return jets sucking huge quantities of air from above waterline vents

[Richmondtree]

Hi,

I'm not sure what those vents are called that sit above the waterline just over the return jets on my in-ground pool. Two out of four of them are sucking in air and causing a mix of air and water in the return jet below them. I can hear the noise across the yard. I can feel a strong suction from the above waterline vent, and if I plug the vent, the return jet rapidly returns only water. I have had the pool 5 years and I have never had this happen before. I just turned on my pool a few hours ago, and I can't think of what I might have done. Any ideas?

What are those vents for anyhow.

Thanks for any help.

Ethan

 

[JasonLion]

There is probably a valve somewhere to turn those jets on and off separately from the rest of the pool returns.

 

[Richmondtree]

Thanks for the reply. Yes right, it seems like thats what it should be. I've followed all of the visible pipes in the system over and over. If there is a valve somewhere, I think it is in some odd location. Do you know what those second set of jets are for anyhow? I think just putting plugs in those jets would solve my problem, but for some reason that makes me uncomfortable.

 

[JasonLion]

Putting plugs in the air intakes is fine, won't hurt anything.

Jets like those are basically spa jets, sometimes called therapy jets. Some people like to sit in front of them to get a kind of massage effect.

 

[Richmondtree]

Jets like those are basically spa jets, sometimes called therapy jets. Some people like to sit in front of them to get a kind of massage effect.

This is weird.

In a way that makes perfect sense, but in a way it makes no sense. Indeed the jets are positioned nicely over a built in bench which would argue for spa jets. BUT they are also at the same level as an overflow hole under the coping on the other side of the pool. Therefore it is quite impossible to have water covering the jets. I can't figure out what they could be. I sort of imagined they were an old abandoned water fill system, but I can find no other evidence for that on the property.

 

[Richmondtree]

okay. two 40 cent plugs and some marine epoxy and the pool is blissfully quiet. thanks.