Difficulty with priming - architecture issue & old plumbing

[atxdatta]

Hello Pool friends,

I am struggingling with my pool a lot of the past few seasons and seeking advice. Its really hard to find competent pool professionals in my area, most of them appear to know less than I do, so reaching out to wisdom of this community for help before I decide to pour concrete in to the poo! (just kidding, I think)

My situation:

• Pool & Spa, single pump, pentair challenger 1.5HP motor; motor is about 1 year old, impeller / plate about 7 years, the housing is 20 years old. Housing does not have cracks though
• Pool water level is about is about 3 feet lower than pump, SPA is about 1 foot lower
• Intake is form pool skimmer & main drain, but I can use a valve to change it to come from SPA manual
• Priming currently only works if I do it from SPA and then change to Pool - takes a couple of tries, but works consistently

Seeking recommendations:

• Option 1: move all the equipment to pool level or perhaps a little lower. Expensive but open to it.
• Option 2: go deeper at the current location by 2 feet, redo all plumbing
• Option 2: Just redo plumbing to get elimiate air leaks , replace seals / impeller on the pump
• Option 3: Please help - is there another option? Replace pump completely with something that can work?

This has been an ongoing battle for the past 20 years. I can patch it up, it's good for 2-3 years, and something new happens. I am really tempted to do either (1) or (2) to fix the "architecture" problem of water line below pump, but the cost and hassle is an concern.

 

[HermanTX]

Thanks for submitting this challenge. Hopefully some others will jump in as well.
Could you show a picture of the current equipment pad? Do you have a check valve in the suction side to try to hold some water in the plumbing to make it easier to prime?
Many pumps can work against a 3-4 ft elevation head. Just need to find the right one. And if you replacing a pump then go with a Variable Speed.

Asking @ajw22 @Jimrahbe @AQUA~HOLICS @mas985 to look at this for you.

 

[Jimrahbe]

A,

The pump should not have an issue sucking water up three or four feet.

You just have an air leak somewhere in the line..

How far away from the pool water is the pool??

Show us several pics of your equipment pad as well as a couple of your pool/spa,

Based on the pics we might be able to come up with some ideas.

Question for you.. When you shut off the pump, does any water squirt out from under the pump lid??

Did the pump freeze up during the last couple of "ice ages" we have recently had here in Texas???



Thanks,

Jim R.