Ok First off my father has recently fallen ill and I have taken over maintenance of his property, including a pool/spa. Before this past friday, I knew absolutely nothing about swimming pools so please be patient with me should I exhibit ignorance. I did try to read all of the introductions on this site and they were very helpfull. To begin, on friday I noticed that the automatic cleaner (phantom) did not seem to be operating properly. Upon further inspection, I noted a suprising amount of bubbles coming from the jet which it hooks up to. I knew this was a problem as I assumed skimmer to jet was a closed system. This has led me here, where I have come to the conclusion I have air entering on the suction side. I need help honing in on it. Here is what I know:
Main pool pump basket glass shows a good number of bubbles when pulling from skimmer. If I switch the valve to spa, bubbles go away. This indicates it's a skimmer side problem and everything behind the valve is ok. I have a slight drip coming from either the pressure or suction side of the boost pump, I will research this further. My father said he replaced the boost pump a year or two ago with a different model that has no glass, and if air is entering the system it's likely through one of his fittings. How does the boost pump connect to the system? Is it possible it is tied in to my main pump, and the bubbbles I'm seeing in the main pump are actully introduced via the boost pump pipping? The plumbing is underground and I am unaware how the boost pump interacts with the system. With boost pump off and main pump on it feels like water is flowing through the boost pumps plumping, but I am not 100% on this. I do feel enough vibration to believe it's got moving water in it.
So, I don't know whether to start digging, plumbing, or wrenching. Is it possible the leak could be introduced through the valve even though the spa side works fine? Should I attempt to rebuild the plumbing on the boost pump first, or is it unlikely for me to be seeing bubbles in my main pump due to amature plumbing on a separate pump? Or should I start digging in search of the leak on the skimmer side of the main pump, a professional installation which is about 5 years old?
I thank you in advance for your assistance. I did some light searching, but I have quite a bit of business to attend to, and I want this fixed now. Please forgive my haste.
Main pool pump basket glass shows a good number of bubbles when pulling from skimmer. If I switch the valve to spa, bubbles go away. This indicates it's a skimmer side problem and everything behind the valve is ok. I have a slight drip coming from either the pressure or suction side of the boost pump, I will research this further. My father said he replaced the boost pump a year or two ago with a different model that has no glass, and if air is entering the system it's likely through one of his fittings. How does the boost pump connect to the system? Is it possible it is tied in to my main pump, and the bubbbles I'm seeing in the main pump are actully introduced via the boost pump pipping? The plumbing is underground and I am unaware how the boost pump interacts with the system. With boost pump off and main pump on it feels like water is flowing through the boost pumps plumping, but I am not 100% on this. I do feel enough vibration to believe it's got moving water in it.
So, I don't know whether to start digging, plumbing, or wrenching. Is it possible the leak could be introduced through the valve even though the spa side works fine? Should I attempt to rebuild the plumbing on the boost pump first, or is it unlikely for me to be seeing bubbles in my main pump due to amature plumbing on a separate pump? Or should I start digging in search of the leak on the skimmer side of the main pump, a professional installation which is about 5 years old?
I thank you in advance for your assistance. I did some light searching, but I have quite a bit of business to attend to, and I want this fixed now. Please forgive my haste.