SWG getting airlocked

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mattttt25

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Apr 24, 2010
43
This isn't an every day thing, and has only happened twice that I know of. I noticed once that my pump was running but I had little to no flow in the pool. When I looked at the pump, I noticed that the SWG had a big slug of air inside (casing is clear). I turned off the pump, turned it back on, and it cleared. Flow restored, although I still had a small pocket air at the top of the SWG. This happened one other time.

Yesterday, I had flow but noticed that the slug of air was large again. I turned off my polaris booster pump and the slug of air got smaller. Is it possible that when the booster pump is running (which is just before the SWG), that it is starving the main outlets of water? But how did the air get in there and how do I get it out? If it makes a difference- the outlet from the filter/polaris inlet is lower than the SWG and the SWG (which is inline) slopes up before hitting the discharge. I've thought about lowering the outlet side, making the SWG level before it 90s and goes to the pool, if this could be an issue.

Btw, haven't added a chemical to the pool in over 2 weeks, and it's crystal clear. Love having a SWG.

Thanks-
 
Just having air in the swg would not affect the flow of water to the pool. I suspect that you have a suction side leak on the pump somewhere and it's affecting the pump prime. Is there any air in the pump basket when this happens?
 
OK, well maybe my question is becoming two questions-

- Air in the SWG. I agree a little is not a concern, I still have flow. But if it's large and the cells aren't completely submerged, wouldn't that be a problem?

- I didn't notice if the pump basket had air in it, sorry. Last night, it had a small pocket of air, but it was stuck in the lid only (sorry, hard to explain). For the most part, the pump basket was 100% full and I didn't observe any bubbles or turbulence. I will look at the suction side, however.
 
Air bubbles anywhere denotes a leak somewhere throughout the system. I had an air bubble in the main pump basket and I traced it down to the main filter basket being not tight. I purchased a new O ring but it still leaked air through. I then ripped up an old floaty and made a plastic ring the size of the filter basket and bingo, no more air.

The fact that your SWG is sloping could be your problem.
 
Gas/air in the SWG is completely normal. SWGs produce hydrogen gas as part of their normal operation. The gas shouldn't fill more than about 1/8th of the cell. If there is more gas than that, you probably need to increase the flow rate. Large amounts of gas in the SWG can also be a symptom of more serious problems, but they normally cause many other symptoms as well.
 
Thanks all. If I put all the answers together, it sounds like the polaris booster pump could be causing the problem. SWG produces gas, and when the booster pump is running, main flow is cut down and the gas bubble "grows". The negative slope of the SWG makes the problem worse by allowing the gas to more easily trap instead of dispersing with the water flow.

I'll continue to check for leaks and will probably level the SWG to see if it helps.
 
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