Pump Won't Prime

Jump to latest Follow Reply
O

ofcdduke

Active member
Apr 22, 2020
26
Metairie, LA
Quick backstory- We just put my mother in law into an assisted living facility. She has a pool guy, but cleaning pools is his side gig. I told my wife that the pool pump will not prime and its due to an air leak somewhere.

So I go over there and with the drains open, the pump will not prime. So I closed them all and opened one at a time to try and see if the pump would prime. Short answer is no, would not prime with any of the drains isolated. I found this odd that there would be an air leak in all three drains (I am assuming each drain is plumbed separately all the way to the manifold). I then closed all the drains and filled the pump with water. I turned the pump on and quickly opened a drain. That got the pump to prime and it started circulating water. I then opened the other drains and they too started circulating water. The pump stayed full. I was even able to turn on the booster pump for the vac. I noticed that there were air bubbles coming from the first return jet, but they went away after about 30 mins. I also noticed water dripping from the bottom of the pump after the inlet. If I turned off the pump, I would have to go through the whole process again to get the pump to prime. But once it started pumping water, it worked as it should.

Am I wrong to think the air leak is in the pump and not the return plumbing? Is there any tips or tricks to determine exactly where the leak might be, if its not the pump itseld?

Thanks.
 
ofcdduke said:
I also noticed water dripping from the bottom of the pump after the inlet.
Click to expand...
Can you post pictures of the equipment pad, and of the location of the leak, so we can see what we are dealing with? Also post the make/model # of the pump.
ofcdduke said:
If I turned off the pump, I would have to go through the whole process again to get the pump to prime. But once it started pumping water, it worked as it should.
Click to expand...
Did you turn off the pump? Did you have to go through the process again? Is working as it should mean that after you did this a second time it is not leaking?

First thing to do is to lubricate the pump lid and drain o-rings. If you have unions on the pump, I'd lubricate the o-rings on the unions. Use a silicone lubricant (not PTFE/Teflon lube)

If the pump continues to leak after lubricating the o-rings, I'd rebuild the pump. You can get a "go-kit" for the pump and it will include all the o-rings and shaft seal for the pump. Post the pictures so we can see it and give you potential solutions.
 
Get pictures of the leaking area, also.

Pumps can leak from the small plug at the bottom, or around the big o-ring on the lid. Many times, just using a lube will resolve. On the inlet side, because the pump is sucking, it can force a small leak to seal, and therefore no air when running. But turn off the pump, and things relax a tiny bit, and air can get in as the water that is higher than the pool wants to flow backwards down to pool level. Then you loose prime. Often, you can see where the air is bubbling up from through the lid when the pump is off.
But, water leaking out is a big no-no. So it could be something else - like the seals on the shaft inside the pump.
Air can get in from many other places - clamps holding parts of the pump together, plumbing fittings, filters, and all the other pressure side non-solid connections, so can be a hunt.
But the water leak is suspicious, and may be your air entry as well.
Dry things real well in the leaking area, and see if you can trace where it is actually coming from. A strong flashlight and contorted body positions may be called for. Water is sneaky, and an almost invisible track of it can flow a long ways before it gets to someplace it can drip off of, misleading you as to where the leak really is.
 
If you’re leaking that much water when the pump is running, thats where it sucking air and losing its prime. I can’t tell from the video exactly where the leak is, but I’m positive that your problem trying to prime it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply