Please Help pressure and heater issue

[mbaucla]

First post I hope this is in the right place. I am new to owning a pool 3 months now and I keep just putting money in the pool and am not getting the results that I want. My latest issue is that my heater will only come on for a very short time and then shut off. We have a pool and spa and with the heater on for hours the spa will not get above 80 degrees. I have had 2 people look at it and they both say that it is the pressure in the system. My pressure is to high.

1. Can you help me understand how the pressure effects the heater.

To get my pressure down we have had the filter cleaned by a pro and have been doing backwashes monthly. The pool gets very little use as the kids are in school. On avg our pressure is in the low 20s but if I switch the valves to spa spa then the pressure goes to low 30s even after a backwash.

Don't know if this has anything to do with it but when I turn my pool on I get lots of air bubbles in the return jets of the pool.

I know that if I call a pool person that it is going to run hundreds of $ to fix and all I want to do is sit in my spa when I get home from work. Can someone help me. I don't know if I have a heater issue, a pressure issue, an air issue, etc....

Thanks in advance for at least reading this.


25K pool with DE filter

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

There is no "normal" pressure. It depends on your plumbing, equipment and pump. 20-30psi could certainly be normal.

I have no idea why "high pressure" would not allow the heater to work. Pool equipment is designed for 50psi.

Air bubbles when you turn on the pump indicate a leak somewhere that is allowing air to enter the system, likely emptying the filter, while the pump is off.