How much air is normal to have in the pump? It’s hard to get a good picture, but i made a line where the water level is. It is running at 1725rpm.
Air in Pump Basket?
- Thread starter Lissawku10
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,320
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Ideally we'd like to think none, but that's not always realistic. VSPs come with their own unique characteristics as well. So a few basic questions:
- How old is this pump?
- Has it always been this way?
- Do you have a skimmer and drain? If so, does the suction source make any difference?
- Have you already lubed the lid O-ring and drain plugs?
- How often do you kick-up the RPMs to fill the pot? Once a day, every couple days, etc?
- Is your filter clean?
Let's start there.
Thank you so much for helping! So I turned off the pump and removed the lid to check it again. There was a tiny piece of something on top of the o-ring, so I removed it and re-lubed it before replacing the lid. It is filling more now, probably to the rim of the lid, but still not all the way like I see some others.
-Pool is new, just finished beginning of last month
-I’m honestly not sure if there has always been air in it. I only noticed when I saw others were full and I looked and mine isn’t.
-we have 3 skimmers and 2 main drains. Same no matter the configuration.
-I just lubed the o-ring, but I haven’t the drain plugs. I will do that next.
-I run the pump from 7AM-7PM each day, and it primes for 8 minutes at 2800rpm at 7AM daily. Is this high enough/long enough? Should I try higher and see if it makes a difference?
-filter was backwashed a few days ago. I did notice though that the valve on our sand filter is cracked and leaking a little. So that will have to be replaced- could that be the cause?
Thanks again for your help!!
-Pool is new, just finished beginning of last month
-I’m honestly not sure if there has always been air in it. I only noticed when I saw others were full and I looked and mine isn’t.
-we have 3 skimmers and 2 main drains. Same no matter the configuration.
-I just lubed the o-ring, but I haven’t the drain plugs. I will do that next.
-I run the pump from 7AM-7PM each day, and it primes for 8 minutes at 2800rpm at 7AM daily. Is this high enough/long enough? Should I try higher and see if it makes a difference?
-filter was backwashed a few days ago. I did notice though that the valve on our sand filter is cracked and leaking a little. So that will have to be replaced- could that be the cause?
Thanks again for your help!!
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,320
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
The cracked multiport valve won't effect the pump's suction while it's operating, but once the motor shuts off, then it will let air "in" which causes water to move within the plumbing and perhaps empty that pump pot. A pool's plumbing system needs to be air-tight to keep everything (water) where it was, including the pump pot.
As for the pump pot water level, some VSPs simply don't fill all the way, or perhaps stay that way, all the time. Most common is for a VSP owner to ramp-up the rpms once or twice a day to purge air that may have collected under the lid. They usually fill to the top on an high rpm. Most importantly is that during normal operation it doesn't drop so far that you lose prime to the pump because water helps to keep the pump cool. Definitely check those drain plugs next chance you get. All those places where air can get sucked "in" at or before the pump will influence the amount of air in the pump pot.
As for the pump pot water level, some VSPs simply don't fill all the way, or perhaps stay that way, all the time. Most common is for a VSP owner to ramp-up the rpms once or twice a day to purge air that may have collected under the lid. They usually fill to the top on an high rpm. Most importantly is that during normal operation it doesn't drop so far that you lose prime to the pump because water helps to keep the pump cool. Definitely check those drain plugs next chance you get. All those places where air can get sucked "in" at or before the pump will influence the amount of air in the pump pot.
Okay that makes sense. Last question: should the water level in the pump pot stay the same after it shuts off? Because mine definitely does go down some when it turns off and then fills back up when it turns on again.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,320
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
That's indicative of that air leak somewhere on the pad, perhaps that MPV.
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