Uh oh, what to do with meddlesome mom who messed with system ?

[Aquamar555]

My mom is here visiting and knows nothing about pools. We had our Barracuda vacuum running in the pool today and while I was away at an appointment she decided to go for a swim and physically pulled the entire thing out of the pool...while still connected and running.

When I came home, horrible noise from system, pump dry, filter at 0 psi, new salt ICHLOR 40 installed last week had red lights etc, am so afraid it caused major damage. What to do? Obviously I turned it off and unhooked baraccuda. What damage has been done?

We recently replaced our salt water chlorinator last week with an ICHLoR 40 because we had a lightning strike blow our other circuit and chlorinator, our filter is brand new in the last 2 months too (forget the model).

The system is off now. What to do? Turn it on? Expect what kind of damage????

 

[Pool Tool]

Any damage should be limited to the pump itself running dry. Hopefully the flow switch in the salt cell saw the loss of flow and turned itself off. The only way to be sure is to fill the pump strainer basket with water, which may refill some piping too taking a lot of water, and then try the pump. If it runs great, if not, you may be looking to replace it.

As for your mom...hopefully it is a lesson learned and she won't do that again in the future.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Ouch. That's scary, huh? Can Mom tell you how long things were making scary bad noises???

I think the only thing you can do is turn things on, one by one, and see what's working and what isn't.

Turn your pump on first and see if it primes and moves water. Let that go for a while before testing the cell.

If the pump seems ok, check your filter pressure. Is it back to where it normally runs?

I'd run a baseline set of tests.... so you know where you stand FC wise. Then when you're feeling brave, go ahead and try the cell. See if it works? If it seems to be, make sure to test your FC late today or tomorrow to make sure it really, REALLY is working. You know?

IF by chance its not- use liquid chlorine (aka bleach) to maintain your FC level until you can figure things out. You don't want to risk a low FC level if you don't have to.

I guess lastly....the baraccuda. I don't know enough about them to tell you more on that.

GOOD LUCK!!

Maddie

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Very likely only the pump would be damaged. The filter has no moving parts in it so if it runs dry the filter doesn't do anything. The IntelliChlor should have shut itself down as soon as the flow went below 15GPM so it is likely fine too.

Simply put everything back the way it was and turn on the pump. If it has suffered damage you'll either hear it (squeals or unusual sounds) or the flow of water will be greatly diminished.

Then, I would have a sit-down with mom, as hard as that might be. I would gently inform her that things can't just be pull out of the pool or valves switched on or off. There is a proper way to handle pool equipment and by her not asking permission or for help, her actions may have cost you hundreds of dollars in repairs. That's a hard conversation to have and not one I would relish having with one of my parents, but it may be necessary so that she knows next time to ask for help....

 

[Deb04]

When you prime the pump, I suggest doing so with a hose in hand. I've found that priming it at opening can take a lot more water than just filling the basket. If you need more water, you'll have it right there.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

When you prime the pump, I suggest doing so with a hose in hand. I've found that priming it at opening can take a lot more water than just filling the basket. If you need more water, you'll have it right there.

Excellent advice. I hope the OP will write again and tell us everything is working okay again.