Hello, and air bubbles in suction side

[Dltigers3]

I would like to say hello. I'm a relatively new pool owner. I have a gunite saltwater pool that is around 20 year old. When we bought the house we had several small water leaks in the pool equipment, but all were fixed with new gaskets, or o rings.

My issue now is that in the last month I have started to have a leak on the suction side of my pump. It is not a water level issue, or a weir valve issue. I have narrowed it down to the skimmer line because if I shut off the main drain line via the jandy valve at the pump, the leak goes away.


Does anyone have any other obvious things to look for? I can't see any cracks in the skimmer. I guess my next step is to have a pool guy come leak test the line?

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome to TFP! Say, am I reading this correctly?

I have narrowed it down to the skimmer line because if I shut off the main drain line via the jandy valve at the pump, the leak goes away.

Wouldn't that imply (by closing the main drain) that the leak is in the man drain line? Or am I having yet another "senior moment"

- How are your MD and skimmer lines plumbed? (i.e. separately up to the pump intake, or does the MD join-up to the skimmer first via diverter valve)?
- Have you already exhausted everything listed on the TFP Pool School - Suction Side Air Leaks page?
- Have you already tried the water hose method to find a suspected air leak? Some folks prefer shaving cream or plastic wrap around a connection.

 

[Dltigers3]

Sorry, I must be having a "junior" moment haha. I wrote that backwards. When I shut off the skimmer line the air bubbles go away. The skimmer and main drain are plummet separately and joined by a 3 way jandy valve right before the pump.

I'll check out link you posted. I did try the water hose method on connections with no noticeable difference.

Also, I will let you know that I do not have any wet spots in the yard, and no significant water loss in the pool.

 

[duraleigh]

Is the water level in your pool high enough to prevent the skimmer from sucking air?

 

[Dltigers3]

Yes, the water is almost to the top of the skimmer neck opening. It is on the high side of the recommended range now.

 

[duraleigh]

Then somewhere (above ground) air is entering your pipes coming from the skimmer to the pump. Check the o-ring on the pump basket. it's a common source.

 

[Dltigers3]

Sorry I have just now replied. I don't believe it is an issue with the pump basket because when I switch the janky valve to main drain only the problem goes away. I have check the above ground plumbing for the skimmer line and can not find any leaks.

Could it be some kind of issue with the jandy valve?

 

[Texas Splash]

Yes. 3-Way valves have been known to get a leak, either around the mating area or the handle O-ring itself. Is there any way you can test that theory with some plastic wrap or something before taking it apart? Hate to see you go through the effort for nothing. Not the hardest task I suppose, just throwing that out there.

 

[Dltigers3]

Also, I just covered the entire above ground piping on the skimmer line with shaving cream and couldn't detect any leak

- - - Updated - - -

I just covered it in shaving cream and nothing obvious showed up. I'm not exactly sure how to go about covering in plastic wrap

 

[Dltigers3]

here is a picture of my system. You can see the shaving cream on the jandy valve and the line that runs back to the skimmer. Once again, if I shut off that line the problem stops

 

[Texas Splash]

That's the one bad thing about shaving cream ... it's a bit messy. Well, there's not much to inspect other than the valve and line exposed above ground. Since it's not doing anything when switched to main drain, it seems to rule-out anything around the pump basket. I kind of wonder about the pipe as it travels through that elevated area it all sits on (or under the poolside skimmer). Air leaks are almost always on the surface, but you never know. In your case, it might boil-down to having an expert check the ground lines.

 

[jrguzmanr]

I had a 3 way Hayward valve and I was fixing it every year, could never get it right. I finally got rid of it and used a separate Jandy neverlube on each of my return pipes and haven't had an issue in two years (or is three?).

 

[Dltigers3]

Man I was really hoping to avoid calling someone in. I might just go ahead and take the jandy valve apart and see if anything looks funny inside of it.

 

[Dltigers3]

So I went out of town this weekend and when I came back I am not longer getting air in my pump basket. Weird. I didn't do anything to it. I'll keep an eye on it and see if it returns

 

[Dltigers3]

Its back. Started getting air again yesterday. It is definitely on the skimmer line, and it is like surges of air. If i watch my pump, for 5-10 seconds there wont be any new air coming in, and then all of the sudden i will get a surge of air in the pump basket that lasts a couple of seconds. Then it calms back down. If i play with my jandy valve i can get the air bubbles to go away for a few minutes, but it eventually starts back up again.