Intex Sand filter pump not holding prime.

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T

tmurphy

0
Jun 16, 2014
57
Uxbridge Ontario
Pump works great as long as it is on, if I shut it down for even a second the leaf basket fills with enough air that it can't prime itself and it pumps nothing when it starts back up unless I let the air out of the top of the basket before I turn it back on.
Problem is... I can't exactly put it in timer mode like this. As soon as it goes off it fills with air and if it comes on the next day like that I'm afraid I'll forget about it and the **** thing will burn itself out.
I only run it for 4 hours a day as we have a small pool (14'x42") and I got the big filter (28651EG, 3000gph, 16", .95hp)
It worked flawlessly last season..... and I don't see any leaks anywhere...

Any idea what the issue is or could be?
 
Before I put my thruwall skimmer in I would occasionally have this problem.

Are you cleaning the leaf basket on the filter right after it runs and before it starts up again? I noticed that if I did this the vacuum (or whatever) inside the entire system would be broken and the next time the filter fired up I would have this issue.

If you are doing this, after cleaning the basket, start the filter while you are standing there. Once the filter is primed again, then just shut it down and back into timer mode.
 
Pump is not elevated at all, maybe 4 inches on the platform I built. Same one I used last year.
I do not open the system at all.
I can literally hit the switch from on mode and switch it off and then to timer mode and it has already filled with enough air that it won't prime.

This is probably going to sound ridiculous ( I am new to sand filters!) I back washed and drained the water out of the filter at the end of the season last year to store the pump and filter inside. I assumed it was just ready to go and as I said if I bleed the air from the bleeder on top of the leaf basket before I turn it on it works fine.
I figured it was ready to go at the beginning of the season and didn't backwash, just turned it on. Could that be the problem?
 
Well, I went out this morning to check on it because I had put it in timer mode last night and didn't want it coming on tonight not properly primed and the basket is full of water.
So whatever was causing to happen has stopped! I'll keep an eye on it for a while and make sure it is truly gone.... now if it would just warm back up!
62 degrees...... brrrrrrrrrr :(
 

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