Can't Prime My Circ Pump

[MattL]

I did a water change in the tub yesterday. Shut off the breaker, drained the tub, filled 'er back up (thru the filter mechanism), and turned on the breaker. Walked over to the tub and the "Pr" light was on as usual after a shutdown. I pressed the one pump button and it fired up and circulated water with no issues. I pressed the other pump button (which is also my circulation pump) and got nothing. Turned it off then on again... nothing. Repeat 20x. Nothing. I tried back-priming it by spraying water though a garden hose nozzle into some of the jets. Still nothing. I figured I must have done something wrong and managed to get an air bubble in the lines so I drained the tub again and refilled it (again thru the filter). Snapped the breaker back on and tried the pumps. 1st pump again had no issues. Circ pump is just not catching water, even after several attempts.

The thing was running without a hitch before, and over the two years I've had it I've never had this issue. Is there a better way to ensure the pump gets primed other than filling it thru the filter? Any suggestions on how to get it primed?

By the way, it's a 2008 Raindance Spa with a Balboa 54585 control box.

Thanks

[Dr. Spa]

I pressed the other pump button (which is also my circulation pump) and got nothing.

Was there any noise or humming from the pump? If not, either your pump is bad or there's some electrical issue that's not allowing power to the pump.

[MattL]

I'm sorry... yes, the pump sounds like it's running fine, in circ mode and on high... it's just not grabbing any water.

[Dr. Spa]

The manuals I have are after 2008..but don't show me any pictures anyway. If the pump has unions, gently loosen the top one. You should hear air escaping, and then see water running out. Tighten it back up, and try it then. If could also be something else, such as a frozen motor (tends to sound the same as a working motor to the untrained ear), or a broken impeller.

[Dnepr Dave]

Every time I change the water in my spa I have to "burp" the pump, as Dr. Spa described. That is the cheapest thing that could be wrong, I'd try that first.

Dave

[MattL]

Evidently the magic elves that live under my deck fixed the issue while I was at work yesterday. I got home and, just for craps and giggles, gave it a go again. It sounded like it was spinning free (with no water)... then a couple bubbles burped out of the jets, then a few more, then more, and then she took right off. Checked it before I left this morning and the circ pump wasn't running at the time. I pressed the button to turn it on, and it spit water out the jets just like it was supposed to. Maybe I need to bump up the elves' salaries...

Thanks for the suggestions either way.

[SpaSage]

If it happens in the future you can try moving the diverter valves around the top of the spa to different positions between attempts at turning the pump on and off.

If all else fails you can shut the power to the spa off, open the equipment compartment, and manually crack the union on the front of the pump. These unions are hand tight, so you should not need tools for this. If you do use a wrench be careful not to over tighten the union.