Intelliflo Pump Priming Issue

[jsb91010]

Hi Jim,

Correct, the higher the RPM on the pump, the less water in the basket. If I run the booster pump for the sweep at the same time, the basket is pretty much empty.

Not sure what type of pipe is underground but I don't believe it's flex. Just purchased the house in September. From the pictures I sent, its all cement/pool deck from the pump pad to the skimmer, and maybe only 7 feet.

Back to the original technician's proposal of blowing out the line, would they be able to do that to the suction side? If so, is there a chance that could fix this?

Thanks,
Adrian

check impeller, if not clogged sounds like you have a clogged suction.. get you a blow up bag and a tennis ball... load the bag into the pump inlet facing towards the pool... push tennis ball over skimmer hole to keep water from coming out to build up pressure.. keep doing over and over, if you have a leaf clog you'll know by all the Crud coming out.. if no clog sounds like air leak

 

[adrian300]

Alright, not sure if this thread is still active but wanted to follow up. I spoke with the previous pool maintenance person, and he said that this was a condition of the pool. Essentially, it is a newer pump with old plumbing, and the pipes are too small to draw adequate water at high RPM's. My only solution is to dig it all up and re-plumb.

It is functional for now, but operating the pump at high RPM's opens the possibility of cavitation of the old plumbing, and puts strain on the pump. The reasons I would need to operate the pump at higher RPM's are when the booster is running to operate the sweep, and pumping the water up to the solar water heater.

It sounds like the previous owner operated the pool with the pump not completely priming without issue, and utilized the solar water heater. I'm not sure what my urgency should be to fix this, unfortunately, it sounds like I need a new pool.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Adrian,

Total Bull Feathers!!! I have two IntelliFlo pumps on pools that only have 1.5" plumbing and they work just fine..

Something is wrong with the line, either clogged or it has an air leak. It is not the size of the pipe.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[adrian300]

Adrian,

Total Bull Feathers!!! I have two IntelliFlo pumps on pools that only have 1.5" plumbing and they work just fine..

Something is wrong with the line, either clogged or it has an air leak. It is not the size of the pipe.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Whew , that makes feel much better. Thought I was looking at a $50k project.

Okay so new theory. I'm researching black bottom skimmers, which is what I have. Looks like they are a culprit of leaks and not holding pressure quite often. Could that be the culprit? I am skeptical because I'm not losing water, but not sure.

I plan to blow out the lines tomorrow using the drain king, but I am also skeptical of a clog because the priming has been failing for years apparently.

 

[adrian300]

No luck with declogging with drain king. Thinking it must be a skimmer leak.

 

[mknauss]

Best to run the temporary suction line like Jim described before running down the rabbit hole of a skimmer leak.

 

[adrian300]

My worry with running a temp line is that I don't have a Jandy valve to isolate main drain vs skimmer. So if it works and the pump primes, all that tells me is that I have a suction side leak somewhere, but it could be anywhere.

 

[mknauss]

Does your main drain line meet your suction line at the skimmer?

 

[adrian300]

I’m not sure in that. Is there a way to tell by looking at the skimmer?

 

[mknauss]

It appears both holes are open. There should have been a device that goes over the holes to adjust how much you pull from the skimmer or main drain. As it is shown, I doubt any water is coming from the main drain. That in itself is no issue. You might put a hose down each hole and see where the water goes, with the pump off.