Priming Problem

I would be grateful of help.  This is my first attempt at pool priming.  I have filled the pump with water, but when I switch on an not getting any air bubbles or water through to the pool.  How long can I safely leave the pool running to see if it will pull water through, before I must turn it off to avoid damage? I have tried to do it both on Ciriculation and on Filter.  Am losing the will …

Hi Sheila,

You should be able to leave the pump on for 3-5 minutes without issue. If you still cannot get the pump to prime I would check out our Video on How to Determine Why a Pool Pump Won’t Prime Also if you could take a few photo’s of your plumbing and post to this thread, we may be able to determine if you have a plumbing issue.

Thank You

Patrick

www.inyopools.com

I need help! I run my pool every night, and can hear the pump come on from my bedroom. The other night, I heard it start priming, but it didn’t go all the way through. It probably primed for 3 seconds, just at low speed. Now it just starts low and goes straight to 2200 There are no air bubbles, water is still in the strainer, I don’t see any leaks, the skimmer is full, good pool water level, psi is the same as it always is, around 10 any ideas what it could be? I’m afraid to open anything up, in case I can’t get water back in! Cleaner is working fine also. It’s just the prime function? Oh, but I can manually turn it up to 3400 and it works fine, just not in prime mode!

Good afternoon Paula. There may be a few possibilities as to what can cause priming issues if you didn’t have them prior. Please see these two guides that we put together that may assist called How To Determine Why a Pool Pump Won’t Prime and How to test for suction side air leaks.

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Ok, so I checked all the joints with the soapy bubbles, and nothing, but I noticed there is a tiny bit of water coming out of the pressure relief valve, (I have a Pentair clean and clear plus filter, and replaced the pressure relief valve last year) when the pool is not running it is making gurgling sounds, then when I turn it on, and turn the pump to high, there are bubbles coming out of the return jets, then they clear, but the pool still won’t kick into prime properly when I try to restart. Could this be the problem? It doesn’t seem to affect the strainer basket though, that water level has not dropped at all

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Paula, if the bubbles are going away after a few minutes once it starts up then that is normal as it is merely working out the air in the system that built up once it shut down. A short period of bubbles until the system primes up is a normal process.

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Pressure relief valve was fine, but I think I found the problem! The seal plate looks like it has a leak, and probably because it’s so hot, the water was just drying as soon as it hit the concrete! There is also a very faint hiss coming from the seam. Do you think it’s the shaft seal? We’ve bought a kit to replace the gaskets and bough new filters, do you think this will work? Thanks for all your help!

Paula, If the bubbles go away within a few minutes then that is okay. Also, if the pump seal plate is leaking that can possibly be the reason the system loses pressure once it shuts down. You can get a seal kit or that housing gasket all based on the model name or number of the complete pump.

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