A lot of air in the filter, not in the pump

doncaruana

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Aug 25, 2011
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Northville, Mi
Pool Size
15500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I think this is the right place for this...(please move if not)

Anyway, I don't usually pull a lot of air in my system. But this year, I am getting quite a bit. The thing is that none of it is in the pump, where I would see it in the past with various issues. The water stays pinned to the top of the pump lid all the time, yet every few hours and before I turn it off, I crank the pump up to max speed to blow out the air that's accumulating and get all the giant burps blowing into the pool.

What I did notice though is that if I vent the filter (not sure if this is common, but I can turn the gauge on top of it and let air out) that will alleviate the need for the burps. In other words, there's a lot of air in the filter but nowhere else.

I injured my leg earlier this summer and, because of where my equipment is haven't really been able to get up and look closely at the equipment but I did have a friend hand check all the fittings and everything seemed tight (replaced SWCG earlier this year). My initial thought is that when we opened this year, we didn't get the filter lid seated properly and that's where the issue is. Does this make sense? The only other thing I could think of is the line from the pump into the filter, but I have no reason to believe there's an issue there at all.

Here's my equipment pad - pump is a little ways away and downhill (long story)

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Air only gets into the system from the suction side before the pump.

After the pump on the pressure side any opening will show as water leaking out.

Even though the pump basket is staying full you can be pulling in air bubbles that are accumulating in your filter.

I would look for a suction side air leak and check your weir doors and skimmer baskets. Also check the pump lid O ring and lubricate it with Pool Lube.


 
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Air only gets into the system from the suction side before the pump.

After the pump on the pressure side any opening will show as water leaking out.

Even though the pump basket is staying full you can be pulling in air bubbles that are accumulating in your filter.

I would look for a suction side air leak and check your weir doors and skimmer baskets. Also check the pump lid O ring and lubricate it with Pool Lube.


OK thanks. That all mostly makes sense to me. Definitely not my skimmer or weir door - I know what that looks like. The odd thing about it to me is the fact that no air is in the pump basket at all. That article really doesn't cover my situation well. I'll check the drain basket plug next. That seems like the next best candidate to me overall.

Still can't reconcile the pump basket being full in my mind considering how much air is getting in the system...
 
@ajw22 Well hot-diggity-Dang! Looks like it was the drain plug under the pump basket! I took it off and there was a fair amount of old thread seal tape on it. Cleaned it off and put new thread seal tape on and out it it back in and voila!

Out of curiosity, what would be the symptoms if the other drain plug in the pump wasn't sealed tight?
 
@ajw22 Well hot-diggity-Dang! Looks like it was the drain plug under the pump basket! I took it off and there was a fair amount of old thread seal tape on it. Cleaned it off and put new thread seal tape on and out it it back in and voila!

Glad you found it.

Out of curiosity, what would be the symptoms if the other drain plug in the pump wasn't sealed tight?

Which drain plug? The other pump drain plug? Just more air coming in.
 
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