Jump to content

Pump Not Pumping Or Getting Suction?


Recommended Posts

What are the reasons a pump will not prime and suck water through? Mine is stuck. The pump is brand new. We replaced it after the old one got fried. If the new pump is installed and wont fill with water, what can I do to get things cleared and/or the pump suction going again? Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What are the reasons a pump will not prime and suck water through? Mine is stuck. The pump is brand new. We replaced it after the old one got fried. If the new pump is installed and wont fill with water, what can I do to get things cleared and/or the pump suction going again? Thanks in advance.

Hi,

Many newer pumps, including mine (my old one also fried recently), are pretty much self-priming. Have you put a hose in the strainer and filled it up as much as it'll take? That's all it should need. It should, if the plumbing coming into the pump is good and tight, draw water through the lines and prime itself. If this doesn't work, then perhaps there is some sort of clog in the lines coming from the skimmer to the pump. Check your diverter valve in the skimmer to see which way it's turned. If the skimmer basket has lots of debris in it, maybe it's not drawing water due to that. Can you try drawing from the drain? Sorry I can't help much beyond those suggestions....

Best of luck...I'm sure you'll get it going.

three4rd

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks a bunch. Unfortunately, still not pulling water from the pool. The weird thing is when I put a hose from the pump hole toward the skimmer hole at the pool, you see water flowing up from the pipe. This leads me to believe there is no blockage. Where else would I look for blockage? And if I need to rooter the system, how does one go about doing that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

:rolleyes: Had the same problem. Primed with 3 gallons of water 2 times. Would initially pull that water but little thru the intake. Put hose directly into filter basket and would pump that water. Fixed problem by selecting the closest return line and shut off others. Pump was able to self prime from only that line. Then slowly adjusted valve to bring on far basket. Then finally brought on bottom of pool. Relaced pump myself with some help from pool supply sales person. Hope this will help.

What are the reasons a pump will not prime and suck water through? Mine is stuck. The pump is brand new. We replaced it after the old one got fried. If the new pump is installed and wont fill with water, what can I do to get things cleared and/or the pump suction going again? Thanks in advance.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:rolleyes: Had the same problem. Primed with 3 gallons of water 2 times. Would initially pull that water but little thru the intake. Put hose directly into filter basket and would pump that water. Fixed problem by selecting the closest return line and shut off others. Pump was able to self prime from only that line. Then slowly adjusted valve to bring on far basket. Then finally brought on bottom of pool. Relaced pump myself with some help from pool supply sales person. Hope this will help.
What are the reasons a pump will not prime and suck water through? Mine is stuck. The pump is brand new. We replaced it after the old one got fried. If the new pump is installed and wont fill with water, what can I do to get things cleared and/or the pump suction going again? Thanks in advance.

check the pvc pipe coming in to the pump. if it was installed without any teflon tape or paste it could sucking to much air, thus will not prime. I have never ran into this the diffuser could have been left out during assembly. that requires taking the pump apart to verify

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yes, air in the pump is most likely either a bad connection at the plumbing entering the front of the pump or an air leak at the lid. Also check the drain plugs. They should have some kind of a gasket or rubber o ring to seal them.

Keep in mind an air leak will most likely not leak water, so they can be hard to find.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometimes there is no problem at all. Just a long run, a vertical rise, or more than one suction line your trying to prime at once. That will take time. Sometimes it can take several min to prime. How long are you letting it try to prime before you turn the pump off?

Note: Before all you other techs jump in here and try to tell me you should never let the pump try to prime for more than X amount of time, relax. You really can run the pump longer than a couple of min without damage. You do need to fill it with water first of course, and let it run, don't turn it off to soon cause if you do, you will have lost all that you accomplished to that point (pulling water towards the pump), and you'll have to start over.

I'm not saying this is your problem, just suggesting you try this before cutting into the plumbing and re plumbing things, thats all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...