Just a few TINY AIR BUBBLES...randomly entering thru my returns

[fudgebar]

Folks, I read all the articles about air bubbles and how to troubleshoot and what it could indicate. They were very helpful.

I have noticed that when I run my VS pump at 1500 RPM, I will randomly (not consistently) get a little soft gust of very tiny air bubbles enter thru my returns around the pool.

Now I have inspected the Filter basket and noticed only 1 or 2 very relaxed air bubbles at the top of the window and there is no turbulence whatsoever in the water...it is very calm.

I also sprayed soapy water around all the equiptment joints and connections and noticed no obvious air bubbling up.

the water level at my skimmers are 3/4 up to the top of the skimmer opening. The skimmer doors are freely moving also


My question is, if there is no leakage of pool water overnight, and there is no pressure decrease in my Filter Gauge, is this a really a problem or this normal to have occasional tiny air bubbles randomly? I guess my only concern is that altho returns are consistently pushing out tiny air bubbles, it seems like the randomness of the bubbles seems to be frequently occuring.

I already removed the basket cover and reseated the O Ring. There is no damage at all to the ring and I'm able to create what seems to be a good seal.

This is only the 2nd year with the pool....so Im wondering if I should be concerned and what else I should do if it is a problem....thnx

 

[PrairieGirl]

Oops! posted in the wrong thread.

 

[fudgebar]

I also notice that if I bump up the VS pump to about 1800 the bubbles disappear.....and I notice if I lower my VS pump to any speed UNDER 1600, the Pentair IC20 SWG Red Flow Light comes on......Could this air bubble thing have anything to do with the SWG?....maybe needing a cleaning or something?

Im curious to know why the SWG Flow Light would go red at anything under 1600 RPM...that speed still seems a little high for it to render flow problems....no?

 

[pooldv]

Yes, the bubbles are from the SWG. It is normal, mine has been doing it for 4 years. I run mine at 1100 rpm.

 

[fudgebar]

ok cool thanks......question, the fact that you can eun your pump at only 1100 rpm with no problems with the SWG cell flow light leads me to question why I cannot go below 1600 RPM before my IC20 SWG Red Light Cell flow starts flashing....Could this be an indicator of a dirty cell?

DO you think acid washing it would allow me to run the pump at lower speeds without the flow light coming on?

 

[pooldv]

All plumbing is different with different levels of flow resistance. You should only clean your cell if it has scale build up. Cleaning it when it doesn't need it will reduce the life of the cell. The DE filter and the heater likely increase the head pressure requiring more RPM to reach the needed flow.

How many watts does your pump use at 1600 rpm? It might not be worth the effort to clean up plumbing or install a heater bypass to lower the RPM. Mine uses 150 watts at 1100 rpm and 165 at 1200 rpm.

 

[fudgebar]

My panel displays 240w at 1600rpm and I think it jumps up to 275w if I bump it to 1800rpm

would there be any tell tale signs that the cell would need an acid cleaning without taking it apart and looking inside it?

This is my 2nd summer now with the same Salt Cell and I havent cleaned it yet at closing or opening....thoughts?

 

[pooldv]

Yes, the clean cell or check cell light will light when the cell needs to be cleaned. Although, it isn't that difficult to unscrew the unions and look in the cell. Visual inspection is quick, easy and obvious.

So, my 1100 rpm watts to your 1600 rpm only has a difference of 90 watts. At 8/hr a day and 12c/kWh the cost savings from mine to yours is $2.59 per month.

On another note, keeping your CSI slightly negative, -0.3 to 0, will prevent scale in your cell and your pool. Poolmath will calculate your CSI. Tweak PH and TA to change CSI.