Help- Air in pump basket area

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Hudsongirl

Hudsongirl

Active member
May 4, 2024
33
New York
Pool builder set up our pump last Thursday and since then the pump has been running hours every day with the basket area filled with air. Construction is not finished and I'm thinking this isn't right and this chamber is supposed to be filled completely with water? Pump is a pentair superflow, I believe it is variable speed, but as I said it's just installed and I haven't even had instructions on how to use it yet, but I'm worried about paying this guy when the pump has not run at all so far without this area filling with air and leaves blowing around inside.
Am I being paranoid or is this not right?
 

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Welcome to TFP! :wave: Since this is a new pump, do you know if anyoone applied pool silicone lube to the lid O-ring? That would be my first place to check. After that, visit the link below for more ideas. Let us know if the problem persists. Have a good day.

www.troublefreepool.com

Suction Side Air Leaks

If you see air bubbles coming out of the return lines in your pool, you likely have a leak. Some signs that a suction side plumbing leak has occurred include: Read more
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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Texas Splash said:
Welcome to TFP! :wave: Since this is a new pump, do you know if anyoone applied pool silicone lube to the lid O-ring? That would be my first place to check. After that, visit the link below for more ideas. Let us know if the problem persists. Have a good day.

www.troublefreepool.com

Suction Side Air Leaks

If you see air bubbles coming out of the return lines in your pool, you likely have a leak. Some signs that a suction side plumbing leak has occurred include: Read more
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
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Okay, so looks like I'm right that it's not supposed to be filled with air.
I have no idea about the install because the pool is literally still being built but the builder is trying to set up a time for a walkthrough and final payment and the water comes out the jets but this didn't seem right to me.
I'll take a look at the link but as of right now the pool equipment is the builder's responsibility and I can't go messing with it until he's finished, just worried about how many days he's left it running this way.
 
Hudsongirl said:
Pool builder set up our pump last Thursday and since then the pump has been running hours every day with the basket area filled with air. Construction is not finished and I'm thinking this isn't right and this chamber is supposed to be filled completely with water? Pump is a pentair superflow, I believe it is variable speed, but as I said it's just installed and I haven't even had instructions on how to use it yet, but I'm worried about paying this guy when the pump has not run at all so far without this area filling with air and leaves blowing around inside.
Am I being paranoid or is this not right?
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Are you sure its not just filled up with water and there are no air bubbles? You can turn it off and remove the lid to check. If theres no water in it, the pump may burn up fairly early in its life.
 
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Bperry said:
Are you sure its not just filled up with water and there are no air bubbles? You can turn it off and remove the lid to check. If theres no water in it, the pump may burn up fairly early in its life.
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Not 100% but to me it looks like the inside of the lid has condensation on it and the leaves look to be blowing not floating inside. I'll try to take a look but I have a feeling it's air because he also set up the salt generator last night and by the time we came home less than an hour later it was off and flashing an error code about flow. This builder has been an absolute nightmare so I can't say I'd be surprised if he tried to get paid without this being resolved.
 
Hudsongirl said:
This builder has been an absolute nightmare
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Unfortunately we see that a lot. Do you know how to turn off the system? If so, I would do that now. Then open that lid to remove any leaves and check the O-ring. You will always need to have pool silicone lube handy, so if you don't have any, get some now. FYI - never use petroleum jelly.

If you prefer to leave this in the hands of the pool techs, then I would call them and let them know there is a no flow problem and you are shutting the system down to protect the pump until they can get out there to resolve the issue. Watch the water though. Algae will start quickly if they don't start treating it soon.
 
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Texas Splash said:
Unfortunately we see that a lot. Do you know how to turn off the system? If so, I would do that now. Then open that lid to remove any leaves and check the O-ring. You will always need to have pool silicone lube handy, so if you don't have any, get some now. FYI - never use petroleum jelly.

If you prefer to leave this in the hands of the pool techs, then I would call them and let them know there is a no flow problem and you are shutting the system down to protect the pump until they can get out there to resolve the issue. Watch the water though. Algae will start quickly if they don't start treating it soon.
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Thanks for this, I'll pick some of the lubricant up to have on hand. I can turn it off, it's on a timer right now and I'll just override it until it can be solved. The pool was filled 9 days ago and the SWG hasn't run at all in that time but he's been shocking the pool (Did not ask us just did it- we plan on TFP method which I've been reading up on). We have a call scheduled this morning with the builders so hopefully we can light a fire under their asses.

Unfortunately the builders around here all have mediocre reviews and it was an attempt at choosing the best of the worst that unfortunately still ended up with us dealing with a terrible builder. From the looks of things this in an industry norm unfortunately.
 
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cwswifty said:
If you truly have air blowing leaves around in the pump basket you will not have water coming out of jets.
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These are pics from just now, the pump is off and leaves are clinging to lid and sides of basket and there is visible condensation inside the basket chamber and an error code on the SWG saying there isn't sufficient flow. I hear what you're saying- without taking the cover off (which I'm not gonna do because of contract terms with builder) no I can't be 100% sure but I don't see how it could be filled with water and the leaves would be sticking to the top and sides of the chamber.

Still waiting on the call from the company I'm supposed to get this morning
 

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Hudsongirl said:
Not 100% but to me it looks like the inside of the lid has condensation on it and the leaves look to be blowing not floating inside.
Click to expand...
If the pump is turned on and you see what you perceive as "leaves blowing" AND the jets have water coming out there is likely no air in the pump basket.
 

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