Pump issue or pressure side cleaner issue?

[grrltraveler]

Hi guys and gals,

I've been working on getting the water clean in my pool after we moved out pool equipment. The last few days I've noticed air bubbles shooting out of the return (both at the pressure side washer outlet and the return right next to it) - recently it is a lot of bubbles - in bursts though, not consistent.

The psi on my filter is 9 or so. The pressure side washer has been moving around in circles and getting stuck forever at the sides without cleaning most of the center. I don't know if all this stuff is related but I'm wondering if it could be.

With a little reading before I got on here to post, I'm wondering if perhaps my water level is too low. Would that cause symptoms like this?

The psi on my filter actually goes down a bit when I turn on the pressure side washer - about 1 psi. Don't know if that's helpful or not.

Thanks
Anne

 

[Bama Rambler]

Air bubbles mean there's a leak on the suction side of the pump.

Air bubbles will affect the operation of a cleaner.

Low water level in the skimmer can cause it to suck air and would cause the symptoms you're experiencing.

The filter pressure reduction is perfectly normal whenever you open a second outlet into the pool. You're reducing the head by opening the cleaner port and therefore the back pressure on the filter (and thusly the gauge pressure) will go down a bit.

 

[grrltraveler]

Thanks Bama. I'd already started putting water in and it seemed to fix the bubble issue. I will wait awhile and turn on the pressure cleaner until it gets a bit fuller.

Thanks
Anne