Another liquidator install today...have an air leak.

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M

Matt in Houston

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Feb 24, 2012
57
I installed my liquidator and it filled right up no problem. I can easily max out the flow meter wide open. Anyway, once I had it dialed down to about 3, I noticed some tiny bubbles in the clear hose, starting at the flow control valve. The bubbles slowly fill the flow meter with air but it seems to stop around the "3" mark and then the bubbles are mostly going down the line toward the pump. Many of the bubbles stick to the hoses. I can't detect any air in the pump basket so maybe the leak is too small for the pump to lose prime or anything like that. Still this concerns me.

Anyway, I have tried a lot of things after doing a search on the forums and google. I even switched out the upgraded 3/8 control valve with the smaller grey one and it still leaked air in. I also bought a tube of pool gel and lubed the hoses and connections and that didnt work either. Then I noticed if I turned on my main drains, it stopped pulling in air and seemed to go away. So now I am thinking that my pump is pulling too hard and creating the air leak. Only problem is if I open the main drains, then my pool cleaner (TPC 2x) RPM will be below specs and moving too slowly so that idea isnt really going to work.

I also noticed a ton of tiny bubbles inside the LQ tank and around the float valves. I started to wonder if they were being sucked in but then I thought if that were the case, then wouldnt there also be bubbles on the hose going from the LQ to the flow control valve? The bubbles only start at the hose connection after the flow valve so that is where I have decided my leak is from. Weird that I have tried both flow control valves and they both leak? Is it possible the suction is too strong and they are leaking at a place other than the hose connections, like maybe in the valve lever linkage or something?

468802_10150985194399941_1204155453_o.jpg


Any other ideas? I thought I read somewhere about the floats potentially leaking in air but I am ruling that out since there are no bubbles in the line from the liquidator.

Thanks!

Matt
 
The fittings are kind of finicky. I had to take the fittings out of my flow meter and wrap them in teflon tape to stop small air leaks. Your leak is probably fairly small since it only shows up when you have the drain off
 
Thanks for the replies.

The flow meter is just to the right of the control valve with the blue handle in the picture. You can see where it just starts to plug in but then the rainbow chlorinator blocks the view.

I will try to bypass the meter and see if that changes anything, but I am doubtful since I can see the tiny bubbles traveling through the line from the control valve and going into the meter. Also I did use thread tape on the flow meter connections and they dont look cracked. I cant see any air entering the system from the flow meter so far, but it wont hurt to bypass it and double check.

I am considering swaping the location between the flow meter and the check valve. Is there any reason not to try this?

Thanks again!
 
Okay I went out and switched the control valve with the check valve and the problem with air going into the meter is now solved. Over hours time some air does seem to get in but it is nothing like before and the flow meter is working properly from what I can see. I can say with certainty that the valve is leaking in a small amount of air. The control valve is now the last piece before the water returns into the pump and that section of hose is full of tiny bubbles. I guess this is a good reason to upgrade to the Hayward needle valve? I wonder if anyone has had a problem with those leaking in air at higher vacuum levels...

I would also like to mention that I had to use a different bracket to hold my suction tube in because the two metal brackets that ship with the LQ are too small for some pipes like the one in the pic that leads to my pump basket. It would be great if they had a larger option. I was lucky since I mess around with cars that I had some extra air intake hose brackets and one of them worked. The others would require a hole drilled into them and that could get tricky.

Lastly, I went to the hardware store and purchased some flexible black plastic speaker/component wire covering in 1 inch diameter and put it over the LQ hoses. I figured this may help stop some UV degradation on the hoses and the chlorine inside them, especially on the output side which is carrying a higher concentration of chlorine. Plus it looks much nicer now.

Overall my initial impressions of the LQ are good, I just hope it doesnt become a pain fixing and modifying it too much. I still would like to completely stop any air leaks into the system. Maybe the needle valve will do that.
 
I'll take a few pics tomorrow for sure. It seems to be working great although there is still some air getting into the system, it is a very small amount and doesnt seem to have any effect at this point. Some of it is probably from the hundreds of tiny bubbles that are in the LQ tank. I will probably redo the hoses with something better at some point in the future. Right now its just so freaking hot outside I am putting it off until later.

The bricks are for sound. The first few days after the pool was plastered I ran the pump 24/7 and one day I was outside and my neighbor asked me if it was going to be like this all the time. He said my pump was keeping him and his family awake because it was making a high pitched humm that cut right through the walls. I told him after that day it would be on a timer and only run from 9am-12pm and 5pm-8pm. He asked me about building a box around it and I thought about that but then I saw the bricks and had the idea to just stack them around it. I left a large air hole on the back side for flow to still go through and the location of my equipment is in a usually windy location along the side of my house. We live on a lake so its usually pretty breezy.

I felt really bad since we just moved here last year and my neighbor is a nice guy. I asked my builder to take a look and make sure it wouldnt damage the pump. He did and said it looks fine. So I just have kept it that way ever since. It does work though...it is noticeably quieter than before.
 
Here is a pic with the plastic covering over the LQ hoses. It only cost $3 or $4 dollars for 10ft at Lowes.

Also most of my air in the lines is gone and there are less bubbles in the tank than before. I guess everything had to break in.

Seems to be working great so far!

lqsetup.jpg
 
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