STRANGE! Baracuda now "floats"...

[AZJim]

Hi guys,

ALL of a sudden, my perfectly working Barracuda g3 now insists on floating c. 8 to 12 inches above the bottom of the pool, titled at an angle. It does climb the walls and adheres to the surface there of course, but it will not go down to the flat bottom of the pool. In fact another recent perhaps related problem is that recently, much more often than before, it climbs up to wall surface, sucks air, loses prime, then of course falls back and re-primes. This was happening so often that's why I decided to get all new hose sections to eliminate that as a cause.

So now I have weighted the last hose section, with one actual Barracuda hose weight, AND a whole roll of duct tape also on the hose, figuring that would be more than enough weight. But no, it still does this tilted floating thing. Mind you this is a g3 I've had for about 3 years, working perfectly until a few weeks ago.

Ideas? Thanks.

[Denniswiseman]

Check your pump strainer basket and see if air is being introduced through the lid "O" ring, lubricate and try

[AZJim]

Excellent idea. In fact I know I am getting a small amount of air, although not from strainer lid. A very old in ground system, sucking air as the pipes go into the ground after pump. I see bubbles from the returns, so it's likely that my pipe leaks are now worse. Thanks.

[Denniswiseman]

Pipes after the pump won't suck in air, that is the pressurised side, it's on the suction side before the pump that has a negative pressure and will suck in air
Bubbles out of the return are indicative of a suction side leak
The reason I mentioned the pump is that is the obvious place to look first especially the "O" ring
One other thing, quiet often you don't notice the bubbles untill you start to vacuum as the hose creates more resistance