shelterbay Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 I have completely rebuilt my pool vac and tested all the hoses. It will run strongly, with no problems, for days and days on either the: 1. skimmer 2. vacuum connection 3. main drain. However, when I connect the pool vacuum hose, it only runs great for about 2 minutes. At that time the water flow into the pool is greatly reduced and the pool vac completely stops. There doesn't seem to be a great amount of air in the system. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks very much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaclearNZ Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 what type of cleaner / vac do you have ? suction cleaners - ie barcuda run happily with a lower flow, to much and it can affect the way its diaphragm opens and closes are you running all the water through the cleaner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 Since it runs ok for a couple of min, I assume that you're getting all the air out of the vac hose B4 you connect to the wall fitting. Perhaps a slit in the hose? and when you move the hose around (while vacuuming) You expose the slit and it pulls air? Try setting up the vac and hose in the pool and just let it sit there with no movement and see if it will keep prime. Note: If you knew to listen for it, you may have heard a hissing noise? From the hose drawing in air. I dunno, just thinking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelterbay Posted April 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Since it runs ok for a couple of min, I assume that you're getting all the air out of the vac hose B4 you connect to the wall fitting. Perhaps a slit in the hose? and when you move the hose around (while vacuuming) You expose the slit and it pulls air? Try setting up the vac and hose in the pool and just let it sit there with no movement and see if it will keep prime. Note: If you knew to listen for it, you may have heard a hissing noise? From the hose drawing in air. I dunno, just thinking... Thanks for trying....no suggestion seems to work. It is very frustrating...the idea about the hose twisting and exposing the leak was exciting, but we put it in the pool, being careful to get all the air out, and kept it from "going" and it did the same thing.....just stopped after a couple of minutes! Anyone know where I can get a second hand, old fashioned, manual vacuum!?! About to give it up. Thanks again....I still look like my emoticon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 This is from another post but listen to this... Once in a while I run into this scenario. There is a leak in the suction line, usually the connection to the skimmer. When running normally there is no problem. When there is a extra load on the suction line, ie connecting vac hose or otherwise, the increased vac pulls air through the crack and kills prime. This is how you can have a leak in a pipe yet not loose water. If you have a skimmer that is a light color, white, biege, or light green and the bottom of the skimmer is black, You are a possible candidate for a new skimmer. See if your pool guy can, or will pressure test the suction line. Good Luck I hope this isn't what's happening with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelterbay Posted April 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 what type of cleaner / vac do you have ? suction cleaners - ie barcuda run happily with a lower flow, to much and it can affect the way its diaphragm opens and closes are you running all the water through the cleaner Thanks for your input.... It is a Hayward Navigator and I am reading up on several issues regarding lead hose section....gauges etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelterbay Posted April 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 This is from another post but listen to this... Once in a while I run into this scenario. There is a leak in the suction line, usually the connection to the skimmer. When running normally there is no problem. When there is a extra load on the suction line, ie connecting vac hose or otherwise, the increased vac pulls air through the crack and kills prime. This is how you can have a leak in a pipe yet not loose water. If you have a skimmer that is a light color, white, biege, or light green and the bottom of the skimmer is black, You are a possible candidate for a new skimmer. See if your pool guy can, or will pressure test the suction line. Good Luck I hope this isn't what's happening with you. Thanks... We're working on it....heading over there (the pool is at our daughter's) and to the pool store. Have also been looking at the Hayward manual for some ideas....the strange thing is that this is not a new vac or hose or anything....we've been doing the same maintenance and problem solving for 10 years and this is the first time for this exact situation and the first time to not be able to solve the problem. We'll keep trying.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 For some reason I thought you were using a vac head and hose. I didn't know this was a suction cleaner. My bad, although I have very little experience with these units, I would guess that a part was installed not quite right or there is a wore out part that didn't get replaced when you rebuilt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelterbay Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 For some reason I thought you were using a vac head and hose. I didn't know this was a suction cleaner. My bad, although I have very little experience with these units, I would guess that a part was installed not quite right or there is a wore out part that didn't get replaced when you rebuilt it. It is a vac head... tried several things today....it actually stopped running without the vac being plugged in...also tried running water over the fittings to see if we could detect water going in, to see if maybe that was the site of possible air induction....nothing is solving the problem.... will keep up the trial and error....also checked the bottom of the skimmer, per your idea and it was not black....also ran it without the vac head being attached and it still stopped.... thanks for trying.