Good pressure but auto vacuum stops working after a few mins

Hi,

I have a 27 round above ground pool. The preesure seems to be really good but for some reason, when I connect my auto vacuum to the skimmer, it works for like 2-3 mins and then stops. Now I noticed that unless i have a basket or a chlorine ball in the skimmer, I get a tornado effect. Not sure why this is happen and if that's whats causing the issue. Some more info on the pool: I have a sand filter, and have had the pool for about 5 years now and have NEVER changed the original sand. the pressure, when the basket or chlorine ball are in the skimmer is consistently between 12-15 psi. Any suggestions? Thanks

The "tornado" thing you are talking about is normal. Are you filling the vac hose with water to purge the air before you vacuum? I hook the hose to the vac head and submerge it. Then, I take the other end of the hose and hold it in front of the return jet for a couple of minutes until I quit seeing big air bubbles coming out of the vac head. Then, I put it into the skimmer. If you are not doing this, try it and see if it solves the problem. By the way, you do NOT need to change your sand. I'm on my 11th year with the same sand and there are others with sand they've had for even longer than that.

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