Pump ran dry for a WHILE- what to out for??

[xfilegirl]

I just went to turn the pump off because it's just generally loud and I'm sure my neighbors hate me when i leave it running all night. When I went back there I saw the flex line being sucked skinny and I couldn't see anything through the pump lid because it was all fogged up. We had a pretty bad storm in NY yesterday and apparently every dead cherry blossom/whatever tree flower ended up in my skimmer basket and totally clogged the entire thing up where no water was getting through.

I have NO idea how long the pump was running dry. Literally could have been 24 hours. I had looked out the window earlier today around noon and thought the pool looked like the return might have been low but i dismissed it thinking the rain was just making it hard to see. Now I'm thinking it was clogged as early (most likely earlier) than that.

I opened the pump lid to check the basket and nothing looks melted...not the basket nor the flex line connections...the lid doesn't look deformed at all. It LOOKS totally fine. I did not however turn the pump back on yet. I want to wait until daylight to to do that. Plus it's raining and muddy back there and if i keep lurking around my backyard after midnight with a flashlight I might was well call the cops on myself lol.

If I turn it on in the morning and it goes to normal pressure and stays there for a bit should I assume I dodged a bullet or could I still have an issue I'm not seeing? The thing always runs loud so I don't think i can go by the sound. It didn't sound "off" when I went back there originally. Anything in particular I should be looking for when I turn this thing back on?

 

[needsajet]

Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Yeh, maybe better to just run during the daytime, unless you have time-of-use discount electricity and neighbors you don't like, lol

Yes, just clean everything out and try it when you're able to watch it for a while. Is the pump above the water level? If so, pour a pail of water in the pump basket. Then give it a go. Compare the pressure reading to the readings you had before the problem. If you have a flow meter, that's also a good comparison. If you have nothing, feel at the return jets and see if the water movement is the same. Should be same appearance in the skimmer as well. See if the flex needs to be replaced. You can't hurt it any more by trying it, provided the intake is no longer restricted. Maybe keep an eye out for some sale prices, or start researching an upgrade to two-speed or VS.

 

[CavVet]

You can't hurt it any more by trying it, provided the intake is no longer restricted. Maybe keep an eye out for some sale prices, or start researching an upgrade to two-speed or VS.

As Needsajet noted, at least begin looking for another motor. I had the same thing happen to me, mine was due to pollen pods falling in during a daytime storm while i was at work. The motor/pump sounded terrible when i got home so i went to investigate. I was running it dry as well. In fact, when i took off the pump basket lid, the water was too hot to touch.
I ended up purchasing a 2 speed motor (after researching the cost savings of my single speed). When i did the change out, i had to purchase a new impeller, because the ceramic disk/seal was actually melted to the impeller (fairly inexpensive, just a delay).
All that said, it is possible you took some life out of the motor, but if you do have a single speed motor....SERIOUSLY research either a 2 speed or variable frequency motor....the electrical savings are amazing.

 

[xfilegirl]

All that said, it is possible you took some life out of the motor, but if you do have a single speed motor....SERIOUSLY research either a 2 speed or variable frequency motor....the electrical savings are amazing.

I will DEFINITELY do that, thanks! I should have researched more last year when we replaced the filter system and motor!

I just went back there, cleaned out the baskets and started up the pump. Seems right now like everything is going fine. {{{fingers crossed}}}. It's been on for about 40 minutes and holding at a little below 15psi which is what it normally does. The return is strong. I will keep going out to check on it. I have no choice..i'm going to have to keep checking the basket. I found the culprit. The neighbor directly behind me and butted up against our pool has a hydrangea tree right next to the fence!!! All of the little petals are ending up in the pool. I never had to deal with that before because my pool is not usually open this early in the season. I usually miss all the flowers dying off the trees and dont' have to deal with it. Not this year since our new pool was installed the end of March. I just had to stand outside and get thousands of those petals out with my net. The pump basket would have been clogged again within the hour!! Lesson learned!

 

[borjis]

Usually when a pump is run dry for too long, at the very least it ruins the seal and leaks.

If yours has been running like you say and appears ok, with no leaks, then I'd say you dodged a bullet!

If it were me I'd just leave it as is. No need to replace the motor if it's working just fine.
I had researched a variable speed and 2-speed and with my electric rates my single
speed motor actually does not cost me that much to run. But then I only run the pump
2 hours daily and for the afternoon on swimming weekends.

 

[xfilegirl]

Yeah, I'm going to keep an eye on it. I think i'll have better luck spotting a leak when it dries up back there. It's still drizzling so everything already looks wet. Hopefully I dodged the bullet. I'm not normally that lucky but hey, there's a first time for everything!!! LOL. Now to find my chainsaw and chop down the neighbor's tree....lol :tongue::joker: