Swimming Pool Pump Priming Issues

Question

I have recently purchased a Clarke (SPP15) Swimming Pool Pump, to help me clean out my garden pond.

Similar Item Here: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-spp15-swimming-pool-pump/

The pump is apparently self-priming, but after filling the strainer basket area with water, attaching flexi-pipe to the inlet and outlet of the pump with the other ends in the pond water, not a lot happens when I switch it on.

Can it take quite a long time to automatically remove air from the system? - Am I turning the pump off too soon, thinking that nothing is happening?

It doesn't seem right to me to keep the pump running if no water is being pumped.

I have noticed that after prefilling the inlet pump with water, the pump then begins pumping, but isn't this manual priming?

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

According to the manual:

Note: The pump is only self-priming when filled with water. Refilling is only necessary if the pump has been drained, or if all the water has been lost.

So, the "self-priming" label just means you don't have to fill the entire inlet hose. (Seems a bit misleading to me, but such is life.)

Edit: since this pump is designed to be a permanent part of a pool, just pouring some water into the pump the few times it's allowed to go dry isn't a big deal. It's a bigger problem for your application where (presumably) the pump is drained and put away between uses, but that isn't what the pump is designed for, so that's probably as good as you'll do with this pump.