New pump help- pump basket not filled with water

[RalphD]

Put in new pump (hayward tristar 2-speed) and everything is fine except I notice some air in return lines and quite a bit in filter- I can open top valve every few hours and air comes out. Water is entering and leaving the pump basket fine but I realized it is not filling up to the top. When I take the top off the basket and add water, it drops to the same lever- which I now realize is the level of the pool! The new pump basket is about 3 inches higher than the old one and so there is about 3 inches of air space left in the basket area.

So, I can drop my pump an inch (by taking it off the plastic base), and raise my pool level about another inch but this will probably not quite do it (i.e. there will still be an inch or so of air). I wanted to ask you all if this makes sense? That is, does the top of the basket have to be below pool level for the pump basket area to fill?

Thanks!
Ralph

 

[duraleigh]

does the top of the basket have to be below pool level for the pump basket area to fill?

Absolutely not. You have a suction side air leak. There should be no air at all in the pump basket. Somewhere between the pump and the skimmer(s), air is being sucked into your system.....the 0-ring in the pump basket lid is the most common spot.

Find that leak and your basket will fill with water (and stay filled) whether the pump is on or off.

 

[RalphD]

OK- glad I wrote in (as usual!) and I will check that out. I had to use a few connectors to make this pump connect, and one of them is a flexible rubber connector that I suspect (the rest is cemented PVC which looks good). What is the best way to confirm this leak on the suction side?

 

[BigIslandPoolService]

Aloha Ralph!

When you have a suction side leak, they can usually be found by watching the leaf basket of your pump (as well as the plumbing bringing water to it) when you turn off the pump. There is a momentary "bounceback" of water pressure that will make the leak "spit." When you see that spit, you've found your leak. The "spit" might be more visible if you operate the pump at high speed while performing this analysis. It gets a little harder to analyze if the leak is located underground, cuz you can't see it, but in that case you will usually get dirt or mud sucking up into your pump during operation.

Do you find that the air stays in that part of the pump even on high speed? Or can you "drive it out" by switching to high speed?

Aloha!

 

[RalphD]

Aloha Warren!
Switching to high speed did not fill the basket- there was still 2-3 inches of space and a heck of a lot of turbulence! So I guess this consistent with a suction-side leak?

I will try the spit test tomorrow... it is already dark here in Connecticut!