This guide will explain how to troubleshoot a pool pump that is not priming. The most common causes of pool pump priming issues are sucking air leaks in your pump housing or plumbing, and debris clogs. We’ll be focusing mainly on the suction-side of your pool equipment for this guide. The suction-side s all equipment and plumbing from your skimmers and main drains to your pool pump’s impeller.
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Geronimo Posted: 5/2/2016
Have Hayward in ground pool pump.it primes itself in about 90 seconds but the strainer reservior is just filling the chamber about 2/3 full,slightly above strainer basket.when I opened the pool to get ready for the season the reservoir was full when pumpingReply
InyoPools Product Specialist Dennis R. Posted: 4/24/2016
Laurie - It sounds from your description that you leave the hose running in an open basket when you try priming the pump. The pump cover has to be replaced and sealed with the hose pulled out to prime the pump. If you are sealing the pump cover, check the O-ring under the cover to make sure it is not worn or that the O-ring is stretch out with age and not sealing completely.Reply
Laurie Posted: 4/21/2016
My pool pump won't fill up with water. I turn the hose on and put in in where the basket goes and run it for 15 minutes and it never fill up. Is that normal?Reply
InyoPools Product Specialist Dennis R. Posted: 4/4/2016
John - You may have a low water flow issue. See our guide on "How To Determine the Cause of Low Water Flow". Start with looking for a clogged impeller in your pump, a common issue. Then, if you have a cartridge filter, try running your system without the cartridge for a short time to see if that corrects your priming problem. If it does and your filter looks clean, the filter may be clogged with oils and chemicals and may need to be replaced.Reply
John Posted: 4/2/2016
Mt Hayward EcoStar has been running fine with a Navigator attached until recently. Now the pump starts fine but only with Navigator not attached. It primes fine but fails if the Navigator is attached at start of prime.Reply
Mary Posted: 3/22/2016
Thank you so much for your video on how to prime my pool pump. IT WORKED! I found the problem and made the correctionsReply
InyoPools Product Specialist Dennis R. Posted: 2/22/2016
Brian - First make sure you have a self priming pump. Above ground pools use gravity fed pumps. Then check for problems with low water flow. See our guide on "How to Correct Low Water Pressure in Your Pool System". Look again at a possible clogged impeller. This is a common problem. You might take the motor out to look closer at the impeller.Reply
Brian Posted: 2/18/2016
Hello, I came across your site and tried your steps. My pool will work and circulate water if I fill the filter basket with a hose, close it and turned it on (not moving any valves).However, it will not circulate water and just spin if I don't manually prime it. So in short the pump is not self priming. I verified the impeller does move when I manually moved it and didn't get anything when doing the coat hanger trick. Any ideas?
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InyoPools Product Specialist Dennis R. Posted: 8/28/2015
emily - Generally not. If your sand has not been changed for 5-7 years, I would change it. It may be too clogged for good water flow.Reply
emily Posted: 8/26/2015
hi there, is it possible that the pool pump wont prime because the sand filter needs to be backwashed?Reply
InyoPools Product Specialist Dennis R. Posted: 7/21/2015
Pump won't run - You may have run the pump dry. If this happened long enough, you may have shorted out the motor coils and you will have to buy a new motor. See our guide on "How To Troubleshoot a Pool Pump Motor - Motor Fails to Start" for more information.Reply
Anonymous Posted: 7/20/2015
I noticed the water level was below skimmer and at that time pump and motor was running,so I turned off both pump and motor for the day.the next day went to turn on pump and motor and nothing happened,why?Reply
Rustum Posted: 6/11/2015
Thank you very much for this guide. I installed a new 3/4 HP pump and it would not prime. I redid the threaded connection and the union as per your instructions and it primed. I used silicon grease that I have from a scuba store to coat the o-ring on the union and used LDR TFE Paste with the silicon tape for the threads.Reply
Anonymous Posted: 5/23/2015
Thanks much, Step 10 clogged impeller was my issue. I spent 2 hours troubleshooting traditional (air leaks, strainers, etc..) still no prime. Googled got you site and got the solution. Used your method (hook wire) to clear out impelllerReply
InyoPools Product Specialist Dennis R. Posted: 1/3/2015
Roady – Double check all the possible issues listed in this guide and then have someone check to see if you have one or more blockages in the suction pipes to the pump. Also make sure that your 4 speed VS pump is starting up at the highest speed. You will need that level of suction to prime the pump.Reply
Roady Posted: 1/1/2015
My pump won't prime. I see the slide to fill with water, but yet I see other instructions that open and close the strainer and they don't mention filling with water. Our pool guy checks our filter and never adds water. We have had a new replacement pump and still won't prime. Even the rep came out and looked and still won't prime. We have the 4 speed Hayward pump.Reply
trent2014 Posted: 10/14/2014
Yes... very helpful list. It was the O-ring. Thanks for the tips. 9 bucks later,, were up & running.T
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KH Posted: 8/8/2014
Excellent!Reply
NJ (South) PDQ Electric & Pool/Spa Posted: 7/4/2014
Great pics, great step by step, from step 1 being most common to last step being the least common. We teach this practice to all of our technicians. Will forward this link to all of our diy'ersReply
Anonymous Posted: 8/28/2013
excellently described.Reply
Anonymous Posted: 8/16/2013
Very good checklist - thanksReply