Hello everyone,
I'm new to the forum and I hope someone can help me. Apologies in advance for the long post but my problem has a lot of moving parts (pun intended). I have an 11,500 in-ground pool in Phoenix, salt water system, cartridge filters. Let me describe what I've done recently and see if you have ideas as to what's wrong:
- My pool system had three leaf traps: the skimmer on the side of the pool, a leaf trap before the pump, and the leaf trap that's part of the pump/motor housing. The leaf trap before the pump (not the one that's part of the pump/motor housing) cracked and was leaking so I decided to remove it rather than replace it because I couldn't afford a new one at the time. The local Leslie's employee told me they usually remove those extra traps rather than replace them; his confidence gave me confidence to remove it, which I did. Now, where the leaf trap used to be, there is PVC pipe that connects the pump/motor housing to the rest of the system (and it's below the suction port of the pump).
- At the same time as the leaf trap failure, the gears in my 6-port module (which controls the popups) needed to be replaced, which I did. They spun freely with no obstructions.
- Everything worked fine for about a week until the motherboard on my 2hp motor fried. I replaced the motherboard and reinstalled the same motor. I also replaced all gaskets and the wiring harness (the old harness had cracked sheathing which may have contributed to the motherboard failure).
- At that point, everything worked fine again for a few days but then I noticed that the cartridge filter tank pressure, which normally runs between 20-22psi, shot up to 33-35psi and held firm at that higher pressure. I replaced the rest of the gaskets to be safe, and I even replaced my cartridge filters (it was time for new ones anyway) in the hopes this would solve the problem. No joy - the pressure is still 33-35psi but here's where it gets weird.
- I took everything apart, put it back together and turned the system back on. For 3-4 minutes the system was running at 20-22psi and the impeller in the 6-port module was merrily spinning along. After those first 3-4 minutes, I noticed that both the impeller stopped spinning in the 6-port module *and* the pressure in the filter tank jumped back up to 33-35psi - these happened simultaneously. I assume they are related but have no idea how... I thought the impeller stops spinning when pressure drops, not rises. I could be completely wrong.
- Oh, and I just noticed tonight that I have a drip coming from the 3-way valve that controls the water feature. Not sure if this affects anything described above but figured I'd give full disclosure on everything.
Does anyone know what's going on here? Is the removal of the leaf trap the cause for all my troubles or could it be something else? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
I'm new to the forum and I hope someone can help me. Apologies in advance for the long post but my problem has a lot of moving parts (pun intended). I have an 11,500 in-ground pool in Phoenix, salt water system, cartridge filters. Let me describe what I've done recently and see if you have ideas as to what's wrong:
- My pool system had three leaf traps: the skimmer on the side of the pool, a leaf trap before the pump, and the leaf trap that's part of the pump/motor housing. The leaf trap before the pump (not the one that's part of the pump/motor housing) cracked and was leaking so I decided to remove it rather than replace it because I couldn't afford a new one at the time. The local Leslie's employee told me they usually remove those extra traps rather than replace them; his confidence gave me confidence to remove it, which I did. Now, where the leaf trap used to be, there is PVC pipe that connects the pump/motor housing to the rest of the system (and it's below the suction port of the pump).
- At the same time as the leaf trap failure, the gears in my 6-port module (which controls the popups) needed to be replaced, which I did. They spun freely with no obstructions.
- Everything worked fine for about a week until the motherboard on my 2hp motor fried. I replaced the motherboard and reinstalled the same motor. I also replaced all gaskets and the wiring harness (the old harness had cracked sheathing which may have contributed to the motherboard failure).
- At that point, everything worked fine again for a few days but then I noticed that the cartridge filter tank pressure, which normally runs between 20-22psi, shot up to 33-35psi and held firm at that higher pressure. I replaced the rest of the gaskets to be safe, and I even replaced my cartridge filters (it was time for new ones anyway) in the hopes this would solve the problem. No joy - the pressure is still 33-35psi but here's where it gets weird.
- I took everything apart, put it back together and turned the system back on. For 3-4 minutes the system was running at 20-22psi and the impeller in the 6-port module was merrily spinning along. After those first 3-4 minutes, I noticed that both the impeller stopped spinning in the 6-port module *and* the pressure in the filter tank jumped back up to 33-35psi - these happened simultaneously. I assume they are related but have no idea how... I thought the impeller stops spinning when pressure drops, not rises. I could be completely wrong.
- Oh, and I just noticed tonight that I have a drip coming from the 3-way valve that controls the water feature. Not sure if this affects anything described above but figured I'd give full disclosure on everything.
Does anyone know what's going on here? Is the removal of the leaf trap the cause for all my troubles or could it be something else? Any advice is greatly appreciated!