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How To Prime a Pool Pump

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When a pool pump is priming, it is purging the plumbing system of air to create a vacuum effect to pull water from the pool, push it through the filter and back through the return line. An inground pool pump should be able to prime itself under normal circumstances. But if you have had to de-pressurize the system for maintenance, i,e, pump motor replacement, cartridge cleaning,  manual priming is helpful to give your pump a head start for priming.



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Steps

Things You'll Need

pump parts

o-rings, covers

Video

Step by Step

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Step 1

Turn off power to your pool pump at the circuit breaker.

Step 2

Make sure your pool’s water level is at least halfway up the skimmer face. Also, remove debris from the skimmer’s strainer basket.

Step 3

A suction side diverter valve allows you to select whether the pump will pull from either the skimmer, main drain or both. Use the valve to close either the main drain or skimmer line to that the pump is only pulling from the other line. We do this to concentrate pump’s suction, to increase the efficiency of the priming cycle.

Step 4

Open your filter’s air relief valve to allow air to escape as we manually prime the pump. You may hear the noticeable hiss of air passing through the valve when you open it, and after the pump is turned on, this is normal. Sand filters may not have an air relief valve, but rather an internal air relief tube which releases pressure automatically.

Step 5

Remove your pump’s strainer lid. To open up the strainer box, 1-turn the two knobs on top of the strainer lid counter-clockwise and 2- swivel the knobs down away from the lid. Note: Some strainer lids screw on instead of having knobs. In these cases twist the lid counter-clockwise to remove the lid off the top of the strainer box.

Step 6

Remove any debris from your pump ’s strainer basket to improve the pump’s suction during the priming process.

Step 7

Fill your pump’s strainer with a hose or bucket until the water sits above the pump strainer’s intake port. Filling to this point ensure the suction pipe is purged of air.

Step 8

Reattach the pump’s strainer lid. You may want to add a new coat of lube to the pump lid’s o-ring to increase the o-ring’s longevity and prevent any future sucking air leaks.

Step 9

Make certain that any valves on the main return line are open. This will allow the pool pump to discharge water to the pool. If this is not open, excessive water pressure that builds up during pump operation may damage parts of the pumping system and may be dangerous.

Step 10

Turn on the pool pump breaker, then turn on the pump.

Step 11

Keep an eye on the pump’s strainer lid to ensure water is flowing. After the initial water, we used to prime the pump flushes through the system, water should begin to freely flow and fill the pump’s strainer basket. If after a minute, water still has not begun to fill your pump, restart from step one in this guide, and if the problem persists, read this guide: How To Determine Why a Pool Pump Won't Prime

Step 12

The air relief valve should still be open. As the pressure builds, air will be released through the relief valve. When water starts to spray out of the valve, turn the valve clockwise to close it.

Step 13

After the pump has primed itself, reset the suction side diverter to pull from both the main drain and the skimmer.

Step 14

If water isn't flowing freely in 30-60 seconds, repeat steps: turn off the pump, bleed off the pressure, reopen the strainer, refill the strainer, and close the lid. Then turn on the pump. You may have to repeat these steps several times to purge the air from the line.

Step 15

When water is flowing through the pool skimmer lines, slowly open the main drain line at the diverter valve. Open the relief valve to allow air in the main drain line to escape. Again water should flow freely in 30-60 seconds. Close the relief valve. If you don't see pressure building on the pressure gauge and a full strainer box, repeat steps 1 -10.

Step 15

If, after repeated attempts, you cannot prime the system successfully, your system has a major leak or blockage. This problem must be resolved before you can prime the swimming pool system.

Step 16

As stated earlier, if  after a minute or attempting to prime water still has not begun to fill your pump, or after your reset the suction diverter valve the pump loses prime, restart from step one in this guide, and if the problem persists, read this guide: How To Determine Why a Pool Pump Won't Prime and How to Identify and Correct Air Leaks 

 

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(121 to 143 of 143)

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 3/27/2012 

INA - No that is not correct. For in ground pools the pump must be mounted above the surface of the pool. It is only for above ground pools that the pump is mounted below the surface of the pool.
 Reply

 Posted: 3/27/2012 

had inground pool installed 5 years ago. after first 10 months pool pump blew up and has had to be replaced or repaired every year since. Pool pump has now stopped working again wont draw up the water into the pump, no one can seem to find the problem have been told the pump should be lower than the pool.. is this correct?
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 3/6/2012 

paola - Sounds like a bad pump motor but it may be just the motor capacitor. See our guide on How to Replace a Pool Pump Capacitor.
 Reply

 Posted: 3/5/2012 

i tried that and there is no change. I think i should of said the the waterfall falls in the pool. the pump sounds like it wants to kick in to run but it stops.there are two pomps, one for the pool and the other one for the waterfall. do you think is the pump that needs to be replaced?
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 3/5/2012 

Check that the valve setting to the waterfall is open. Also check that the connection to the waterfall is sound. If you have some water coming out of the waterfall you may not have enough pressure to run the waterfall. Try changing the valve settings to divert more water to the waterfall.
 Reply

 Posted: 3/4/2012 

i have an inground pool and his working the only problem that i have is that the waterfall doesnt. i dont know what to do! when i turn it on it doesnt do anything.. any sugestions?? it sounds like its on but i dont see any waterfalls.
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 2/6/2012 

Carpaul5 - Sounds like you have a blown gasket between the pump and housing. This is relatively easy to fix. See our guide on "How to Replace Pool Pump Gaskets."

