Pump motor and filter drain plig

Pool Equipment
1

Hi,

we installed new pump motor in September, and was working fine. I cleaned out the cartridge filter and reinstalled filter drain plug as usual (have done this for last 10 years), and turned pump on. Primed well however psi increased a bit after 20-30 minutes of pumping.  We had a bit of light algae and I applied shock to kill so I can backwash it.

went to grocery store, came back to water in the yard. My observations:

pump had turned off

cartridge plug had shot off and I guess pumped all water out of filter and about 6 inches from pool

circuit breaker tripped in house

i added water, bought New drain plug and applied teflon tape before screwing into filter

tried to turn pump on and it runs for 30 seconds and trips breaker again.  Saw smoke out of it so am sure it’s toast

my questions: since I have some algae, can I out in my vacuum to keep water storing and clean floor since I added shock to pool?

it will be 5 days before my next pump motor arrives so I can turn it on.

what would cause the plug to be shot off the filter?  As it’s never happens again.  Could it have been of and threads wearing out?  Just concerned as I don’t want to go to work or groceries and have stress of pump burning out again.

help. Luckily weather getting cooler in Atlanta so algae may not bloom as fast.

2

You can add shock and move the pool water around with a pool pole. This should allow you to kill the algae and prevent it from spreading. If you have a robotic cleaner, you can use that as well.

It’s possible that the threads were stripped and the high pressure of the filter caused the plug to pop out. A new plug and teflon tape should prevent that from happening again. Always keep an eye on your psi reading and clean the filter once it rises 10 psi above the clean starting pressure.