Hello everyone I am new to this website and also new to pools. I have a question. I have 2 skimmers one far and one near, now with both (Jandy) valves (for skimmer) open it sucks in a lot of air so i called leak company and they charged me 200 just to say it was in ground and they could not do anything about it and i would have to call someone else. So i wanted to see if maybe it was something simple so i took the valve apart and replaced the o'rings and switched it with the other skimmer to see if the suction leak would follow and it did not but now if i turn the Near skimmer about 85% open there is no air going into the strainer. but if i open it 100% there is a lot of air going in. So my question is Do i have an underground leak or can i just run the pool with the near skimmer @ 85%.. I am trying to give all the info that i know so please ask and i will try to find out more or take pictures.. thank you
Jandy Valve sucking in air sometime
- Thread starter joshgantt
- Start date
Welcome to TFP.
Lets do a few tests to be sure what's going on.
Open the near skimmer valve 100% and then go look in the skimmer. Do you see a vortex forming where the skimmer is sucking in air?
If it is then check the weir to make sure it's operating freely.
Make sure there's a basket in the skimmer and it's seated correctly.
Raise the water level to where it's about 3/4ths up the face of the skimmer.
Lets do a few tests to be sure what's going on.
Open the near skimmer valve 100% and then go look in the skimmer. Do you see a vortex forming where the skimmer is sucking in air?
If it is then check the weir to make sure it's operating freely.
Make sure there's a basket in the skimmer and it's seated correctly.
Raise the water level to where it's about 3/4ths up the face of the skimmer.
Bama's thinking the same way I am. Sounds like the pump suction is greater than the supply of water, hence you suck air. The near skimmer doesn't have as much pipe loss.
But in any event, let's get some clarification. These are just simple valves, not 3-way? Are you losing any water, or do you have an autofill? And looking down at the bottom of the skimmers, below the baskets (you do have skimmer baskets, don't you?) is there one hole or two? Is there anything else inside the skimmers, a flying-saucer looking thing, maybe?
But in any event, let's get some clarification. These are just simple valves, not 3-way? Are you losing any water, or do you have an autofill? And looking down at the bottom of the skimmers, below the baskets (you do have skimmer baskets, don't you?) is there one hole or two? Is there anything else inside the skimmers, a flying-saucer looking thing, maybe?
Thank you for the fast reply. The water level is about 1/4 in below the side drain. The weir is working good and there is no vortex but the water is flowing real fast right there. i will try to upload picture of the unit. but if it won't let me then there are a total of 2 3-way valves, and 3 regular 2 way valves witch are the near skimmer and main drain and the far skimmer. I am in Texas Plano, Near Dallas and its been about 98-100 these past few days and i loose about 1/4 to 1/2 every 2 days on water. the skimmer is just the skimmer basket and there is 1 hole
Attachments
Are there bubbles coming into the pump basket all the time when the near skimmer is 100% open?
What happens when you close it off all the way and leave the Main Drain and far skimmer 100% open?
What happens when you close it off all the way and leave the Main Drain and far skimmer 100% open?
Yes when open 100% there are bubbles and when the near is closed there are no bubbles or air.
Well, looks like we've confirmed the leak guys diagnosis.
You can run the near skimmer partially (or even fully) closed off to temporarily stop the air until you get ready to do some digging.
When you do start digging, I'd start at the pad and work back. It may be right underground near the valve or even the connection to the bottom of the valve itself.
You can run the near skimmer partially (or even fully) closed off to temporarily stop the air until you get ready to do some digging.
When you do start digging, I'd start at the pad and work back. It may be right underground near the valve or even the connection to the bottom of the valve itself.
Alright thank you very much. Now would a leak be noticeable when I start digging it up?
Possibly but I'd pay real close attention to where the pipe meets the fittings. It could be a fitting that's not glued on. It may not leak water but given some vacuum it will leak air. That's why I mentioned the bottom cuff on the valve.