Pool folks, pump girgling & pressure goes up & down

[white trash wagon]

In October bought a house with a pool - first time I've had a pool. Paid a pool guy for a 90 minute lesson on how to care for it. I clean the skimmer baskets daily, do a backflush every 10 days, check my water chemistry & add products as needed.

Everything was perfect, pressure ran at a consistant 10-12 PSI, no bubbles in the "site glass". But Monday, got home & a ton leaves fell in the yard, skimmers were completely full of leaves & the pump was gurgling & putting out a lot of bubbles.

I cleaned out the baskets, cleaned the filter by the pump. Since then, I come home to a gurgling pump, pressures bounce between zero & 10 PSI every minute or so. I've done a backflush & keep the baskets & filter clean, but the system just won't clear up. What's up?

[stinginstang]

Maybe the impeller has some debris? There are a few board members more knowledgeable than me who can weigh in.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Check to see if you can make it change by changing your suction side valves. If it does, you may have some debris in line from the main drain or skimmers. Or your original isn't sealing on the pump basket and you are loosing prime.

[dville_gt]

Maybe the impeller has some debris? There are a few board members more knowledgeable than me who can weigh in.

I've had this problem a couple of times this year, but typically when my pump impeller gets clogged there is no pressure at all on the gauge (although it typically is still moving water through the system).

Post what pump you have. If it is a Pentair Challenger pump it is super easy to clean the impeller (likely all pumps are similar, but since this is the pump I have I know it is easy). Ther is a v-band clamp that clamps the motor/impeller to the pump housing. Disable the power to the pump, open the pump skimmer to release the prime, then pull the v-band that goes around the motor to the housing. Once you have that off the motor/impeller will be free from the housing, and you can sit it on its end (impeller facing up), then there are 3 screws that need to come off to expose the impeller. I find that a zip tie works perfect for dislodging debris in the impeller. When you are finished wash the impeller out with water and put the motor back on the housing then tighten up the v-band. Might not be a bad idea to put a new seal between the pump and the housing (Leslies typically has these for the popular pump models in stock).

[DON SVO]

HHEHEHEHEHEHHEHHHHHH... HE SAID... GIRGLING....

[yellowstang]

Stupid question, and the answer is probably no, but I'll ask anyways because my neighbor had this problem once.

Is their enough water in the pool that the skimmers are sucking it in easy enough, and not sucking in air/water as the pool has small waves in it?

[white trash wagon]

Stupid question, and the answer is probably no, but I'll ask anyways because my neighbor had this problem once.

Is their enough water in the pool that the skimmers are sucking it in easy enough, and not sucking in air/water as the pool has small waves in it?

Yes, water levels are good

[Captain Crawfish]

make sure the o ring on the lid is on good and not missing. since you had a bunch of leaves its possible the veins on the impeller are clogged. to check you need to spilt the pump apart usually its a clamp and look at the impeller clean if necessary. also look for leaks near the pump inlet. if it has a check valve before the pump ive seen them get debri also in them and stop flow. also check the multiport valve or push pull valve if the gaskets go bad they will leak water out the backwash line if the gaskets or o rings are bad

[joezgarage]

I am by no means a pool expert because we have only had a house with one for a year now. Our pool guy services ours weekly and he is willing to answer any questions that I have. He even talks at length about pool stuff in general. Our equipment was all replaced last fall. Here are the few things that I think could be of importance, some have already been stated:

1) Water level is right in the pool for the skimmers to be effective
2) Skimmer baskets are clean
3) Drains are not blocked with leaves or other stuff
4) Sight glass has a small bubble or none at all

Here is something he taught me to do when we occasionally do a backflush. Do an on/off backflush 3 times in a row. Flush it out for 10 seconds, reverse it. Repeat 3 times. He says it "agitates" the filters and knocks off any debris stuck in them. Also dump some DE in the skimmer basket afterwards and make sure none of it is getting through to the pool jets. If the pool jets push out milky water afterwards, the filters have a crack and that needs to be addressed.

Like I said, I am a pool newb. Not all may apply to your situation, just informing what I have learned.

[joezgarage]

make sure the o ring on the lid is on good and not missing.

Also a good idea!