Gustav messed up my pool

[teppy]

Hi,
I am finally able to log on to my computer since being hit by Gustav on Monday. Its been a real pain in the _ss trying to clean up without power. We are running on a generator and we now finally have internet back up just now along with cell phone service. So, I will be able to use my computer at times now.

I guess I don't have to tell anyone here that my pool is green. Yesterday, we were able to get out there and scoop about 80-100 lbs. of leaves out. We also connected the pump and polaris to the generator. We have a 1.5 hp pentair pump. The generator is 5200 watts and the pump does not seem to run at full power. We have everything else off while we are running the pool pump, but its just not going at full speed. This thing must really use alot of power. I was hoping that maybe someone could tell me if this seems normal or not and whether we might be hurting it in any way by running it on a generator. Would it be better to wait until our power is restored? They say it could be a month. I know that in a month my pool with have nasty stuff growing in it. The chemical numbers are good. I checked everthing yesterday. My chlorine was a little low, but I added my bleach. My ph was at 7.5, alk-60(this is where I keep it normally), my CH was 265, and the CYA was actually helped out alot, it was 60. Yeah! Thats the only good thing that Gustav did was to dilute my water some. It was reading at 90. My pool overflowed quite a bit.

All of the leaves are out, and the water is clear, but its just a green color. We will try to run the pump everyday or so for atleast an hour unless someone here can tell me that I will ruin my pump by doing this since its not running at full speed. Its not getting enough psi. Its at about half where it normally runs. I have a sand filter is that means anything. Thanks.
Stephanie

 

[xjrguy]

Is that 5200 watts peak output or nominal for the generator? Is this a little gas or diesel job or connected to the mains of your home?

1HP is around 865 watts, so 1.5 should be around 1300 watts give or take. (someone please correct me if I am wrong here)

How exactly do you have the pump connected to the generator? I think that may be the key here.

 

[ronniem]

for what it is worth I live in Patterson and know what your dealing with being in it myself.
I do not know if the borates made a diff. but my water is clear as could be even after the hurricane.
My FC level went down but I brought it to shock level for one night and no CC. I did not have any CC before the shock either. I think the borates are helping from what I can tell.
My 1.5hp would not run on my genny either and I have a 5600watt, but i was back feeding my house at the time i tried to run the pump.
It should run the pump with nothing else hooked up though.
Good luck and I hope everything gets back to normal for yall

 

[teppy]

OK, I thought it was the generator not putting out enough power, but I know for a fact now that its not the problem. By the grace of the power companies, local and out of state, God bless them all, we now have power back. My pump is still not running right. It runs, but not at full strength. It won't pump water to my sheer descent. It is pumping though. I can feel it coming from the returns. The psi is not at what is normally is. I don't know if when we turned on the pump, somthing went down into the drain and its partially clogged or what. My skimmer basket is clean at the pump and the skimmer. My filter has been backwashed. Now, here is a possiblity of where I messed up. When I first turned my pump on, I had to drain some water because it was overflowing. I thought I had the filter on waste, but it was on backwash. Could this have done it? It was only for about 20 minutes.

I would really appreciate any advice on what to do here and what to check.
Thanks.
Stephanie

 

[JasonLion]

Low filter pressure usually means blockage on the suction side. The first places to check are the skimmer basket(s) and the pump strainer basket. Also check any valves that might have gotten turned off by accident. The next thing to try is a drain king put into the suction pipe behind the pump strainer basket. That should blow anything blocking the pipe back towards the skimmer.

 

[teppy]

we found the problem somehow some small leaf pieces made past the skimmer pot basket to the impellar all is good now Internet is down I'm using my iPhone lots of power is still down and now ike is coming into the gulf I've got to go and get more food and supplies again

Thanks for the replies