Is pump broken?

[TXSlater]

Hi there - Another question from a Texas pool owner. We're in Austin and lost power for 4 days. We had heated the pool to 87 the day before we lost power, so our water in the pool never got below about 50. We hope that saved us some damage . We didn't know to drain our equipment. We did open the valve on the filter on the second day and air and water shot out so it wasn't a complete ice block. The next day we were able to get the lid off the pump basket (solid ice). Now that everything seems to be thawed out we reattached the salt cell and fired her up. The pump is making noise like it always does, fan is blowing, and no error being given, but it doesn't seem to be pulling anything from the pool (didn't feel anything in the skimmers) and no water going into the basket. Does that indicate our pipers are frozen, pump broken, blockage? Is it filling the DE filter or burning out the motor? We also JUST got our heater a month ago, fingers crossed it survives - not going to be happy our pool builder didn't tell us drain the equipment!

 

[setsailsoon]

TX,

So with the pump screen lid frozen I take it you didn't run the pump. If you left the equipment water full you most likely will have some damage. When you tried to run the pump do you have any water in the suction basket? If not prime it with a hose to fill up the suction housing and the suction line. Then install the lid and try it again. I suspect you'll find your leaks then.

Chris

 

[TXSlater]

So with the pump screen lid frozen I take it you didn't run the pump.

That's right. We had no power so couldn't run it even if we tried. We turned off the breaker, too, in case it tried to kick on while still frozen.

When you tried to run the pump do you have any water in the suction basket? If not prime it with a hose to fill up the suction housing and the suction line. Then install the lid and try it again. I suspect you'll find your leaks then.

We used a hose to fill the basket to overflowing. After putting the lid back on and running it, the water level in the basket (you can see through the clear top) went down to a very low level. It seemed as if water was being pulled from the basket but was not being replenished from the pool. This leads us to guess that maybe some underground pipes are still frozen. Dunno.

Also, I should have mentioned that when we run the pump, it makes the priming sound (louder, working harder) indefinitely. Well, as long as we could stand it before worrying about burning out the pump and shutting it down. Normally, the priming lasts less than 10 seconds. Also, no water was coming out of the pressure valve (might not be called that) on top of the filter -- the thing you open to let out some air and has the pressure gauge on it.

 

[Jimrahbe]

TX,

If your pump had a block of ice in the pump basket, then I would think your filter froze also.. A big mass of ice will take a little time to melt.

Before I fired up the pump again, I'd want to inspect the filter by draining it and taking the lid off..

The ice in the pump could have also cracked the case or damaged the lid so that the lid gasket is no longer doing its job..

Thanks,

Jim R.