Newish pool owner with several issues.

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Poolflunky

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Jun 28, 2015
4
Louisville, KY
I've been reading and learned form you guys over the past two years. My wife and I purchased a house with an aging pool/equipment so it's been an uphill swim from the get-go. I've managed to do pretty well until things started to go south last week. We are currently in the process of laying new pavers over the existing pool deck so we did have fine brink dust enter the system. I placed a skimmer sock over in the inlet to prevent debris from entering the pump and cartridge. I have inspected and cleaned the filter twice in the past two weeks. Looks very clean with no signs of blockage. We also installed a brand new Hayward heater this season and paid a contractor to modify the plumbing. Everything seems to run fine after the initial install. We started having issues after construction started on the deck.

Symptoms: It is very difficult to achieve prime. I did last night but now the chambers will only fill to 3/4. I've checked for leaks and have reassembled the inlet plumbing several times. I don't see any cracks, leaks, etc. We replaced the strainer cover gasket last year. I've also vacuumed my skimmer inlet to see if I can pull out a blockage. I did pull out several small pieces of stone shavings, but nothing significant. Seems to be plenty of suction at the skimmer.

PSI at the filter is 22. That doesn't change.

My return jets will start out strong but will completely fizzle out within approximately two hours of pump use. I also use a hose to purge the line and everything seems to be wide open. Can't figure out why the jets slowly lose output when while pressure at the filter remains at 22psi.

My brand new heater is now showing a service light with "LO" which apparently mean limit string open. The heater goes into lockout. This has something to do with the pump not pushing enough pressure to flip the pump's pressure switch. After restart the heater will run for several hours before going back into lockout.

So...at this point I'm fresh out of ideas. The pump primed last night but I still lost pressure at the return jets. What the heck is going on!!!!!?

pH - 7.5
CL - 2
TC - 3.5
CH - 375
TA - 220
CYA - 70 (down from 185)

My numbers aren't awesome but I'm also dealing with a lot of construction debris and a lame pump. Tested with TF100 a hour ago.
 
hmmm, sounds like your filter is getting clogged with debris.. cart filters are the second best filter and that makes them fast at clearing and slowing down because its doing its job.... it also sounds like your pressure gauge may be going bad?? does it go to 0 when the pump is shut off? does it go to any other psi other than 20?
 
Hello Poolflunky. Curious to see your reply from Cowboycaseys' questions. But I also have a couple observations since you and I have somewhat similar pools.
- If you're losing prime, it most certainly has to be something on the suction side. Just make sure you've exhausted everything you see HERE.
- A reduction in return jets means either an underground leak (which is unlikely unless you see water seepage or loss of water) or an obstruction. With all of the construction you've had, it would make sense that an obstruction is strong possibility. Since you've cleaned the filter a couple times already, keep in mind that debris can make its way to the pumps impeller area. Sometimes you can disconnect power and make your way to the impeller area to confirm.

By any chance, does the eventual loss of prime correlate to the reduction of return jet power? Do they happen at the same time? Something to watch for I suppose. In any case, make sure you've exhausted everything on the suction side. Take one thing at a time (suction side versus pressure side). I do find it odd that things seemed to go south after the heater maintenance. That area may require more investigation if you don't find anything in the areas we've asked. Keep us posted, and good luck!
 
Alright friends, I had an "ah ha" moment and decided to dismantle all of the above ground plumbing. I took my flipped my vac into blow mode and blew into the skimmer intake and then into the return side to see if I would encounter any resistance. It took a long time to purge the return jets. I didn't see any debris come out but that doesn't mean it didn't. I also flushed out the heater plumbing, and put an old (but clean) cartridge filter in. I flushed the entire system with fresh water and discover more sentiment that I had anticipated. I'm fairly certain that the filter, although looks clean, was clogged up. There was probably a small obstruction down stream of the filter as well.

After I purge the system with the vac, flushed the system with fresh water, and replaced the cartridge the pump primed immediately and my jets are rockin again. Filter PSI is at 18-19 (the filter gauge is also brand new and returns to zero when turned off). I'm not going to celebrate just yet because I could still potentially lose jet output. I'll report back tomorrow either way. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to respond with your advice. It's much appreciated.
 
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