Problems with new plumbing

[Dave45n]

Some basic things to check:

Did you prime the suction strainer?

Are you running the pump on high?

Did you open the release valve on the filter until water comes out?

Is the skimmer filled with water?

When doing any of the above follow the owner's manual for safety.

I believe the suction head is ok, but you should install a check valve in the vertical suction line to help maintaining the prime for re-starts.

Dave

[lacosh]

Thanks for all the great advice! We followed imfignewton's advice with stopping and starting and were finally able to get it going! I've attached a photo of the plumbing. All our plumbing is on a deck that will be enclosed by a shed when we get around to building it. ;-) With all the valves open, it's quite a lot of vertical pipe. After getting the one line going, we got the others one by one.

We'd need a lot of check valves if we put one on each vertical run. We currently just have one check valve installed after the filter. Shouldn't the water stay in the pipes now that we have it started? I'm hoping this hassle will only be when we open the pool each year...

On another note, our brand new DE filter is a Pentair FNS Plus 36. In the manual it said when you get it running the first time time to mark the pressure so you know when to backwash. Well, now that the pool is started, the guage still reads 0. I can call Pentair on Monday, but maybe someone here will know what's going on! (I posted this question on the equipment discussion board.)

[adl6009]

Nice picture. you did all that yourself? I think you are getting zero pressure because you still have the multport set to recirculate. First, turn the filter off, never change the multiport setting with the filter on. Then set it to filter. You will have to bleed the air out of the filter with the valve under the gauge. Leave it open until water comes out, and don't stand in front of the opening, unless you have your bathing suit on.

[lacosh]

I can take very little credit for the plumbing myself. My job was to put the purple PVC primer on the pieces. My husband did the rest!

We just got a replacement gauge from Pentair today and now the filter is showing pressure. We must have just gotten a bum gauge.

PS: We put a clear flexible plastic tube on the pressure release so that we wouldn't spay ourselves and the inside of our future shed. It channels the air and water under the deck. :-)