How to prime your swimming pool pump
Easy checks
Being the responsible swimming pool owner you are, you are performing your normal weekly routine of emptying your pump and weir baskets. After tightening the swimming pool motor lid and turning the swimming pool motor back on you notice no water is running through the pump. Understanding that most pumps installed on swimming pools are self-priming, there will always be a reason why your swimming pool motor will not catch prime that you need to identify. For example, if the pool pump lid is not tightened down properly (remember not to over tighten). Check the swimming pool pump lid o-ring for cracks, debris, or indentations, if any of these are present, replace the 0-ring. Even if you left the swimming pool motor lid off for too long, this allows the pipes to fill up with air and makes it more difficult to prime. There are other reason such as suction leaks that may be causing the problem as well. Once the problem has been identified and resolved it is time to prime the swimming pool pump.
Here is a step by step procedure to priming your pump after any issues have been resolved.
1. With the pool pump turned off, open the pool pump lid
2. If you have more than one suction line, Turn off the other lines leaving only one suction line open(the shortest one).
3. Run garden hose water into the pool pump for 2 mins. (pool pump will most likely over flow, this is ok as what you are doing is flooding the suction line with water.)
4. This is the important part…After the 2 mins are up, as fast as you can, pull the garden hose out, put the lid on and turn on the pool pump. THEN you can turn off the garden hose. This is important because once you take the hose out, air can get back into the line if you are not quick enough.
5. Once the pool pump has re-primed, SLOWLY open the rest of the suction lines one at a time. Air from the lines can cause you to loose prime again, so normally closing the line you just opened and giving it a minute will allow the pump to restart.