New pump and now it won't pump

[phillijp]

This pump is only three weeks old, I hope whatever is going on is an easy fix.

We had high winds last night and this morning the pump was quite loud like it was working hard to move water. The basket in the pump was packed full of leaves. After I cleared the basket the pump never seemed to get a full prime even with the main drain open. Everything was working perfectly yesterday afternoon. I was going to winterize the pool today but can't until i figure out what is going on with the pump.

Could cavitation have eaten the impeller in 12 hours time?

 

[JamesW]

Make sure that the skimmer basket is clean.

Make sure that the pump basket is inserted correctly and fully seated.

The impeller might be clogged if the basket was installed incorrectly or not properly seated.

 

[Texas Splash]

With power off, you might remove the clear lid at the pump basket and reach in there to see if any debris from last night's storm got tangled around the impeller to the pump. The impeller should spin relatively easily. Now if that's clear, maybe take a garden hose with strong nozzle and push water "backwards" from the pump basket back to the pool skimmer. Maybe some junk got stuck in the line.

 

[tstex]

Phil,

Both Pat and James have provided good initial troubleshooting. After you have tried all of this, post back w results.

To reiterate, always turn-off breaker when putting hands into the pump impeller area. Also, you can take your hose and place it into the skimmer return pipes and crank it on too, in addition to inserting into the pump line and pushing backwards. the key here is you want to determine if you have any leaves lodged in your return lines.

Re cavitation, it has no impact on the impeller, but the motor if it becomes too hot. if the pump was running when you went to the equipment pad, could you tell [w the leaves] if it was full of water or if there were bubbles or lack of full water? I am assuming the skimmers were cleaned out too when you cleaned out the pump basket, yes? If not, do so as recommended above...post back after you have performed the above t-shooting - good luck, tstex

 

[phillijp]

I took the pump apart and while there wasn't a lot of debris in there, there was some. I wouldn't have thought it would have had an impact but apparently it did. The impeller looked brand new and when I blew air through the vanes they were perfectly clear. Debris was trapped between the inner piece (that covers the impeller) and the pump housing. I reassembled the pump and everything is good as new. For the record, only disassembly would have allowed my to get to this debris.

 

[JamesW]

Good job.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Texas Splash]

Great to hear. Nice work! Now ……… back to closing!