Air bubbles on Solar Heat

[PebblePool]

I am now a double pool owner for a few months until our old home sells.

On our new home, I am noticing a lot of bubbling in the return jets when the solar heaters are on, but I am not seeing any water leaking out. My thought is that there must be a loose fitting somewhere where the water is returning to the pool from the roof, any thoughts on how to find the leak. Given the amount of air, I'm thinking it should be easy to find.

 

[mas985]

As long the bubbles stop at some point, that is completely normal. When the pump shuts off, the water drains from the solar panels and is replaced by air. So when solar turns on again, the air must be pushed out through the returns.

However, if the bubbles never stop, then the pressure at the VRV may be too low to keep it closed. Have you backwashed the filter recently?

 

[BasicTek]

I'm not sure why, but when I don't clean my filter for a couple of weeks (even through the pressure hasn't gone up much (maybe 10%) I tend to get a more bubbles, I also get a more bubbles when I run the pump at lower RPM's.

Sometimes I just need to increase the pump for a bit and that must clear the lines, and cleaning my filter (which would also turn off and re-initiate the pump) seems to work all the time. I can actually hear the air bubble sound inside the house under the solar panels. I haven't added water to my pool in 9 months so I'm pretty sure there isn't a leak.

Another thing I note is using the autovac when the solar is on requires more RPM's and when the SWG (which I don't think you have) combined with solar or SWG alone produces some air bubbles (but I'm told this is normal)

 

[PebblePool]

Thanks for the advice, I updated my sig to reflect pool number 2, which is the pool in question. It is a cartridge system which I have no experience in as pool #1 i s a sand filter. Looks like I'm opening up the filter this week to see how it looks.

As long the bubbles stop at some point, that is completely normal. When the pump shuts off, the water drains from the solar panels and is replaced by air. So when solar turns on again, the air must be pushed out through the returns.

However, if the bubbles never stop, then the pressure at the VRV may be too low to keep it closed. Have you backwashed the filter recently?

 

[BasicTek]

They are super easy to clean, just spray with a hose, although if you don't know how old the current one is, check real deep and see if it's gummed up, it would be good to have another one on hand that you could test to see what the pressure is with a new one and if the bubbles goes away.