Air in system after Pool company installed new multiport valve

[Bradvansky]

Hi everyone,
I recently had a new multiport valve installed after the plumbing at all the joints was cracked and leaking. When the pool company was here, I had them install the salt water generator as well.

Since the install, I've got air swirling around my skimmer basket and microbubbles coming out of my returns. Not a ton, but certainly noticeable. Taking a look at the plumbing work, I found what's seen in the picture. This joint has a small amount of water on it too, leading me to believe it's leaking. Shouldn't some collar be screwed over this bare thread? Is this plumbing work they did acceptable, or do they need to come back out and re-plumb this? I have to believe this is the source of the air in the system, which was not present before.

Thanks for weighing in.
Brian

 

[HermanTX]

This joint has a small amount of water on it too, leading me to believe it's leaking. Shouldn't some collar be screwed over this bare thread?

It appears they could not screw the union collar down because of the pump basket cover. My Pentair pump has a female thread looking up where you run a short length of pipe vertical which allows the pump cover to close. Then attach the union above that short piece of pipe.
It looks like they put the union half directly into the pump housing.
If you turn off your pump, and unscrew the union collar that is connected to your new multi-port valve, that whole section of pipe will probably lift off. What a poor installation. They need to fix this.

 

[Jimrahbe]

microbubbles coming out of my returns.

Brad,

Keep in mind that SWCG's can generate very small bubbles when they are making chlorine. Not saying this is the issue you are having, but it would not be unusual for the cell to make small bubbles. Pretty easy to tell. Shut the cell off and give it a few minutes to clear and see if the bubbles go away.

Thanks

Jim R.

 

[kchinger]

It appears they could not screw the union collar down because of the pump basket cover. My Pentair pump has a female thread looking up where you run a short length of pipe vertical which allows the pump cover to close. Then attach the union above that short piece of pipe.
It looks like they put the union half directly into the pump housing.
If you turn off your pump, and unscrew the union collar that is connected to your new multi-port valve, that whole section of pipe will probably lift off. What a poor installation. They need to fix this.

I can't believe how little people care about their work. Incredible that they'd leave it like that.

But, OP, this is pressure side and isn't the source of your bubbles. It's just incredibly bad workmanship (I mean, it's just not even done, lol).

 

[HermanTX]

@Bradvansky Do you have an update to this issue? Just curious what the feedback was from company that did the work.

 

[1poolman1]

That is a threaded pump union, not bad work. Same union used on the MPV. Air wouldn't come from that end anyway. Does not appear to be leaking.