Pump not priming

[Watermom]

Before I got a new pump, I struggled with this very problem. I would go ahead and hook my vac head to the hose and the pole and then hold the other end of the hose against the return jet. Not momentarily, mind you, but for several minutes. I could watch all the big air bubbles come out of the submerged vac head and then smaller bubbles, and then when I could see no more bubbles coming out, I would very quickly put the plate into the skimmer. Sometimes I would not do it quickly enough and lose the prime and then have to start over. It was a huge pain in the butt! I can't offer any other suggestion other than to tell you how I did it, but I know how frustrating it is!

[nicole12]

watermom--how would you then get prime back? i shut off her filter and then open up the cover to the pump so it will fill and purge the air.

[Watermom]

Yep that is how I did it, just as you described above. A royal pain in the patootie!!!

[nicole12]

My neighbor just had her pool installed last week so this is a brand new pump/filter under warranty. Do you think something is wrong with the pump or it's just not powerful enough?

[Watermom]

I don't know, but I don't think it is related to the pump not being powerful enough because my old pump that was having this priming problem when vacuuming was a 1 HP pump and my new one is a 1/2 HP pump. The new one does not have this problem, so I doubt it is related to not being powerful enough.