Hello All,
My 18' Above ground pool has a slightly annoying problem that I'm sure makes keeping my pool clean harder than it should be.
I have a Hayward 1.5HP pump that is plenty strong to move water, but here's my issue.
The filter is DE, I'm not sure of make/model at this moment, and at the beginning of the year had a full cleaning since I had it disassembled for the winter.
The filter itself is a little weird in the since it doesn't have a handle where I can vacuum to waste, backwash, etc. Just a drain plug coming out of the bottom, an air valve on the top, and a 3" "bump" handle that moves the grid back about 2" in either direction, which I suppose is to break up gunk inside.
If I "bump" the filter a bunch of times while the pump is off, and then turn it on the flow out of the return is very high pressure, enough to disturb the surface of the water pretty good, and I like that. After a few minutes the flow gets slowed down dramatically, which makes vacuuming the pool using the skimmer useless, so I vacuum it over the side, not desirable since I have to top up the pool after. I did have one of the PVC pipes burst off in between the pump/filter earlier this year, I simply pressed it back on and haven't had that issue again. My PSI readings are always normal, I don't get an increase in PSI at the filter that would suspect a blockage or clogged up media. Every time I bump the filter with the pump off and turn it back on its back to normal for a few minutes. I currently don't have the little flap on the skimmer basket installed, since that gets stuck on the gaskets from time to time and causes the water not to get sucked in by the skimmer. I also leave the top cover for the skimmer basket on the outside of the pool off since I would like to see if a toy or branch gets stuck in there.
I've read about a possible air leak somewhere, should I hit all of the joints with some silicone to stop that?
Is there anything else easy I'm missing? There are no blockages in the PVC pipes, and I recently had to disconnect my solar heater because it was leaking. The pump basket is also clear and there is only an air bubble in the pump basket housing the size of a half dollar, is that too large?
tl;dr: My return line starts off with great flow and pressure, but after a few minutes tapers down to a slow, useless flow that wastes electricity and doesn't move the water much.
My 18' Above ground pool has a slightly annoying problem that I'm sure makes keeping my pool clean harder than it should be.
I have a Hayward 1.5HP pump that is plenty strong to move water, but here's my issue.
The filter is DE, I'm not sure of make/model at this moment, and at the beginning of the year had a full cleaning since I had it disassembled for the winter.
The filter itself is a little weird in the since it doesn't have a handle where I can vacuum to waste, backwash, etc. Just a drain plug coming out of the bottom, an air valve on the top, and a 3" "bump" handle that moves the grid back about 2" in either direction, which I suppose is to break up gunk inside.
If I "bump" the filter a bunch of times while the pump is off, and then turn it on the flow out of the return is very high pressure, enough to disturb the surface of the water pretty good, and I like that. After a few minutes the flow gets slowed down dramatically, which makes vacuuming the pool using the skimmer useless, so I vacuum it over the side, not desirable since I have to top up the pool after. I did have one of the PVC pipes burst off in between the pump/filter earlier this year, I simply pressed it back on and haven't had that issue again. My PSI readings are always normal, I don't get an increase in PSI at the filter that would suspect a blockage or clogged up media. Every time I bump the filter with the pump off and turn it back on its back to normal for a few minutes. I currently don't have the little flap on the skimmer basket installed, since that gets stuck on the gaskets from time to time and causes the water not to get sucked in by the skimmer. I also leave the top cover for the skimmer basket on the outside of the pool off since I would like to see if a toy or branch gets stuck in there.
I've read about a possible air leak somewhere, should I hit all of the joints with some silicone to stop that?
Is there anything else easy I'm missing? There are no blockages in the PVC pipes, and I recently had to disconnect my solar heater because it was leaking. The pump basket is also clear and there is only an air bubble in the pump basket housing the size of a half dollar, is that too large?
tl;dr: My return line starts off with great flow and pressure, but after a few minutes tapers down to a slow, useless flow that wastes electricity and doesn't move the water much.
