Interesting, Rangeball. That's what I normally do when I prime the pump, but I called the pool store and they told me I absolutely had to have all the valves closed or it would never prime, but would just drain water out of the pump basket into the lines.

I will go open the valves, fill the pump basket with water again and turn it back on and see what happens. The pool store is willing to make a service call in the morning to see if I damaged the impellar (?) or an O-ring in the valve, for a minimum charge of $50, plus parts and labor!

Uhg! I had to add fill water today and could not put it through the filter first and since we have a lot of iron in our water, my pool is now a lightly tinted green color ~ yellow water over blue liner = green! And the pool has been so perfectly clear and beautiful since I finally got the algae problem solved!