Flow problem?

[twoandadog]

Hello! Thank you all so much for helping us learn all about our new pool. It was installed in January, and I have some questions about our equipment. I have a Hayward VSP. Typically it runs between 1600-2300 all the time. Even on 1600, it is enough to flow through the heater and the SWG with no issues. One question – when I look through the “window” of the basket, it is almost NEVER full of water. I clean it twice weekly, there is never much in it. But I read that it should always be full of water, so why isn’t it? I prime for a full 8 minutes each time I clean the basket.

Today, we noticed that both the heater and the SWG were showing NO FLOW errors. The pump was running at 1600. The skimmer basket at the pool didn’t have much in it, but we cleaned it. I removed the cover from the pump skimmer, cleaned the basket, turned the pump back on high, but we still had the errors. On the housing of the cartridge filter, there is a red valve that we can open to release air and water. We opened that valve, it took several minutes for water to start coming out, but then it only released water for maybe ten seconds, then it was air again. This cycle repeated several times.

Occasionally I can hear the pump “rev up” and the water in the window bubbles and the red valve releases water. When this happens, the heater stops showing the FLOw error, and the NO FLOW light on the SWG flashes. But, after a few seconds, the pump slows down again and both flow error lights return.

Can you please tell me how to fix this issue? Also, what is that blue water spigot at the top? I don’t think that was ever explained to us.

Thank you so much in advance for all your help!

Jennifer

 

[Jimrahbe]

Jennifer,

When did you last clean your filter???

The pump basket, not completely filling with water, when running at a low rpm, is pretty normal... In my mind, the key is does the air bubble under the pump lid keep getting bigger and bigger..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[PoolStored]

When was the last time that you cleaned the filter? I'd start with cleaning the filter. argh...Jimrahbe'd.
Can you also post a full set of current water test results to pool math?

 

[twoandadog]

Jennifer,

When did you last clean your filter???

The pump basket, not completely filling with water, when running at a low rpm, is pretty normal... In my mind, the key is does the air bubble under the pump lid keep getting bigger and bigger..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[twoandadog]

We haven’t cleaned it since the pool builder did it after they finished the concrete. Our gauge is still green so I didn’t think of it, but we’ll do it now, and test the water. By the way, does this gauge look right to you? Thank you!

 

[TinFoilHat]

Set the green on the running clean filter pressure at your higher speed (instead of zero), then set the red for 25% more than that beginning pressure. That's when you'll want to clean the filter.

 

[PoolStored]

There are two indicator level hands, red and green. The actual psi indicator is black and is behind the green indicator.
If this was taken while the pump was running, it does not look correct, you should get some PSI indication with the black hand when pump is running.
Was the pump running when you took this picture?.

 

[JamesW]

At full speed, the power should be at least 1,650 watts for a 1.65 hp pump.

Check the impeller to see if it is clogged.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Jen,

It may not be the filter, but logic says you need to eliminate the most obvious device first and see what happens.

Have you been vacuuming up leaves?? if so, another thing to look at would be a clogged impeller.

@JamesW Good catch.. I did not even notice that display...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JamesW]

Are the suction lines open?

Show the whole system.

Signs point to an impeller issue or a suction line obstruction.