Pump not priming

[jnojr]

Everything was working OK. I opened it to clean out the strainer basket, put it back together, and started it in cleaner mode the way I always do. Usually, it primes within 15 seconds or so, I can bleed air out of the filter, and be ready to go. Today, the pump just roars away, pouring water into the strainer, but it's almost like it's being drawn away faster than it can come in. Turn off the pump and the strainer looks full, but start it again and the water level drops and the pump just pours water in as fast as it can. I see no sign of any water or air leaks, but then I don't necessarily know what to look for. Could really use some advice on this hot hot hot day!

 

[ajw22]

I would examine carefully the pump basket lid and O ring. Do you use Pool Lube on the O ring?

 

[jnojr]

Happening again. Last time, switching to spa mode and then back to pool mode seems to have resolved it. Today, no dice. I did re-lube my O-ring, and when I drop the lid on to the pump, it quickly stops the water from draining out, and takes effort to life back up. Could it be a seal in a valve?

 

[jnojr]

FWIW, this turned out to be the Jandy valve after the pump. A couple of folks had zeroed in on the one before the pump, and replacing it's O-rings didn't fix. Replaced the rings in the second valve, and I'm in business.

Moral of the story... O-rings are cheap and pretty easy to replace. I bet I could replace every ring in my pool system now in an hour with $25 bucks.

 

[new-pool-owner]

You said after the pump. So this is a jandy valve on the return side?

 

[jnojr]

Well, I'm back to square one. Pool isn't priming again. I was sure I had this fixed... the pump primed very quickly yesterday, and the bubbles stopped coming out of the jets.

Oh well, I've got someone coming in a week. It's really tough to find decent pool people around here, so I'm kinda stuck. I hope the pump running like this isn't bad for it or my power bill.

 

[ajw22]

Valves after the pump leak water and don’t cause priming problems. You have a suction side air leak someplace.

 

[jnojr]

Just to close the loop on this for anyone who finds this thread... it wasn't a leak after all. Or, maybe there wasa bad O-ring that I replaced, but when the problem re-appeared, it was the manual valve on the suction stack. It goes between the vacuum and skimmer. When it's all the way to the vacuum side, but there's no vacuum, it can never draw in enough water. The guy who came out tipped it over a few degrees, and all is well. I had no idea!