I can't figure out what is wrong, and the pool people haven't been helpful at all :(

[Strawberryshortcake]

Somebody here shared this but your husband might get a laugh out of it

?

Are you making sure that the pump basket is installed correctly?

Check the impeller for debris.

Yes. I have also checked the impeller. We (mostly my dad, who is much more knowledgeable) actually opened the pump up to check the impeller when the basket wasn't holding proper water level. And I recently checked it again, with a clothes hanger wire.. nothing in there.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

Just an update...
As mentioned we had a lot of rain again yesterday. It rained all day.
Today, my system is running like a champ. Everything looks exactly like it should. There is not a single bubble in my pump basket, it almost looks as if there is no water in there (there is!) I haven't had any of the weird slow downs.
So it seems after periods of heavy rain, my issues "fix themselves"...
I don't really know what to make of it.
As for slamming... I don't think I'm going to try that right now unless we really think that could be it. Here is my water today
And I preformed an overnight loss test, it was 3.5 when I went to bed and 3.5 when I woke up. No CCs. The water is crystal clear and sparkling. (it would be even better if I treated the iron stains again )

I will see how things go the further we get away from the rainfall...
I haven't done any of the other suggestions given here (cleaning the sand etc) because I don't want to mess with it while it's working lol.

 

[mknauss]

Rain adds water to your pool. Watch your pool water level. That may be the key.

 

[markayash]

Did you try running a hose over the valve by the pump yet. If that didn’t make a difference wonder if a pipe is cracked under ground and rain pooling around it? Just thinking out loud .

 

[mguzzy]

I was thinking the same thing... see if you can recreate the situation with a hose. Try flooding areas around your pump and pool systematically and see if you can narrow down the possible locations. It really sounds like a suction side leak that is getting sealed when things are wet.. just thinking out loud as as well.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

Just another update.
Yesterday it got really hot and sunny so the ground was drying out quick and my pump was showing air bubbles again.
Today, it rained a ton, which fixed it again.
It's going to be raining even more tonight and my pool got so full (above the skimmer) from today's rain that I had to go backwash. I just backwashed Sunday, and the water was clean.
This time, what came out of the backwash pipe looked like pure mud! For quiet a bit. There is absolutely nothing in the pool that is causing that, the water is crystal clear.
I think this probably confirms what has been mentioned... likely a cracked pipe underground that is sealing when it rains, and also sucking mud/dirt in, which is causing the slow downs.

I guess I need to start by slowly digging the line out, and hope it's not the section under the concrete?

 

[JamesW]

Put about 10 psi of air pressure on the line and I suspect that you will be able to locate the leak fairly quickly by listening for bubbles.

 

[markayash]

Just another update.
Yesterday it got really hot and sunny so the ground was drying out quick and my pump was showing air bubbles again.
Today, it rained a ton, which fixed it again.
It's going to be raining even more tonight and my pool got so full (above the skimmer) from today's rain that I had to go backwash. I just backwashed Sunday, and the water was clean.
This time, what came out of the backwash pipe looked like pure mud! For quiet a bit. There is absolutely nothing in the pool that is causing that, the water is crystal clear.
I think this probably confirms what has been mentioned... likely a cracked pipe underground that is sealing when it rains, and also sucking mud/dirt in, which is causing the slow downs.

I guess I need to start by slowly digging the line out, and hope it's not the section under the concrete?

You can buy a camera off amazon that hooked to your phone. Not sure if it would help

 

[RDspaguy]

Glad you all caught up. It was getting lonely.
James is right, if you can buy or put together a pressure test rig and have a compressor you will probably hear it bubble underground. You might even see a little spring appear in your yard. Could save you a whole bunch of digging.
A scope or cable camera could do the trick also, just make sure it is waterproof.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

Could I have some more explanation on pressure testing? I have a small air compressor that I think can do 100 PSI, but I have no idea where to start.

Also, as mentioned previously I think that I have two suction lines. One to the skimmer and one to what I think was a vacuum hookup. This pipe

This pipe is the shortest distant to the pump
I would like to maybe see if I can isolate this pipe or the skimmer line. I know if I close this pipe, the system gets plenty of water, but I have never tried closing the skimmer and just having this one on because I wasn't sure it would be okay. Would that be okay to try? Would I just watch the pump to make sure it isn't starved of water?

 

[JamesW]

Mostly you just need to plug the suction lines and rig up a way to push air into the lines from the pump end and then listen to the ground at the skimmer to see if you can hear bubbles.

Don't put more than 10 psi on the line.

 

[RDspaguy]

Try it out. Anything you can do to narrow it down now means less digging later. I am not a fan of digging, so like to know before I get out the shovel.

Winter Pool Plug for 1-1/2 Inch Pipe with Blow Thru Valve

This number 4.5 pool plug creates a tight seal for a 1-1/2 inch PVC pipe. Includes a blow through valve for inserting compressed air into lines.Open stem plugs (or plugs with blow thru valves) use the same rubber, large wing-nuts and corrosion free materials as closed plugs except they have an...

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This connected to your compressor with a winter plug in the other end of the pipe should do the trick. Do not go over 10psi.

 

[chiefwej]

When looking for a suction side air leak, plastic food wrap is one valuable tool. It allows you to wrap one fitting or even a valve to see if that is source of leak.

