressure side threaded adapter may be leaking (more like oozing) at the threads as JamesW suggested. Hard to tell, because it was raining, so I'll check that later. The thing I found strange was that the equipment area smelled like Bleach. It never has before and the pool water itself does not have a bleach smell. Once it dries up, I'll look at it again.

Jim R.

 

[JVTrain]

Is there an automatic trichlor puck feeder inline at the pumping station? The only reason I can think of to have a bleach smell near the pumping station would be a chlorine feeder with a small leak in the nearby fittings or housing, leading to super chlorinated water dripping in the area, moreso when circulation is low or pump is off. A chlorinator should not be near the pump (plumbing-wise) but could be physically near the pump.

Good luck with the other fittings.

 

[Jimrahbe]

JV,

I only use bleach, no pucks, and there is no puck feeder. At the pad there is just the pump, DE filter, and filter valve. I only noticed the smell after the pump ran overnight with no water. FC was only 3.0. Smells like I just threw in a bag of shock, which I have not used in over a year.