Above ground Coleman pool, when hooking up vacuum, pump starts surging because of lower water level

[kmandeville]

Hi all,

I have a 22" above ground Coleman pool with the 2 inlet openings. One of those is the basic typical inlet with the cover over it that stops large things from being sucked in. The other is hooked up to my intex skimmer. I am using an intex sand filter/pump. The problem arises when I go to vacuum the pool with the basic intex vacuum. Instructions had said that I need to hook up the vacuum to one of the inlets and then block the other inlet with a stopper so that the vacuum is the only thing pulling in water. The problem is when doing this, I can see the pump starts surging because the water level seems too low in that filter basket in front of the pump. I have just figured that's what happens when I vacuum and I have to live with it. But today I started to worry that I could possibly be hurting the pump itself doing this. If I don't use the rubber stopper in the other inlet and just let it stay wide open, the vacuum doesn't get enough suction to actually do any good. I've tried using the stopper with the small hole in it that came with the intex skimmer that I use in the other inlet all the time so the skimmer actually works, but that still isn't letting enough water through to keep the water level high going to the pump.

Is there some other way I should be doing this? Is this something I need to worry about?

Any tips?

 

[Mdragger88]

You must be sure the entire hose is filled with water or else the pump will air lock. Submerge the vac head & hose slowly allowing air to escape from the other end of the hose until the entire length is under water & there are no more air bubbles. Then put your hand over the end of the hose (to prevent air from getting in) & connect it quickly to the inlet. You may need to bleed the air from your pump first as well.

 

[Mdragger88]

Some people also have success filling the hose with water from the jet until no more air bubbles are seen. Either way works

 

[kmandeville]

I definitely do the slowly submerging the hose a little at a time so it is fully submerged before starting. But after hooking it up and while vacuuming the hose will start to float to the surface. I'm not sure where the air is getting in. The vacuum is still working. Could it possibly be coming from the other inlet? The two inlets are connected at a T shaped connector before heading into the pump.

I also can't use the jet because my jet has an aerator attached on it.

What do you mean by bleeding air out of my pump?

 

[Tcadwall0]

I had this when I had an intex pool. The lack of flow would cause the cheap plastic hose clamps to allow air to suck in.

You are on the right path to what worked for me. The stopper with the hole is the start. You have to play with it. Drill another hole in that one. ... and another, until you meet a balance, of not sucking air, but still having enough vac suction. Hope this works for you like it did for me.

 

[Mdragger88]

For what it’s worth - when i had that type of pool I almost never hooked the vac up to the pump because the pressure would always collapse the pool hoses or starve the pump. I would just usually siphon vac. Fill the hose as mentioned above & then throw it over the side of the pool to the ground creating a siphon.
I had a large clip in place to keep all the hose from going outside the pool while vacuuming.