Clogged suction line.

[Phillbo]

My set up has a dedicated line for my Hayward cleaner and another line for the single skimmer. We had a bad freeze causing my Ficus trees to drop a lot more leaves than usual. I notice my cleaner was not moving as fast as normal so i pulled it apart and did not find anything wrong. The Skimmer and Cleaner suction lines meet just prior to the pump basket and there is a valve that allowes my to balance the flow by turning one side off more that the other. I notice that if I set the value to shut off the cleaner and dedicate more suction to the skimmer, the pump runs nice and quiet with no problem. If I set the valve for more suction on the cleaner line, I get a lot of cavitation and if I keep moving it that direction I slowly loose water flow.

I have a blockage in that dedicated suction line for the cleaner. The cleaner does not have one of those leaf baskets in the line that floats in the pool but I will add one once I get this issue resolved. We usually do not see leaves dropping like this.

Here is my thought. The most likely spot for the blockage to have occured is right at that value so I plan to start by pulling it apart ( it is a circular head with about 12 screws and a handle that says "close") .. Is there anything to watch for when I pull the vale apart ? Should I lube the inside once apart ? It if quite hard to move.

If I do not find the obvious problem right at the valve, What next ? Try to blow the line out ? Can I snake it ? I know it has a couple 90* bends between the valve and the pool wall.

Any advice, stories of success is welcomed ...

[JohnT]

I'd say the most obvious place for blockage is at the first 90 degree bend in the pipe. The first thing I'd try is to put a hose in the pump end of the line and run water backwards through the pipe. Wrap an old towel around it to get a little pressure. I'd do it with the valve in both positions.

[Sweet]

What a coincidence! I was just about to post a question about a clogged suction too. Mine is my main drain at the bottom. I noticed that the drains weren't sucking up the grit (dust storm we had Saturday), so I cycled the valve for the drain to the off position. Great groans from the pump and the filter basket suddenly was half air. Pressure on the cart filter dropped 10 psi. I put it back to the skimmers.

I have taken my valve apart before, apparently it was assembed with the O ring not seated correctly, so it was sucked in a little, causing a suction side air leak. get some silicon O ring lub (mine's something like "Pool and Spa" from Leslies. I was at Leslies Yesterday and noticed they had this bladder-like thing that attaches to the end of a garden hose. I imaging you could place that in the intake to you pump's filter basket (it's just a pipe on mine) and back-flush without removing any value covers. [Or use a towel as noted on preview]

I will probably wait this out until the pool is warmer, then dive down and remove the drain covers (with drain valve in the off position), and see if anything is there. I found some river-stone smooth bits of plaster in the pump basket a couple weeks ago, so I figure there's more and I need to get them out of the line anyway. I will also try the backwash, with a pressure gauge tee'd in to prevent over-pressuring my drain lines (no more that 20 psi?).

[JohnT]

I noticed that the drains weren't sucking up the grit (dust storm we had Saturday), so I cycled the valve for the drain to the off position. Great groans from the pump and the filter basket suddenly was half air. Pressure on the cart filter dropped 10 psi. I put it back to the skimmers.



If the pump lost flow when you turned the drain off, it is an indication that your skimmer can't supply enough water. It may be a fact of your plumbing, an indication of low water level in the pool, or a sign of blockage in the skimmer line.


If you meant to say it lost flow when you turned the drain on, it may just be air in the line. The water in the drain line will drop to the level of the pool surfuce if the valve is cycled with the pump off or any air can get in at all, and the pump will struggle for a short while until the line fills with water.

[Sweet]

Nope,

what I meant was when I rotated one the the Jandy three-way valves where the suction side of the pump was drawing water solely from the main drain(isolating the two skimmer returns), there was an apparent lack of flow. The lid on the filter did actually get sucked down a visible amount. Visually, the air appears quite rapidly and achieve some sort of equilibrium at about 2/3 full, and disappears quickly when the valve is returned to it's wide-open position. I used to do this exact thing during the summer when I would clean my skimmer baskets and put new socks on them. It didn't behave this way then.

Completely shutting off the drain side does not cause air to be sucked in through the skimmers. The water level is fine, about 1/2 inch below the overflow drain. My pump and most of the valves are below the water level of the pool, thus air does not typically collect in the lines.

[Phillbo]

Hey, my thread got jacked :D


Any advice on pulling the valve apart ? Any secrets ?

[fog80]

I have a similar problem. My skimmer line is clogged as well and I have two options.

1) open the valve so I can use water pressure to blast out the clog

2) cut the pipe and plumb in a T fitting so that I can use pressure to blast out the clog.

I'm just not sure what to do.