Help! Husband deployed, pump not working right???
- Thread starter seeberger
- Start date
I think the filter is okay ... it was removed and cleaned when the pool was closed last year. I did try running a garden hose through the skimmer hole and was shocked that no water came out of the pump basket. Shouldn't water run out of the pump basket when a hose is put in the skimmer hole? I also had a spray attachment on the hose to make it come out faster. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I actually have two skimmers ... one in the deep end with two holes (one for the main drain in the bottom of the pool) and one in the shallow end with only one hole. They come together somewhere and go up to the pump with one line. I'm sorry I have no idea what cavitation means?? Oh ... yes, I do have a pool heater. Could the heater be causing a problem?
Yes water should flow as long as you were not loosing the pressure at the skimmer or if they are all plumed together as you said then it could flow out the other skimmer or main. Try the hose at the filter basket as I mentioned.
Yes a heater can cause an issue. if your heater is plumed to always be in line for the flow of water ( its on the output pressure side) inside some (not sure if it is in all or not) heaters there is a temp actuated (mine is based on a spring that expands) device that diverts water to bypass the heater core. They get old, like everything else, and can fail or get stuck. If it is stuck then your pump would essentially have a clog on the output side and that can cause back pressure. look for a valve that will let you bypass the heater and see if the problem goes away.
Cavitation is that situation you described with air in the pump basket, the air prevents the proper flow of pressurized water. and you get a pulsating series of surges.
Yes a heater can cause an issue. if your heater is plumed to always be in line for the flow of water ( its on the output pressure side) inside some (not sure if it is in all or not) heaters there is a temp actuated (mine is based on a spring that expands) device that diverts water to bypass the heater core. They get old, like everything else, and can fail or get stuck. If it is stuck then your pump would essentially have a clog on the output side and that can cause back pressure. look for a valve that will let you bypass the heater and see if the problem goes away.
Cavitation is that situation you described with air in the pump basket, the air prevents the proper flow of pressurized water. and you get a pulsating series of surges.
Just a couple more thoughts after pulling more hair out today ... when I close the skimmer door in the deep end, it doesn't make that swirling vortex of water down the line like it used to (it's very faint). Also, the shallow end water inlet shooting water back into the pool seems to have waaaay more pressure than it should. Could this be explained by a clog? I checked the heater and unfortunately there is not a valve to by-pass it.
seeberger said:
No vortex could indicate a clog (as a result of less suction) . Does the shallow end skimmer still have vortex? If so then that might indicate the likelihood of some object in the deep skimmer (toy or stone etc) look down the hole under the basket to see if any obstruction is visible. Have you run the hose from the pump side yet? if there is a clog and you are lucky it might flush it out in reverse. You might have to stuff some rag or a plug in the shallow skimmer to keep the pressure up when using the hose.
As for the strong pressure on the pool inlet that is often stronger closer to the pump source. You can remove the inlet "eye ball" at the other locations and see if any crud is lodged inside. Do they all feel like water is coming out OK?
Well, today I ran the hose in reverse from the pump basket and also plugged the shallow skimmer (thank you for that suggestion). Water just ran backwards, so I'm pretty sure that's where the clog is. I eventually did get some water flowing through and afterwards the pump seems to run fine ... my only concern is that nothing came out like a blob of leaves/dirt/toy or anything? Would I expect to see something come out of the other skimmer hole or the drain if I dislodged a clog?
Well if it is now running fine that is cool. However, the issue could return or not over time. if the "clog" was small stuff like clumped DE then it could fall apart and you will never see it again. If it were leaves and crud then it could brake up with the reverse flow and then the dislodged junk could end up in the pump basket after it sucks it all up. Or worst case you only dislodged/ repositioned the "thing" and now water flows but it could shift back into a blockage after a while.
So next thing is ck the pump basket after a day and see if there is a clog like bunch of stuff . If so then case closed. Else keep fingers crossed..
If it were to reoccur I would repeat the reverse flow process in hopes of pushing it back up to the skimmer but even that may not toss it out of the pipe. good luck.
So next thing is ck the pump basket after a day and see if there is a clog like bunch of stuff . If so then case closed. Else keep fingers crossed..
If it were to reoccur I would repeat the reverse flow process in hopes of pushing it back up to the skimmer but even that may not toss it out of the pipe. good luck.Ugh ... my success was short lived. This morning I turned things on and, although it started running fairly quickly, it began bouncing around and acting erratic again. Yesterday if was running beautifully. I talked to a local pool company and they said something about the possibility of a collapsed line, something about if there are flexile lines underground? I have never heard of this and really don't know what kind of lines we have as we are not the original owers. I'm hoping it's just still something down there that I can shoot out. I'm going to get a drain king today and give that a shot. My huband will be returning home on June 17 and I really do not want to dump this on him when he gets back or find out there is something majorly wrong beneath the surface. Hoping and praying I can have things up and running by then.
30,000 gallon in-ground pool with waterfall
DE filter, Challenger pump, heater, Ray-vac
Yesterday if was running beautifully. I talked to a local pool company and they said something about the possibility of a collapsed line, something about if there are flexile lines underground? I have never heard of this and really don't know what kind of lines we have as we are not the original owers. I'm hoping it's just still something down there that I can shoot out. I'm going to get a drain king today and give that a shot. My huband will be returning home on June 17 and I really do not want to dump this on him when he gets back or find out there is something majorly wrong beneath the surface. Hoping and praying I can have things up and running by then.30,000 gallon in-ground pool with waterfall
DE filter, Challenger pump, heater, Ray-vac
When you feed that drain king in, all the rubber has to be inside a pipe. It's just a balloon, basically, and if it's half in and half out, the part that's out will balloon up and pop.
Thank you for the tip! I bought a water bladder (not a "Drain King") from Home Depot that popped ... now I know why.
you doing well. baby steps to progress. You can also get a screw in plug rather than towels or what ever you used on the shallow skimmer to help keep all the pressure in the line. If you reproduce yesterday's success that is a good sign. More pressure from better inset of hose and run longer perhaps. At this point you still do not know if it is the deep skimmer line or the main drain line. If reverse flow today gives positive results and then they fade away next day then plug the deep skimmer at same time as shallow skimmer to back flow via only the main drain. If that does not clear it again then the problem is in the deep skimmer line.You could then plug the main drain ( who gets to go deep and insert plug??) and shallow skimmer. that will force all the back flow to the deep skimmer.. just hope it (whatever it is) can find its way back out.