Air in system - does pentair valve need repair / maintenance?

[jthall]

Hi, Pic attached.

With pump at bottom, my 2 skimmers and vac line come in from left, pool drain on right, into manual 3 way diverter valve.

Automated spa drain valve is next.

Constantly getting air in system, have been tracing.

When Spa drain is activated (no flow from pool), I have no air in system, pump basket is clear.

When I de-activate spa drain, I get streams of smaller air bubbles in system. This occurs no matter what I set the pool valve to - as many bubbles from skimmer/vac side as pool drain side, and it worsens as I move the lever.

Does this 3 way diverter valve for pool need maintenance? My theory is air leaking around o-rings (hopefully) or on both sides of fitting.

Appreciate the input and any other troubleshooting.

 

[jthall]

Adding on - I've owned the house 3 years, never replacement these o-rings (pump and vac basket I have). Should I replace all the o-rings in the system at once (7 2-ways, 5 3-ways) or just address as they fail? (assuming this is the fix).

 

[mknauss]

Inspect, clean and use Pool Lube - Further Reading on the pump basket gasket and sealing surfaces, including the drain plugs. When the spa operates, you have greater suction head, which can stop an air leak.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

I just went through a similar scenario. I replaced the three o-rings inside of the diverter valve and it stopped the leak. If Marty's idea doesn't work, try replacing those o-rings. I did not replace o-rings in the other diverter valves but I did purchase a set of backup o-rings just in case.

 

[jthall]

Inspect, clean and use Pool Lube - Further Reading on the pump basket gasket and sealing surfaces, including the drain plugs. When the spa operates, you have greater suction head, which can stop an air leak.

Thanks Mike. Good tips in this article, like pushing instead of pulling o-ring.

I keep pump cover well lubed, but didn't think about drain plug. Bubbles are present at high and low speed (this happens consistently during priming) so also doing to replace that upstream valve.

 

[jthall]

I just went through a similar scenario. I replaced the three o-rings inside of the diverter valve and it stopped the leak. If Marty's idea doesn't work, try replacing those o-rings. I did not replace o-rings in the other diverter valves but I did purchase a set of backup o-rings just in case.

Perfect, TY! I have parts arriving today, will clean/lube all and replace those valve rings, and share results.

 

[jthall]

Solved: replacing o rings fixed the issue. No air at all - high or low speeds.

Found another dripping on return to pool side, so project tomorrow to replace all orings

Thanks all for the help.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Sounds like you already had it figured out. Good job!