 Reply

 Posted: 2/5/2012 

My pump motor spins but no suction, zero pressure at the filter. I thot it might need priming, but when I added water to the leaf stainer, I noticed water ran out the bottom of the motor/pump junction. I suspect the pump isn't sealed and can't ceat a vacuum recessary to prime itself. What do you think, and is something easily fixed? Thanks
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 1/2/2012 

primetime, I'm assuming you have an in ground pool. There are two classes of pumps: one for above ground pools and one for in ground pools. Pumps for in ground pools are generally mounted higher than the surface of the pool and as such require what is called a self-priming pump. They still need some priming but are designed to suck in the water from the pool more efficiently. You should not have to prime your pump for a half hour everytime you clean the basket. Check that you have a self-priming pump and consider replacing it if you do not.
 Reply

 Posted: 12/31/2011 

I have a challenging situation, the people that installed the pool had the pool equipment installed higher than the pool. It is always a challenge to prime the pump after cleaning the basket at the pump. The equipment is old, but works great. I just spent over 1/2 hour to get the the pump primed. Repeating the instructions, but was not getting enough water through the lines to get the pump primed. I took a hose and put it in the filter basket let it run in the attempt to back fill the lines and tank with water, this worked. If you have any addition info or recommendations, please post.
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 12/15/2011 

It worked! Thanks for the useful info!!
 Reply

 Posted: 10/27/2011 

Thanks for the step by step instructions for replacing my Pump Motor. Instructions were easy ans simple to understand. Got the Motor yesterday evening and is up and running now.
Great job!
 Reply

 Posted: 10/1/2011 

Im so grateful I found this site today, i thought my pump was broken and id be up for a fortune, it just needed priming and i didnt know about priming till i read your info, thankyou so much, from Sunny Cairns, Australia !!
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 8/14/2011 

it doesn't matter if you do not have one. leave it in the filter position.
turn off the suction valve.
fill the skimmer with water, put the lid back on.
Turn on your pump then gently turn back on your suction valve and it should start working if not keep repeating
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 7/11/2011 

k - From your description, it sounds like your water source from which your pump pulls in water is not filled enough to keep the pump from sucking in air and loosing prime. Try adding water to the bottom of the fountain. If that doesn't work, you may have to have a pool professional look at it.
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 7/7/2011 

need motor starter for sat-rite dura glas 2
 Reply

 Posted: 7/7/2011 

i have a jandy pump that is specific for a waterfall feature. the pump doesnt want to prime, or fill, and thus is just recycling water that is in the lines. i am not sure where the feature pulls its water supply from but it sounds like air and gurgling is happening around the rocks of the waterfall when i turn it on but the pump never fills and no water comes down the falls.i assume the water supply is the pool itself. normally the water streams immediately out of the falls upon turning on the pump, and it has worked fine even a few days ago.
should i just fill the pump while running until it tries to fill up? or fill it cover it then do it again to see if it will fill?
 Reply

 Posted: 7/1/2011 

I have a problem that I can not seem to figure out. I had very low suction to vacum my pool. My pool installer said to take apart the Hayward AE50 and clean out the fingers with a pressure washer, I did and everything was great for about one day. after vacumming the pool I let the pump run for about 5 hours when I went back to check how the water looked the motor was running but NO water coming out the return. Needless to say I can not get my pool guy here until next week. what can I look for to correct the problems myself?
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 6/26/2011 

Pool doesn't have problem priming, it's keeping it primed! after a couple days, all water in system is gone, and I come home to find the pump is running dry, which has been a few times now! So frustrating!!! What could be the problem for this??
 Reply

 Posted: 6/12/2011 

Thank you for the detailed description and photos. Was a huge help!

EE
 Reply

 Posted: 4/21/2011 

My strainer had a small amount of air directly under the clear plastic lid. This small amount of air moved in a circular motion along with the water. During the night, when my Polaras pump was automatically turned off but the main pump stayed on, the clear plastic lid on the atrainer cracked and was pushed off the strainer. This lid should have been under downward suction so why would it fall off? Is there any chance that a sudden reduction in suction pressure of air and water could cause a back pressure that caused the strainer cover to fail?
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 3/20/2011 

my inground pool is working but not recycling the water back to the filter.
 Reply

Anonymous  Posted: 7/28/2010 

what do i do if my filter doesnt have an air release valve
 Reply