Losing Prime in pump. Extremely low pressure in filter.

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J

Jumpinjoehair

0
Sep 25, 2018
22
Greenville
I recently bought a house with a pool and it appears it is that it has not been vacuumed in quite some time. The polaris is working on cleaning it up. I cleaned the filter, which was pretty dirty and the pressure sky rocketed over the next couple days. Assuming that it had just gotten dirty again i cleaned the filter again and it seemed like everything was running great. Skimmers had great suction. Return lines pushing out good pressure. Pump staying in prime. A few days later after the weather got cold i noticed that there is no suction in skimmers. No pressure coming from return jets. And the pump will not prime. I know this sounds like a suction side issue, but i feel i ave exhausted all possible options and i can not figure out what is going on.
 
Welcome to the forum! :wave: The lack of suction (or water flow) may be a result of algae clogging your filter. Even though you cleaned it initially, it may be inundated with junk. But before we make too many assumptions, let us know:
- How you test your water?
- Can you post a full set of results?
- How do you chlorinate?
- Have you added any pool store products to the water since taking over?
- Also make sure to update your signature with all of your pool and equipment info. We'll need that to evaluate your situation as we continue.

Geat to have you with us.
 
Welcome to the forum!

Also a couple pictures of your equipment pad can really help.

As you suspect, typically it is a suction side issue if you cannot prime the pump. Be sure to have the cleaner disconnected while you troubleshoot.

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.
 
Jumpinjoehair said:
I know this sounds like a suction side issue,
Click to expand...
I don't want to seem as though I missed your inital concern, and there is a chance you could've inherited a pool with a suction issue. You can also review our Suction Side Leaks page to see if anything odd stands-out. But sometimes a restriction in water flow through the filter can cause a similar issue. But we'll watch for both and see which one might be the true cause based on the info you provide.
 
I test my water myself with a talylor K 2006 test kit .
FC - 3.0 PPM
CC- .2 PPM
PH-7.7
TA- 90
CH- 260
CYA- 70 PPM

Right now i chlorinate with liquid chlorine.
I have not added any pool store products to my pool.

I will get all my pool equipment updated on here asap
 
Your FC is way low for your CYA level. See FC/CYA Chart

You can have an algae problem clogging your filter.
 

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Joe, thanks for the update info! While your FC looks to be low for your CYA, I think we can rule-out the algae issue as a reason for the oddities you are seeing. If algae were responsible for poor water flow, your filter psi would be higher not lower. I tend to agree wiht Mark (mas985) that you may have a blockage. This happened after the weather change, and that may just be a coincidence, but along with the impeller issue, you might check water flow from the skimmer to the pump if you can. Either with a pressure bladder type product or by wrapping a rag around a garden hose tightly to see if if you get decent water flow from the skimmer to the pump. Maybe remove the clear basket lid and run water backwards to ensure nothing is blocked in that suction line. Don't forget to ensure the basket lid O-ring has adequate lube! Silly question, but we're assuming the weir door is operating okay at the skimmer and not stuck closed, and that your water level is adequate? Like Mark noted, maybe that Polaris ate something for lunch you didn't know about and it got jammed-up somewhere.
 
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Texas Splash said:
you might check water flow from the skimmer to the pump if you can. Either with a pressure bladder type product or by wrapping a rag around a garden hose tightly to see if if you get decent water flow from the skimmer to the pump.
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I tried this with a pressure bladder from both skimmers to pump and pump to skimmers. I wouldnt say it was a weak stream and i didnt see any pieces of debris coming out.

mas985 said:
Check the impeller inlet for debris
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I tried to stick my screw driver in the impeller to get it to spin, and i had no lick maneuvering around it. I was also unable to pull out any debris.

duraleigh said:
Is the pump basket frothing and full of bubbles?
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It does seem that there is some bubbles at the top of the pump lid
 
Another symptom that i just noticed today after cleaning my filter is a few drops of water coming from where the band is holding the two halves together. I got a rubber mallet and went around the filter and tightened it up a little more, but a few hours later it was doing the same thing again in the same spot.
 
Those filter belly-bands can be a pain at times. If the band or clamp isn't too old or worn out, the mallet trick and/or perhaps a bit of lube sometimes does the trick, but I don't see that as the main culprit to your issues. For that though, I would also reccomend visiting this thread for a similar discussion on the band: DE Filter trouble.

As for the main issues (loss of prime & low pressure), it still seems like there's something going on in that suction side. It sure would be nice to know that impeller can move freely. That's a significant item at this point. Not much else for air intake/suction leak issues unless you have a main drain or check valve before the pump. What about 3-way shut-off valves before the pump? Have any of those items been inspected as well? By the way, how old is your pump?
 
It does seem that there is some bubbles at the top of the pump lid "
Click to expand...
"some bubbles" is not enough of an air leak to drop your psi as much as you report. If the loss of prime was due to air intake, the pump strainer basket would be frothing and churning and the psi would be erratically fluctuating.
 
The debris might be stuck in the impeller vanes. Unfortunately, the only way to find out for sure is to remove the motor and impeller from the wet end.

Jumpinjoehair said:
It does seem that there is some bubbles at the top of the pump lid
Click to expand...
In your first post, you said the pump would not prime. If there are only a few bubbles in the pump basket, the pump is primed so exactly what did you mean by that first post?
 
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mas985 said:
In your first post, you said the pump would not prime. If there are only a few bubbles in the pump basket, the pump is primed so exactly what did you mean by that first post?
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Sorry for any confusion. It takes me a good 15 or so minutes to get it to prime, but after i do that it will lose prime withen 10 minutes to where water level in pump basket are is just over the hole going to motor. I can easily supply pictures if needed
 

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