 

[markayash]

Could I have some more explanation on pressure testing? I have a small air compressor that I think can do 100 PSI, but I have no idea where to start.

Also, as mentioned previously I think that I have two suction lines. One to the skimmer and one to what I think was a vacuum hookup. This pipe

This pipe is the shortest distant to the pump
I would like to maybe see if I can isolate this pipe or the skimmer line. I know if I close this pipe, the system gets plenty of water, but I have never tried closing the skimmer and just having this one on because I wasn't sure it would be okay. Would that be okay to try? Would I just watch the pump to make sure it isn't starved of water?

I see your frog log, I have one also

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

I thought I would provide an update in case anyone’s search brings them to this thread!

I ended up finding the air leak today. We took a water hose and ran it over all the exposed pipe. It worked!! The leak seems to be in the joint coming right out of the pump, so NOT UNDERGROUND! When we get the water in just the right spot all the bubbles disappear and the basket is crystal clear.
So please try the water hose trick!! I tried smoke and shaving cream and neither of those showed any problems there.

I can’t explain why it seems so inconsistent and sometimes would fix itself for long periods of time, though.
Now to fix it

 

[PoolGate]

I thought I would provide an update in case anyone’s search brings them to this thread!

I ended up finding the air leak today. We took a water hose and ran it over all the exposed pipe. It worked!! The leak seems to be in the joint coming right out of the pump, so NOT UNDERGROUND! When we get the water in just the right spot all the bubbles disappear and the basket is crystal clear.
So please try the water hose trick!! I tried smoke and shaving cream and neither of those showed any problems there.

I can’t explain why it seems so inconsistent and sometimes would fix itself for long periods of time, though.
Now to fix it

If it was me I would slather PVC pipe cement all around the joint.

 

[duraleigh]

Calculate and dose your pool with a CYA dose of 30 ppm. No need to test.....just assume it's there.

You have so many issues it's hard to decide where to start. If you could perform an OCLT (See Pool School) tonight Iand pass it, I think we can leave the chemistry for now and get on to your mechanical fixes. Keep you chlorine up during the day and report the results of the OCLT.

If it was me I would slather PVC pipe cement all around the joint.

That would only make a bigger mess.....please do not do that. That entire section from the pump to where the pipe goes undergraound needs to be replaced. You may have multiple air leaks there.

 

[PoolGate]

Calculate and dose your pool with a CYA dose of 30 ppm. No need to test.....just assume it's there.

You have so many issues it's hard to decide where to start. If you could perform an OCLT (See Pool School) tonight Iand pass it, I think we can leave the chemistry for now and get on to your mechanical fixes. Keep you chlorine up during the day and report the results of the OCLT.

That would only make a bigger mess.....please do not do that. That entire section from the pump to where the pipe goes undergraound needs to be replaced. You may have multiple air leaks there.

I've actually fixed more than one PVC air leak using this method. Since the PVC glue is put in the existing joint with a known leak, there is really no risk. If it works, the leak is permanently fixed and life is good. If not, you didn't lose anything you can always move to replacing that section of plumbing.

 

[markayash]

I thought I would provide an update in case anyone’s search brings them to this thread!

I ended up finding the air leak today. We took a water hose and ran it over all the exposed pipe. It worked!! The leak seems to be in the joint coming right out of the pump, so NOT UNDERGROUND! When we get the water in just the right spot all the bubbles disappear and the basket is crystal clear.
So please try the water hose trick!! I tried smoke and shaving cream and neither of those showed any problems there.

I can’t explain why it seems so inconsistent and sometimes would fix itself for long periods of time, though.
Now to fix it

I found mine doing that but I could never pin point exactly, mine ended up being a defect on the diverter where the O-Ring was

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

This is a fairly old thread I bumped up just incase someone ended up searching for a similar issue. There were a lot of weird things going on with the pool but it seems to be running good now. My best guesses are:

The slow down of the pump, and the dirty backwash water despite clear pool: I'm thinking at the time it was pollen or something in the air. I talked to my two neighbors that also have pools, and they were experiencing the same thing in their backwash despite clear water. So I'm leaning towards something like that. Originally I thought maybe an underground pipe was sucking in mud, however, once we got out of the pollen season (my dog is also allergic), that issue stopped (about the same time my dogs itch stopped!).

Pump clear of bubbles sometimes and clear, and very turbulent/bubbly at others. This I can't explain. It appears the air leak was not underground, so why sometimes did it seem to get sealed? I don't know. The old piping appears to have a section of flex pipe, so maybe it would expand or something with temperature changes?

I passed OCLT several times and never had haze or any indication of algae in the water, so I do not think that was ever an issue.

Anyhow, we did end up using plumbers glue on the pipe yesterday. The blue kind. We put it on both sides of the joint, and turned the pool back on after about an hour. It was perfect. So far it's still running great. I have not saw the water in the pump basket so clear in months (it looks like nothing is in there). For now, I'm going to see how long the glue helps. With covid, I'm really not wanting to go to the hardware store to get supplies and I also have no idea how to cut pipe and all that stuff, so I'd have to have my dad come over to do that and I'd rather not. So for now, this temp fix is holding up. I'm thinking of ordering two valves to replace the old ones there, just because I know that they are very old, and once it's safe to go to the store, going to get the piping needed to just change it all out.