Air coming in?

[Anonymous [GDPR] European in the UK]

OK so it does now sound like a pump issue, could something have gotten into the impeller? I have had to fetch out all manner of stuff from impellers and that would at least not require a full strip down, just removal of the front cover if you can't get your fingers down inside to fish anything out. (totally unplug the pump first).
Failing that it could well be the bearings, if you are not up to the job it's worth finding a shop who can, bearings are low cost and reasonably easy to change providing the bearing hosing isn't damaged through running excessively hot.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[mkelley]

Hmmm, it defintely *could* be something in the impeller. Right before this happened there was a ton of crap I vaccumed out and a lot of it ended up in the catch basket, so it's always possible something slipped through into the pump itself. But when you say "removal of the front cover" what do you mean by that? I thought the pump/basket/impeller were all of one piece.

I'll go out and take a look today (and see if there are any internet videos showing me what you are talking about). The good news is the last pump they put in was done with screw settings on both of the intake and output pipes, so changing the pump isn't going to require any cutting (at least in terms of taking it out -- I may have to cut to fashion some fittings on the new one to fit this setup).

[Anonymous [GDPR] European in the UK]

The majority of pumps separate to facilitate cleaning leaving the back plate and impeller attached but allowing you to remove the front of the pump and pre filter "the wet end" What pump do you have?

[mkelley]

Here's images of my pump (the Pentair Sta-Rite P6RA6F-206L Max-E-Pro). I took off the motor part and AFAIK the impeller was clean (I can't physically move anything on either side of this assembly).

I'm hoping the pump has just gone bad, as I ordered another one (the same kind) which should be relatively easy to replace (obviously I could easily just put the pump part back in, but I most likely will swap out the whole pre-filter and housing, as it appears to be a simple screw set up that, at the most, will only require me to make some fittings at the pump side, which is pre-threaded on both connectors).