Air in the pump?

[tjschaefer89]

This might be a dumb question, but is there supposed to be air in the pump basket? I've attached a picture to show what I mean, but it's hard to see. There appears to be a sizable air pocket now instead of water being flush with the top lid.
Previously, this air was not present, but it seems to have started I think after I cleaned out the basket. The O-ring looks good and was freshly lubricated. There are no leaks that I can see.
Not sure if it's a related issue, but my pop ups don't appear to be popping up anymore either, so I'm worried pressure may be an issue. I recently cleaned the cartridge filter and the pressure gauge is about 35 when the pump is running.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jimrahbe]

89,

A filter pressure on a clean filter of 35 is very high.. Filter pressure is backwards to what most people think.. High pressure does not mean the pump is really good, it means that the pump can't push water through the filter like it should. High filter pressure means low flow and this is why your pop-ups don't work..

Either your cartridge's are bad, or you did something wrong when putting things back together..

Did you just rinse the cartridge off or did you soak them in some chemical???

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[tjschaefer89]

I rinsed them off with a hose, no chemicals involved. I put everything back the way it was, at least I think I did. I could take it back apart tomorrow and check. How do I know if the cartridges are bad?

 

[Jimrahbe]

89,

Cartridge should last 8 to 10 years.. How old are yours???

One quick test is to run the filter without the cartridge installed, and see what happens.. If everything starts working again you will know that the cartridges are bad, or that something did not get installed correctly.. To be honest, I don't know how you could put the cartridges in wrong, but we have see plenty of "you won't believe it" things that have happened...

Other than the cartridges, you need to make sure that all the valves are where they should be.. Maybe you shut a valve off and forgot to turn it back on.. It happens.

I assume that you do not have wall returns on your pool, and that everything comes through your In-floor system.. If so, if the IFCS is bad or plugged up, it can cause the filter pressure to be really high.. I don't know much about IFCS but my understanding is that they have a screen inside the control head that can get clogged up. Just something else to look at.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[tjschaefer89]

They are probably around the 8 year mark, so that could be it. Although, to my untrained eye, they don't appear to be falling apart or anything and withstood a good hose-down with the high pressure setting well.

I rechecked all the valves and tinkered with them and I didn't see anything wrong there.

I do have both wall returns and an IFCS, if that makes any difference?

 

[Jimrahbe]

89,

I'd run without the cartridges, before I bought new cartridges.. Just to make sure..

As a test, can you shut off the IFCS, and just use the wall returns?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[tjschaefer89]

Just to clarify and make sure I'm doing this correctly, take all the cartridges out and reclose the shell empty and run it?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Yes...

Obviously, you don't leave it that way.. You are just trying to see if the high filter pressure goes away.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[tjschaefer89]

Great, thank you, ill give it a shot

 

[tjschaefer89]

Some updates:

First off, thank you for your continued help, I greatly appreciate it!

I opened up the cartridge filter and took it apart again. With the cartridges removed, I started the system again and everything ran much better, pressure was around 10-12, and no air in the pump basket. I took a closer look at my cartridges and noticed that between the folds was a lot of built up gunk. I took my hose to it, but I don't know how I'd be able to get it all off, so it may be time to just replace them. 8 cartridges won't be cheap, but unless there is a more efficient way to clean them out, I think that's the plan. I attached a picture for reference.

I also noticed a small outlet elbow O-ring was missing (thank you to Inyopools for making the part lookup much simpler). I know for a fact that it was there when I put the filter back together last time because I had just replaced it. I'm a little concerned it's now somewhere in the plumbing, but I don't know how to locate it. I checked all around the ground to no avail, so I don't know where it could be. Luckily I had another one lying around, so I replaced it again before putting the assembly back together. I've attached a picture of that as well.

I'm going to start shopping around for cartridges, but I'll keep checking this thread and hopefully provide an update when all is fixed.

Thank you again for your help