air bubbles

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signal26

air bubbles

Postby signal26 » Thu 14 Dec, 2006 20:21

I have a new pool and lately I have noticed some air comming up through the feeder pipe on the front of the filler basket when the pump is off. Sometimes it doesnt start for an hour or so after pump goes off. It is enough where the pump will have to reprime when it turnes back on. Sometimes no bubbles will enter the filler basket, but lately its been doing it everytime pump shuts down, but it only one or two bubbles every few secconds. I checked all of the fittings above ground and dont feel any moisture and the water level of the pool is not changing. Would this indicate a possible slow leak underground or is air entering around pump somewhere?


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Postby Pool Owner » Fri 15 Dec, 2006 11:05

I believe you said the situation is occurring on the suction side of the pump; therefore, it should not be leaking water out when the pump is running (maybe sucking in a little air). No obvious sign of water loss in the pool appears to be consistent with a suction side “leak.” Since your pool is “new” I would ask the builder to review and correct the situation as needed. Many builders that rely on word-of-mouth referrals will want to be very helpful to explain situations and/or correct problems.

If you have valves leading into you pump, when you see the air bubbles, close all these valves then open and close each valve one at a time to determine which line might have the “leak.” If this works, you will know where to start looking and be able to help your pool builder or other pool professional in locating and correcting the problem. There are pool leak detection companies around that can isolate the problem (maybe even pinpointing it) but I do not believe they make repairs and I would expect the service call to be in the hundreds of dollars (two man team with at least one needing to go into the pool).

If you have not yet done so, check your local library for books on the subject of swimming pool construction/maintenance. With the money you have invested in your pool, it is probably worth purchasing the book you like the best, so it is on hand for just such occasions. I have a short review of a few books on my blog (noted below).
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dynamictiger
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Postby dynamictiger » Fri 15 Dec, 2006 15:52

Ask your pool builder to investigate this. To me it sounds suspicously like the air relief on the filter is not working and you are getting blowback after the pump stops.

A simple fix is a check valve between the pump and filter.

HTH
poolmedic

Postby poolmedic » Tue 09 Jan, 2007 19:59

lines always are going to trap a little air somewheres. one kind of cheap easy method to fix this that i have done several times, elevate the pipe slightly that is going into the pump, so it runs slightly downhill to the pump. this will trap the small amount of air causing the basket on the pump to stay full of water and 99 of 100 times the pump will prime instantly. sounds like the contractor that built your pool ran pipes uphill to pump most of the way.
poolmedic signal 31

Postby poolmedic signal 31 » Tue 09 Jan, 2007 20:03

this also works well if your pump has any elevation above the water level.

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