Just Opened Up - Clogged Pipe??

[wetshoes1]

HI.

This is the first time i'm opening up myself. I have an IG vinyl pool.

I removed cover & all plugs, put baskets in the skimmers, plugs in the pump, & threw in my Polaris vacuum. I then primed up the pump & had everything running smoothly, so I added Bleach.

After an hour, I stopped the pump in order to clean out the baskets, as they were full of dirt.

When I turned the pump back on, it didn't prime. After trying several times, all I was able to get was a trickle to go through the system.

Here is a link to a picture of my system: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=2028

I have a 3 port valve, with the left port coming from the main drain, right port from both skimmers, & the 3rd port to the pump.

I can't prime it any way, skimmers only, main drain only or both. So I took a shop vac (6 gal) and stuck it into one skimmer hole while I plugged the second skimmer to see if any air would come through to the pump. IT DIDN'T.

So i'm assuming the pipes are clogged, althogh it would seem that everything is clogged, both from the skimmers & main drain. Is it possible?

Also, now when I fill the pump basket with water to prime it, the water doesn't go down the pipes toward the pool as usual.

How can I unclog it? I could use some solid advice!

[matt4x4]

EDIT - just looked at your picture of your setup, if you can't get it to draw through any setting on your valve, your issue is MOST LIKELY somewhere between the valve and the pump.
That leaves you an area of about 10 inches to investigate - should not be too tough to do, disconnect the pump and look into the line to the valve, switch the valve and look to see if it even moved, maybe the valve is toast.
Looks like the valve is relatively easy to dissassemble as well, at worst you should be able to take it appart to reach what's causing your problem.

[wetshoes1]

I thought of that after I posted my problem. I opened the valve up & the valve itself is clear, as well as the 10" length from the valve to the pump. so it's not that.

[matt4x4]

Something just doesn't sound right about that, it's relatively remote that both lines coming to your pump would plug up at the same time, could the problem be the pump itself?
Maybe the shop vac isn't strong enough to force air through the length of line you're trying to do......
Have you tested to see if the rinse or whirlpool setting will allow you to push water - whirlpool essentially bypasses the filter, and rinse completely bypasses the filter and anything beyond that...
Could also be that the feed to the filter is clogged - if it can't push water, it also can't pull water from the pool - although this does not explain the apparent blockage that's stopping water form flowing back to the pool.

When you took the valve out, did you try sticking a fish tape or drain auger down either pipe on the left and right of the valve to see if there's an obstruction relatively close to the valve?

I think at this point, your best bet would be using compressed air to try and blow it out, don't go higher than 40lbs pressure though, you may break a pipe with more.

[matt4x4]

Another thought on this - is your pump impeller plugged up by chance and therefore not moving water?

[wetshoes1]

I actually went ahead & blew out all the lines with a stronger shop vac & everything is clear, except for the main drain.
I then took apart my DE filter, & cleaned it. The problem was it was extremely dirty so the water had no where to go.

It working fine now, except for the main drain. I can't see down there, the water is green. I am in the process of rigging up a setup to blow out the main drain.

Thanks, now I need to work on getting the water clear & clean.

[RavenNS]

it's interesting that I'm having this same problem ( clogged pipes)
perhaps I'll try the shop-vac method... thanks

[wetshoes1]

I rigged a setup for the main drain, through the pump basket, and I can't get any air bubbles out of the main drain!

Are there any other ideas?

[RavenNS]

Hey wetshoes
I found out what was wrong with my system... turns out it was not a clog,
it was actually a very small air leak.
we had forgot to put the O-rings (rubber gaskets) in our attachments ( & possibly one of the hoses wasn't exactly threaded correctly)
anyway, this tiny airleak ( coupled with the water level not being overly high, but just at minimum required level), caused the system to not prime correctly

so I guess I'm saying, check all hoses and connections for possible leaks because it could really be that you are just drawing in some air