What am I doing wrong? Video included. Pump loses prime when vacuuming?

[richierich]

Hi Folks. What am I doing wrong? As you can see from this short video on youtube, everything is fine until I go to attach the vacuum plate and hose. I immediately lose prime. All the air is out of the hose. After watching the video any ideas? One thing to add in the video is that the vacuum still has some suction. I was able to pick up leaves on the bottom but the pump is all air and splashing water. Could the 2 seconds it takes for the vacuum plate to have the hose attached be causing this? Should I take the weir door off and slide both the vacuum plate and hose together through the skimmer instead? Thanks for watching!!!

Jun 11, 2017 - YouTube

 

[Richard320]

That's pretty much what I get. The pump is just starving because it can't draw well through all that hose. I have the ability to crack a 3-way valve and feed extra water from the spa to fill the basket and quiet the pump without significantly reducing suction at the vacuum.

If it vacuums, vacuum. If it bugs you, try drilling a tiny hole in the skimmer plate to let extra water in.

 

[mas985]

Any air you might have in the vacuum hose will end up in the pump and it can lose prime if there is enough air. If you can, make sure all the air is out of the suction hose before connecting it to the skimmer plate. If that is not possible, you could lift up the plate a little but keep it under water and allow the pump to re-prime.

After watching the video, I see how you can get a lot of air getting sucked into the pump. Try making that connecting with the pump off so it isn't sucking the air in when you try to get the skimmer plate into the skimmer.

 

[duraleigh]

That's a good video. Once the vacuum hook-up fails, will the pump reprime itself with hoses and connectors completely removed from the skimmer?

 

[ike0069]

Try turning off the pump and then connecting. You may need a second person to hold the fitting down tight and start the pump.

 

[richierich]

Thanks to all who replied. I fixed the problem. The vacuum attachment was letting in the air. So I connected the vacuum attachment to the hose under the water. Then moved the attachment through the weir door and onto the skimmer basket so no air got in. That fixed the problem. Kim Kats gave me the idea of posting a you tube video. You can post it straight from your phone using the app you tube capture. Not regular you tube in case anyone else wants to post straight from their phone

 

[JoeSelf]

Just a note for others that might read this thread. The ends of the hose are different. One end will spin freely, that end goes on the vacuum and the other goes on the skimmer attachment. If the vacuum end is above water you will suck air into the system. I take out the wier door when vacuuming.

 

[richierich]

Just a note for others that might read this thread. The ends of the hose are different. One end will spin freely, that end goes on the vacuum and the other goes on the skimmer attachment. If the vacuum end is above water you will suck air into the system. I take out the wier door when vacuuming.

Yes thanks. My hose was connected properly it says on one side to attach to vacuum. Also yeah I had to remove the weir door to fit the skimmer plate and hose through the skimmer while keep them both under water

 

[phonedave]

I just replaced my skimmer with the skimmer you have. The instructions say to remove the wier door when using that adaptor place. My old one had a vertical pipe, so the hose would come out of the top of the skimmer. Now i have the horizontal adapter that you have - havent used it yet though.

 

[richierich]

Oh wow yeah I see that in the manual about removing the weir door. That was the initial reason I didn't put the vacuum plate through the skimmer opening, it wouldn't fit.

 

[chayne]

i have the exact same one and take the weir door each time and i havent had any problems.