Low suction and return pressure

[Flipity1]

Banging my head against a wall trying to figure out what's going on. Installed solar panels on my roof and plumbed them in and all was good for a day or 2. Went out and all of a sudden filter pressure jumped 10psi and the water flow rate in to the pool was significantly worse. Took the filter apart and cleaned it all out, put it back in and same problem. Used to run about 10psi on a clean filter, 20 when dirty. Now its sitting at 22psi. Flipped the valve to recirculate to bypass the filter and see if that helps, still low flow. Thought there might be a clog so put a shopvac to all the lines and snaked the ones I could to try to clean them out, no luck. Just cant figure out what the heck is going on. Any thoughts or ideas appreciated.

Attached some pics of the pool plumbing to get a view.
Would an algae bloom cause all these issues?

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Do you currently have a green pool? Algae will clog a DE filter very quickly.

 

[Flipity1]

I did not until this morning. I am shocking it currently. Would algae still give me pressure issues on recirculate?

 

[zea3]

You should not have any pressure reading on recirculate. Water by-passes the filter completely and passes through the multiport to return to the pool. Do you get low flow on recirculate?

 

[Flipity1]

Yes, low flow on recirculate.

 

[Pool_Medic]

Are you trying to send all the water to your panels?

 

[Flipity1]

Nope. I have the panels bypassed and still have low suction/flow.

When I went out this morning I did hear a gurgling sound when the system was off which was strange to me. Ill take the filter apart and again and see if there is anything messed up in there.

 

[Pool_Medic]

Check the basket to make sure nothing blocking the intake, also check the water height in skimmer and insure the weir is working properly.

 

[Flipity1]

Basket is clear, water level is good. Took apart the multi port valve and all seems good there. one way check valve checked out too. Anyone know how to test if the pump is going bad?

 

[Pool_Medic]

Pumps don’t die slowly, they work or they don’t. Is impeller coated with crud? Trace back your steps during installation, anything you’ve missed?

 

[Flipity1]

Found the problem.

 

[zea3]

Yep, that will do it! I'm ok with flex line above ground but not buried!