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 When you loose the flow, does the pressure gauge on the filter drop to zero? or does it go up way past normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelterbay Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 When you loose the flow, does the pressure gauge on the filter drop to zero? or does it go up way past normal? We're on our way over there again today and will see what it does..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelterbay Posted April 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 When you loose the flow, does the pressure gauge on the filter drop to zero? or does it go up way past normal? We're on our way over there again today and will see what it does..... Well, you know what? We have finally decided that the trouble has got to be somewhere in a submerged line. We have tried all these great suggestions and nothing worked. Now what? How do you find and fix a problem like this? We've already used one of those black expanding blower attachments (whatever it's called). Right now it's running on just the main drain, so except for the fact that the vac can't be used, it's ok. Thanks for all the help..... Maybe I need a plumber? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaTechPool Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 if you think it is an obstruction in the line, then call a pool company. plumbers usually can't snake out or don't work on pool plumbing, as the elbows are to tight for their equipment to work. I use a co2 canister to remove all types of obstructions from pool plumbing. i've taken out underwear, goggles, and thermometers, just to name a few of the more common ones. Good luck, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelterbay Posted April 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 if you think it is an obstruction in the line, then call a pool company. plumbers usually can't snake out or don't work on pool plumbing, as the elbows are to tight for their equipment to work. I use a co2 canister to remove all types of obstructions from pool plumbing. i've taken out underwear, goggles, and thermometers, just to name a few of the more common ones. Good luck, Paul Tell me about using the co2.....where do I get one? how do I use it? where do these "items" emerge? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Tell me about using the co2.....where do I get one? how do I use it? where do these "items" emerge? thanks IMO, If you don't use it alot, use of co2 is cost prohibitive, and very dangerous if you don't buy a regulator (cost prohibitive part). Those things can have in excess of 1000 pounds of pressure on the valve. To give you an example, 10 pounds pressure can hurt if something blew apart and hit say your hand. There are guys that say "I open the valve only a little and that keeps the press low". They are right, Until what your blowing hits the obstruction then the pressure in the pipe tries to equalize with the bottle Thats when the drainjet comes back at you. Please don't buy a co2 bottle. AquaTechPool is right, call a pool guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaTechPool Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 yes, it will not be worth the investment for you, unless you are in the business. And, as hot tub said, you can really mess up your plumbing, and you can hurt yourself. I have a system and even then, i've almost been whipped in the face a couple of times. For me, it is worth having the equipment, as i have to clear lines several times a month during the santa ana's we have here in so. california. The equipment has paid for itself many times over, and then some. BTW, the pressure in the co2 is about 2500 psi, but i never let it go above what my own hand can hold. It is really the high volume fast burst that clears the lines, not the really high pressure. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaTechPool Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 sorry, posted to wrong thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelterbay Posted April 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Tell me about using the co2.....where do I get one? how do I use it? where do these "items" emerge? thanks IMO, If you don't use it alot, use of co2 is cost prohibitive, and very dangerous if you don't buy a regulator (cost prohibitive part). Those things can have in excess of 1000 pounds of pressure on the valve. To give you an example, 10 pounds pressure can hurt if something blew apart and hit say your hand. There are guys that say "I open the valve only a little and that keeps the press low". They are right, Until what your blowing hits the obstruction then the pressure in the pipe tries to equalize with the bottle Thats when the drainjet comes back at you. Please don't buy a co2 bottle. AquaTechPool is right, call a pool guy. K~I won't pursue that route...I'll call a pool guy. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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