Hello! I am a fairly new and somewhat inexperienced pool owner. Our pool was built in the mid-80s; I don't know the last time there was an overhaul on the equipment.
Problem
Currently, I have next to no water coming into my pump and the pressure gauge at zero. A dribble of water comes out if I try to backwash the filter. No water coming out of the jets and no water sucking in the skimmer.
Description of Problem
We had a pool company open our pool. They told us we needed a new pump because our pump would not prime. The pump was pretty old so that seemed reasonable. I bought a new two-speed pump (I want a VS pump but that was not in the budget currently) and as we were preparing for installation, we noticed the lines were still plugged and the valves were not opened during the opening. We then opened all the lines and turned on the old pump, which started right up and was seemingly running fine. The next morning, the flow from the jets seemed weak. I tried to backwash the filter but nothing seemed to happen. I turned the filter back into position but there was zero pressure, nothing was coming in from the skimmer, nothing was coming out of the jets, and little to no water was flowing in.
We then decided to go ahead and install the new pump since the other one was so old. We got it installed, turned it on, and everything was running fine. The pressure was at 10 psi, the jets were flowing nicely with no bubbles, and the skimmer was flowing properly. Then a few hours later we noticed bubbles coming from one jet and nothing from the other one. I turned the pump off and back on. The same thing as before happened - no pressure, no water flow, no movement.
What I have tried
From everything I read, it seems like there could be a blockage in the skimmer line. I got a rubber bladder and inserted it into the line running from the pool to the pump and closed the valve to the main drain. I let that water flow for quite some time on a couple of different occasions. I saw some tiny debris coming up through the skimmer but it was not significant. I also tried alternating between flowing water with the bladder and then turning the pump on to see if that would lodge any potential blockage loose. I still had very little water flow and zero pressure. Also, just to be sure, we replaced the pressure gauge.
Other information
Next
The owner of the pool company that botched our opening has reached out to apologize. I think I am going to ask for his assistance with this issue but I want to make sure I am as educated as possible. In our short time owning a pool we have not had great luck with pool companies. I was hoping to get some advice from people who know more than me.
Thank you for reading my very long post!
Problem
Currently, I have next to no water coming into my pump and the pressure gauge at zero. A dribble of water comes out if I try to backwash the filter. No water coming out of the jets and no water sucking in the skimmer.
Description of Problem
We had a pool company open our pool. They told us we needed a new pump because our pump would not prime. The pump was pretty old so that seemed reasonable. I bought a new two-speed pump (I want a VS pump but that was not in the budget currently) and as we were preparing for installation, we noticed the lines were still plugged and the valves were not opened during the opening. We then opened all the lines and turned on the old pump, which started right up and was seemingly running fine. The next morning, the flow from the jets seemed weak. I tried to backwash the filter but nothing seemed to happen. I turned the filter back into position but there was zero pressure, nothing was coming in from the skimmer, nothing was coming out of the jets, and little to no water was flowing in.
We then decided to go ahead and install the new pump since the other one was so old. We got it installed, turned it on, and everything was running fine. The pressure was at 10 psi, the jets were flowing nicely with no bubbles, and the skimmer was flowing properly. Then a few hours later we noticed bubbles coming from one jet and nothing from the other one. I turned the pump off and back on. The same thing as before happened - no pressure, no water flow, no movement.
What I have tried
From everything I read, it seems like there could be a blockage in the skimmer line. I got a rubber bladder and inserted it into the line running from the pool to the pump and closed the valve to the main drain. I let that water flow for quite some time on a couple of different occasions. I saw some tiny debris coming up through the skimmer but it was not significant. I also tried alternating between flowing water with the bladder and then turning the pump on to see if that would lodge any potential blockage loose. I still had very little water flow and zero pressure. Also, just to be sure, we replaced the pressure gauge.
Other information
- The water level has pretty much not moved.
- I believe I messed up last year when vacuuming the pool in preparation for closing. I vacuumed a lot of leaves but did not use a vacuum plate. I didn't even know such a thing existed until I started trying to troubleshoot these issues. Therefore, a blockage seems very logical to me because of my vacuum mistake.
Next
The owner of the pool company that botched our opening has reached out to apologize. I think I am going to ask for his assistance with this issue but I want to make sure I am as educated as possible. In our short time owning a pool we have not had great luck with pool companies. I was hoping to get some advice from people who know more than me.
Thank you for reading my very long post!
