Vacuuming leaves without skimmer basket! Help!

[Jcgage0]

Think I made a big mistake. I vacuumed a lot of leaves through the skimmer Vac with no skimmer basket in place! The pump basket was in and filled completely with leaves with a few floaters in the water once I pulled the pump basket out for cleaning. The pump was running at 35 psi and hot. It primed but didn't seem to evacuate all the air. I tried to backwash and lost prime. I'm hearing more water noise up in the valve area of the sand filter. Currently letting the pump cool off so I don't burn it out.

Any advice on what to do next?

 

[duraleigh]

I would try it again in an hour or so.

Make sure your system is back together and you have no suction side air leaks (which is the cause of air in the pump strainer basket).

If it primes, you're good to go. If it does not, you have to track down that suction side leak......pay particular attention to the lid.

 

[JasonLion]

Getting blocked like that will cause the pump to overheat. If you catch it quickly enough there shouldn't be any problem. But if it went on for a while the pump body might have gotten hot enough to deform. In particular, check the pump strainer basket lid and make sure the top of the pump body where the lid seal press down is still flat and the two pieces still join up correctly. Also, take a look at the drain plugs and make sure they are still attached and seal correctly.

After giving the pump some time to cool down, try again, looking for places that air might be getting into the pump.