Hardly any suction

[Pool Noob]

I am n new pool owner, I have noticed recently that my pool pump filter hardly has any suction when vacuuming.

I regulary clean all the baskets, I have checked the impeller in the pump for free movement, its fine. I have checked for leaks in the piping as I thought it may be sucking air, but this all looks ok, is there an easy way to check for leaks? as my piping is hard to get to as it is under a deck.

I have backwashed the pump, its a Sta rite sand filter.

Thats about all I know how to check, is there anything else I could look for? It is getting really anoying now as I cant vacuum, and the pool is strating to get really dirty.

Please help.

[Walter]

Silly question but did you check the vacuum hose and vacuum plate?

[Pool Noob]

Yes, I checked that, but I believe it is more of a problem as I dont have very good suction at the skimmer without the vacuum also.

I can block off the suction port at the skimmer with my hand, and it feels very low in suction.

[mr_clean]

Whats your gauge on the filter read when pump is on?
do you have multiport valve turned to waste when vacuuming?
How old is sand in filter?
Have you opened filter and inspected inside?
When backwashing is pressure at skimmer better?
You can check for clog between skimmer and pump by taking a plastic sandwich bag and letting skimmer suck it in, if it shows up in skimmer basket theres no clog but if it does not go to basket then you have clog.
To unclog you would take off pump basket lid & take garden hose with drain king attached put in pipe that goes to skimmer run water and clog should come out at skimmer.
If you have a leak suction side which is before pump you would have air in return lines. If there was a leak after pump you would be leaking water out from pump preesure pushing water to filter/heater.

[epoolguy]

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[Pool Noob]

Answers -

Gauge reads 0. Doesnt even move. (If I cover jet in pool, gauge raises)
Have tried vacuum on waste, still useless.
Sand age? Unknown, just bought this house a few months ago.
Haven't inspected filter, what am I looking for?
Backwashing, pressure is the same as I can tell.
I have checked for blockages between pump and skimmer, all ok.

I do get some bubbles out of pool jet. It only has one (small pool, approx 23,000 litres). But I cant find any leaks on suction side.

Not leaking after pump as best as I can see.

Thanks for any help.

[macd0g]

where are you attaching the vac hose to?
if it is a low suction point(vac point) you should be able to turn on the vac line and turn the rest off (normally valves before the pump)
if it is through the skimmer, make sure that if you have more than one, you plug all but one skimmer, (some have blanking plates to slide over) then turn the other suction lines off, leaving only the skimmer line open.
so what you are trying to do, is use as much of the suction from the pump through one line as possible.
hope this makes sense, and doesnt just confuse you

[mr_clean]

inspect the inside of filter and look for channeling.
That means that the water has carved a tunnel through the sand and is by passing the filter media. The sand would have to be removed and replaced with fresh sand.
inspect impeller further by removing motor, sometimes there is still debris in impeller area you can not feel by turning it.

[Pool Noob]

Thanks for taking the time to help me out.

I am attaching the hose to the skimmer, it only has one suction port in there, and thats the only one for the whole pool. It is a small pool as I posted above, so i think it only needs one.

I did remove the pump and dismantle it as far as I could without getting to over excited and break something. I could not see any further debris in there.

With the filter, which I believe may be the problem as everything else seems ok, how do I inspect the sand? Do I remove the multi gauge on top and then open the filter case from the top?

And if I do that, how do I stop my pool draining? As the filter is below pool level, and their is no valve to turn off on the jet side of the filter?

[mr_clean]

With the filter, which I believe may be the problem as everything else seems ok, how do I inspect the sand? Do I remove the multi gauge on top and then open the filter case from the top?

here is owners manuel to the Sta-Rite filter I think you have click here
if not here is the other type Sta-Rite makes
click here
This will help you know about your filter.
You look for mudballing (clups of debris) & channeling (That means that the water has carved a tunnel through the sand and is by passing the filter media).

And if I do that, how do I stop my pool draining? As the filter is below pool level, and their is no valve to turn off on the jet side of the filter?

sense you have multiport valve you can move handle to closed which shuts-off flow to fliter & pool.

[Pool Noob]

Good news!!

Problem solved.

Thanks everyone for your help, and your patience with me especially.

The problem in the end WAS the impeller. I removed the pump again today, and re checked the impeller for debris. What I didn't realise previously, was that the impeller actually unscrews from the pump motor, and can be cleaned out of the pump. I wasn't properly checking the impeller vanes for blockages. Turns out there was some form of gum nuts, stuck into the vanes and had basically blocked the enitre flow.

After proper cleaning, the filter is functioning at about 80 kpa, which is a great improvment on 0!!

Thanks again for all your help, and I hope this may help any new owners out there understanding the basics of there pump, so they dont get into the same situation I did.

Swimminng here I come