I had a pool installed last year and from the beginning I have had air bubbles in the pump basket and coming from one of the return lines. The builder has done two leak detection tests and everything seems to check out fine. I run the pump at 1800 RPM's 24 hrs a day (at their recommendation) and the air bubbles are there. I have noticed that if I put the RPM's up to 2700 it runs fine with no bubbles in the basket or from the return. I have read that at low RPM's I can expect to see some bubbles. Should I be experiencing the air bubbles at 1800 RPM's? Any ideas on what I can do to stop the bubbles?
Jandy VSP air bubbles in pump basket and air from return lines
- Thread starter jlbutler2879
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 59,314
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Welcome to the forum!
Are the bubbles in the returns when the SWCG is generating? See if they correlate.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
Are the bubbles in the returns when the SWCG is generating? See if they correlate.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
2879,
A few bubbles in the pump basket should not be the cause of bubbles out of your returns unless they are huge and continue to get bigger.
If these are tiny bubbles, then most likely they are from the SWCG.. The bubbles from my SWCG seem to only come from the return closest to the equipment pad, and they also seem to collect right inside of the eyeball.. When enough of them collect behind the eyeball, they then "burp" into the pool with a slight pop sound.. This only happens when the SWCG is actually producing chlorine.
Thanks,
Jim R.
A few bubbles in the pump basket should not be the cause of bubbles out of your returns unless they are huge and continue to get bigger.
If these are tiny bubbles, then most likely they are from the SWCG.. The bubbles from my SWCG seem to only come from the return closest to the equipment pad, and they also seem to collect right inside of the eyeball.. When enough of them collect behind the eyeball, they then "burp" into the pool with a slight pop sound.. This only happens when the SWCG is actually producing chlorine.
Thanks,
Jim R.
Thanks for pointing out the fact that there might be a connection between the SWCG running and the bubbles. The bubbles are constant and do not stop unless the RPM's on the pump go up. I first noticed the bubbles stopped when the cleaner kicked on. The rpm's on the pump rise as well as a booster pump kicks on for the cleaner. This gave me the idea to play with the RPM's to see if it would stop the bubbles, which it did. The problem is that they don’t stop until the rpm’s are at 2700. When the bubbles are coming from the return it is not one or two big bubbles, it is hundreds of small bubbles. I attached a picture, although it is somewhat hard to see, that shows the bubbles from the return. 
- May 3, 2014
- 59,314
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
That is what the bubbles of hydrogen from a SWCG look like.
Only other place to look is the oring/gasket on the pump strainer lid and/or the orings for the pump drain plugs. Inspect and use proper pool lubricant on all the gaskets/orings.
Only other place to look is the oring/gasket on the pump strainer lid and/or the orings for the pump drain plugs. Inspect and use proper pool lubricant on all the gaskets/orings.
2879,
That is what my SWCG bubbles look like also...
Slowly open your filter air relief valve and tell us if you get a tiny bit of air and then water, or if you get a lot of air then water.. On mine, I get less than half a second of air and then water.
I suggest that you turn off the SWCG for a couple of hours and then see of the bubbles are gone at 1800 RPM.. What percent of output is your SWCG set for, and how did you shut it off to run the test with the cell off??
Thanks,
Jim R.
That is what my SWCG bubbles look like also...
Slowly open your filter air relief valve and tell us if you get a tiny bit of air and then water, or if you get a lot of air then water.. On mine, I get less than half a second of air and then water.
I suggest that you turn off the SWCG for a couple of hours and then see of the bubbles are gone at 1800 RPM.. What percent of output is your SWCG set for, and how did you shut it off to run the test with the cell off??
Thanks,
Jim R.
I will turn off the SWCG when I get home from work and see if the bubbles stop. I will see if it is something that can be done on the control panel. If not, I will just unplug it from the control box. I currently have it set to 70%.
Thanks for the advice. I will re-lube the gaskets and see if that helps.