Pump Housing Leak/Air in Pool

[cbass]

I have tried all I can to repair this and right now need suggestions from more experienced pool owners.
The first time I have owned a pool is the time I bought my house 1 year ago.

Problem: Water squirts out around the pool pump housing. Visible air bubbles come out pop up heads so air is
getting into the system.

Equipment.
12,000 gallon pebble tec finish pool built by Shasta in 1996.
Pentair FNS Plus 48 DE Filter (installed in 2012 by previous owner)
Pentair UltraFlow 1.5 hp pump (original to pool but serviced in 2012)
Water Fall
A&A QuikSkim skimmer
A&A Pop up heads
A&A water leveler


The old owner has the pool pump serviced in July 2012. On the list of parts is a new volute, new impeller, and various seals including the housing gasket.

What I have tried:
* Replaced the housing gasket and used silicone (the old one looked to be in good shape)
* Replaced pot to volute gasket (old one looked to be in good shape).
* Looked at the volute and the seal plate. I can't see any cracks.
* Removed the grids from the DE filter to see if it made a difference (improved but still leaks)
* Disconnected the section running cleaning heads to see how the water flows (flows fine and doesn't appear to have any issues)

Any other ideas what may be the issue?

I also don't appear to have a return going back to the pool. It goes to the pop up heads and appears to make it to the pool in that way or through the waterfall when it is on.

I am happy to submit pictures of the equipment and plumbing if that would help.

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

You probably have two different problems. Water leaking during normal pump operation is going to be on the pressure side of the pump. Air leaks, on the other hand, occur on the suction side of the pump. Sometimes air leaks will squirt water when the pump shuts down, but not usually during normal operation.

Where exactly is the water leaking from the pump housing?

 

[cbass]

Thank you. I have been lurking and reading posts for awhile.

I can take a picture of the leak. It is leaking from where the seal plate meets the volute. Specifically, there is a notch in that area which appears to be where the leak comes from. I don't see any damage to that area and the notch appears to be tight. I have used silicone to seal the area and still the leak remains. The previous owner in July of 2012 also had a brand new volute put on so I am skeptical of a relatively new volute being the issue.

I looked for air leaks on the suction side of the pump. I used cigarette smoke to try to trace it and did not come up with anything. I saw the pot to volute gasket had a few cracks in it so I replaced it with a new gasket. However, those cracks just appeared to be minor and on the outside. When I took out the old gasket it seemed to be in good shape.

There is air in the system for sure, but I don't know how it is entering at this point. The pump uses a clamp. Is it possible that it's also sucking air through the area the water is leaking from?

 

[cbass]

I also am unable to find a return line inside the pool. There are two tubes that go into the pool, but neither is a return. One is from the venturi skimmer and the other appears to be from the water leveler.

Is it typical or possible that the only return is through the pop up heads?

 

[JohnT]

The pump uses a clamp. Is it possible that it's also sucking air through the area the water is leaking from?

No, it's not possible. Your motor shaft seal is leaking, but that is on the pressurized side of the pump. Air can only leak in between the basket housing and the intakes in the pool.

That notch is probably the drain to allow water out of there when the shaft seal leaks.

I can't imagine a reason to change that housing unless the pump was run dry and the old one deformed.

 

[cbass]

I will take a look and also post some pictures. The shaft seal was replaced in July of 2012 as well.

 

[cbass]

As promised. Pictures.

Equipment:

Leak:

Water squirts out from between this area. I removed the pump slightly to show it. To me it looks like an alignment notch.

 

[cbass]

Welcome to TFP!

You probably have two different problems. Water leaking during normal pump operation is going to be on the pressure side of the pump. Air leaks, on the other hand, occur on the suction side of the pump. Sometimes air leaks will squirt water when the pump shuts down, but not usually during normal operation.

Where exactly is the water leaking from the pump housing?

I finally resolved my issue and I wanted to update this thread.

You were correct in that I had two issues.

I received a pool pump from a friend who replaced his with a variable speed.
The specs on his pump matched the pump I was replacing.
I cut out my old pump and connected the new pump. That stopped the leak
from the pool pump.

However, I still had a major air leak on the suction side. I used the Jandy valve to
isolate which line it was coming from. I traced it to the line where the leafVac was
attached. I don't understand why, but replacing the cover there solved the air suction problem.

I would not have guessed as under there is a bunch of water and I would have expected it to suck
water and not air. But ultimately it does not matter. I am back up and running.

Thanks for the input.