Half of pool jets working

[Mgvandewark]

Today the electricians hooked up our Hayward pump. Plaster was finished on Sunday, but the electricians couldn’t be here until today. Our PB dumped Muriatic acid in yesterday and said the plaster would be fine until the pump is turned on. Fast forward to today and the pump is working, but I only see/feel half of the pool jets working. 3 of the jets on the left hand side are not circulating water. Are some jets on a timer and rotate on which one goes on? Or is this a problem with my pump? We have not had “pool school” yet and we have never owned a pool. Any advice is appreciated. We just want to make sure our water is being filtered properly because we upgraded our plaster and for us, we spent a lot of money on the finish.

 

[mknauss]

You have one pump that does not appear to have a path through the filter or heater. Why is that?

All the valves appear to be open.

Try starting the second pump and see what that does.

 

[Mgvandewark]

The pump not going through the filter is the pump for the waterfall and slide. That’s the other problem. When we fill with water, and turn on the switch, it sucks the water out and won’t turn on. We must be doing something wrong but we have no idea what!

 

[mknauss]

Partially close the valve so the spa does not get so much flow. That may direct more flow the pool returns.

 

[Mgvandewark]

Partially close the valve so the spa does not get so much flow. That may direct more flow the pool returns.

Ok. Trying that now. Thank you!

Any suggestion on why the other pump (waterfall & slide) just sucks the water out of the pump instead of turning on like the other pump to our pool?

 

[mknauss]

You have no valve on the suction side on the features pump so I suspect it just needs to prime. Also one of the return lines on that pump is closed.

 

[Mgvandewark]

You have no valve on the suction side on the features pump so I suspect it just needs to prime. Also one of the return lines on that pump is closed.

I tried to partially close the valve to the spa but no luck. Those 3 jets just will not work. Is it possible that I have a rock or something blocking the pipe? If so, how can I get that out? Also, how do I prime the water feature pump? I opened the lid and added water to the pump, but it still just sucks out all the water when I flip the switch to turn it on. Sorry for so many questions. Out PB is not returning our calls and the service guy has not come out AGAIN!

 

[mknauss]

On the return side of the non-feature pump you have two pool return lines. I assume one goes to a set of pool returns and the other to another set of pool returns. Close one of them and see what happens.

Look at the paddle of the valve opposite the handle. It should say OFF or CLOSED. The direction that paddle is pointing is what is off.

How long are you letting the feature pump run to prime? Let it run a couple minutes and see if it pulls some water. I assume it pulls water from the pool near the features?

 

[Mgvandewark]

On the return side of the non-feature pump you have two pool return lines. I assume one goes to a set of pool returns and the other to another set of pool returns. Close one of them and see what happens.

Look at the paddle of the valve opposite the handle. It should say OFF or CLOSED. The direction that paddle is pointing is what is off.

How long are you letting the feature pump run to prime? Let it run a couple minutes and see if it pulls some water. I assume it pulls water from the pool near the features?

 

[Mgvandewark]

On the return side of the non-feature pump you have two pool return lines. I assume one goes to a set of pool returns and the other to another set of pool returns. Close one of them and see what happens.

Look at the paddle of the valve opposite the handle. It should say OFF or CLOSED. The direction that paddle is pointing is what is off.

How long are you letting the feature pump run to prime? Let it run a couple minutes and see if it pulls some water. I assume it pulls water from the pool near the features?

The line circled in red is the skimmer, which is turned off. Are you talking about closing one of the two pipes circled in yellow?

 

[Mgvandewark]

The line circled in red is the skimmer, which is turned off. Are you talking about closing one of the two pipes circled in yellow?

 

[mknauss]

No, those are all suction side. I am talking about the return side, your non-feature pump.

 

[crusemm]

On your non feature pump, take the handle at the top (the tee connection) and turn the handle until it points most of the way right, this should cut off almost all of the flow to the spa, and force more water to the returns. If this does not fix it, turn one of the pair of handles on the right until it will not turn anymore, this should force all flow through the other set of returns. If this does not fix it, open that one and close the other one.

 

[Mgvandewark]

On the return side of the non-feature pump you have two pool return lines. I assume one goes to a set of pool returns and the other to another set of pool returns. Close one of them and see what happens.

Look at the paddle of the valve opposite the handle. It should say OFF or CLOSED. The direction that paddle is pointing is what is off.

How long are you letting the feature pump run to prime? Let it run a couple minutes and see if it pulls some water. I assume it pulls water from the pool near the features?

So I let it run for about 5 minutes and. I water came back in the basket. The waterfall and slide still had water coming out though. I filled my pool up again in case the water was low, but nothing. The O ring is brand new and seems to be sealed on. And the kid is super tight on the pump. I’m wondering if it is a problem with the underground pipes. I really hope this isn’t the case. But why does the waterfall and slide still have water coming down when the basket is empty?

 

[mknauss]

If water is coming out of the waterfall and slide then the feature pump is pumping water. Is there a lot of air with the water at the waterfall?