Air accumulating on the pump bowl

[Craig22939]

All - Our PB started up our pump, SWG and filter yesterday and everything seems to be running fine.

Our pump is a Pentair SuperFlo VST and I have programmed the speeds so that it runs for 4 hours (beginning at 8:00 am at 2500 rpm then slows down to 1200 rpm for the rest of the day (20 hours). The flow at the low speed is sufficient to satisfy the SWG flow switch (about 1000 rpm is also ok). I have noticed that air is accumulating in the pump bowl when running at the low speed. After 6 hours there is about 2 inches of air in the bowl. Is this normal, is the pump at risk of losing its prime? The PB did do a leak test and said that it "passed", so I am at a loss as to where the air is coming from. The pool has both a dual bottom drain and a single skimmer. I checked and there is no air being entrained in the skimmer. Any ideas. Thanks

 

[HeyEng]

You might need to just bump up the RPM a little. I have a two speed and on low, it will start to get bubbles after a few hours. Others will chime in but it may not be a leak, just not enough flow to keep the prime.

 

[Texas Splash]

VSPs often develop air in the pump strainer pot under the clear lid. Owners generally purge that air once or twice a day with a higher rpm. As long as you don't see the water level get dangerously low to where it could effect prime you should be fine. To be safe, make sure someone applied silicone lube to the lid O-ring.

 

[Craig22939]

Thanks, I just purged the air out using the QuickClean speed (about 30 seconds) then increased the pump speed to 1500 rpm, will wait and see is any air accumulates overnight. The only down side is it increased my motor power from 80 to 150 watts, not bad, but still......

 

[mknauss]

Why do you need the 4 hours of high rpm? Does your pool skim at the lower rpm.

If your pool skims at the lower rpm, just schedule a higher rpm every few hours for 10 minutes or so.

Do you have an automation system?

 

[Craig22939]

Marty, I do not have an automation system. My pool is very basic just a pump, filter and SWG. I have a single skimmer and 2 returns, no other features. My goal is to just keep it simple. With the Pentair Superflo there are only 3 “time zones”, so no opportunity to purge air with bursts of higher speed. I like the idea of reducing the duration of the high speed setting, I was just thinking that the longer time at the higher flow would help general pool health. I have only had the pump running for a few days, so still learning. Still bringing up the CYA level, and still trying to decide on it’s ultimate concentration, lots of opinions here. Thinking that I will run at 40 ppm for awhile, then decide. Thanks for reaching out - Craig

 

[reggiehammond]

Marty, I do not have an automation system. My pool is very basic just a pump, filter and SWG. I have a single skimmer and 2 returns, no other features. My goal is to just keep it simple. With the Pentair Superflo there are only 3 “time zones”, so no opportunity to purge air with bursts of higher speed. I like the idea of reducing the duration of the high speed setting, I was just thinking that the longer time at the higher flow would help general pool health. I have only had the pump running for a few days, so still learning. Still bringing up the CYA level, and still trying to decide on it’s ultimate concentration, lots of opinions here. Thinking that I will run at 40 ppm for awhile, then decide. Thanks for reaching out - Craig

I’m curious how big the bubble gets after a full 18-24 hours; I used to worry about mine but realized it grows to a certain size, then stops growing. Has no impact on the pump operation that I can tell…

 

[Craig22939]

Reggie - sorry for the delay. The air pocket was probably 3", enough to uncover maybe 1/2 of the water inlet. Increasing the pump speed to 1350 has eliminated any air entrainment