Opened our pool very late this year. We have a 12’x20’x4’ rectangle above ground Kayak. Water was black so we didn’t open bottom drain to avoid sucking anymore crud throught the system than neccesary. Ran with skimmer open for about a week with no issues. Backwashed and rinsed numerous times with no issues. Water was light green but still cloudy when I decided to vacuum. Made sure all air was out of hose, etc. Within 2 minutes lost suction and now every time we turn the pump on, water level in pump basket drops, blowing all kinds of air into pool & pressure guage only reads 5 lbs. Opening the bottom drain does increase pressure to 15,but low water level in basket remains even after running for hours. We’ve had this pool for 18 years without this issue ever happening. Pump is only 2 years old. Plumbing goes from skimmer to 1 90 degree, then to 3 way valve and then to pump basket.
Make sure the skimmer basket is empty. After that, look for clogs in the line running from the skimmer to the pump. If there is nothing impeding the flow, start looking for suction side air leaks.
Thanks for replying so quickly. Skimmer basket is empty. We actually replaced the line running from the skimmer to pump after this issue began so no clogs there. Even inspected the 3 way valve to make sure it was clean. Haven’t found any sign of air leaks. Like I said, pump ran for a week with no problems until a few minutes after I started vacuuming. I did forget to put skimmer basket in and as a result, there was a lot of debree in the pump basket. Could something have got past the pump basket and into the pump? I’m ready to call in a pro to come look at it.
The impeller could be clogged. However, the pump should still be full of water because it is below the water level of the pool. Gravity should keep the pump full of water.
Make sure that the 3-way valve is allowing water to enter the pump. In some cases, the valve is turned accidentally and it turns off the line from the skimmer.