Hello…I am afraid I may have really messed up. I opened the pool about 4 weeks ago. The pool has 2 skimmers and a bottom drain. When priming the pump during the spring start up I initially only open one of the skimmer valves until all the air is removed from the pump basket. Unfortunately I got distracted and forgot to remove the plugs on the 2 returns before I primed and turned on the pump. The resulting pressure blew the skimmer basket about 5 feet into the air! I immediately shut the pump off. Ever since I have been having issues with suction and flow. The flow through the skimmers is weak and the Pentair IC-40 flow light turns red occasionally at lower variable speeds. I don’t get a lot of suction when I need to vacuum. There are some air bubbles from one of the returns and also in the pump basket. Please tell me I didn’t totally destroy my equipment…ugh! What should I do to troubleshoot this? Thanks for any help!
Weak flow and suction
- Thread starter LouiseT
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,017
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Oh boy. That might be a problem.
Well, since we are suspect of the suction line(s), now you have to find a way to do a DIY diagnosis. The trick now is differentiating between the 3 suction sources (if possible) to pinpoint which one (if any) might have a problem. So keep that in mind as we go further. In general though, if you ruptured a line or connection from the pressure, when the system is running, you should be seeing indications of a suction line air leak is air in the system such as air in pump pot, air out of return jets, and/or loss of prime. Are you seeing any of those? If so, the first thing you might do is try to isolate water flow from each of those location if possible. Manipulate valves at the pad and/or plug the drain line, etc to try and test each of the 3 lines and see if you notice any difference. Much depends on how your pol was built and plumbed of course.From there another thing you can do is to turn off the system for a bit to do a static test. In other words, with no water moving, watch to see if the water level drops in the pool. You might close off the 3-way valves back at the pad before starting this test. In an ideal world, it would be nice to make a water-tight seal at the skimmer weir openings so that pool water couldn't flow through while you do that test since the concept is simply to see if water leaks out of the skimmer pipes. But with no way to block the skimmer openings, you just have to let it flow and watch the pool waterline itself. Hope that makes sense. During this test, again, depends on plumbing, you might be able to plug some locations to help you isolate a potential bad area.
Other than that, your next step would be a pressure test of that suction line.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,017
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
One other thought. Just because the skimmer basket blew out doesn't mean 100% that a line is ruptured. The skimmer basket blew out like a cork, but it did release there and nowhere else as far as you can tell. Since you did overlook the return jet plugs, take another look around the pool for any other potential items you may have overlooked. Make sure all the 3-way valves are open and stuff like that. Start with the easy stuff and work your way into potential plumbing problems after that. Also look closely at the pump to ensure there are not water drips.
Thanks! I did already check all the easy stuff a while ago. Looks like I have my work cut out for me this weekend…appreciate the suggestions! To be continued! 
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,017
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
You're welcome. 
Keep us posted. Hopefully things aren't quite as bad as you think. Fingers crossed. 
Keep us posted. Hopefully things aren't quite as bad as you think. Fingers crossed. Good news! I wanted to wait a bit before posting here but everything seems to be working well again. I’m not sure why but I'll take it! I tried all of your suggestions and couldn’t find any glaring issues. Doesn’t seem to be losing an inordinate amount of water….just normal evaporation. Also backwashed again. I have good suction and the equipment is running well. Had family and friends over all weekend…so all is well…Just in time for the big heat wave. Just wanted to say thanks Texas Splash! 
