Air inside lines

[mattss88]

Sometimes when cleaning (and thus opening) my pump basket and restarting the pump I get air in the lines that I cannot get released by opening the filter valve. It seems like it happens for a few days or weeks but then eventually goes away.

Is there something I should do differently when opening the pump straining basket? Or another way to let the air escape?

I'm also usually cleaning my energy bowl as well so not sure which is the problem.

Thanks!

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum .

Let's see, you open the pump strainer basket lid and clean out the basket. Next, you put the lid (hand tight) back on the pump basket and start the pump on full speed........Is that correct? Tell us what you then see in the pump basket. It should remove all air in the basket in a matter of seconds or minutes at least

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome! It would also help if you could update your signature with all of your pool and equipment details. See our sigs as examples. If you are on a phone device, you may need to turn it sideways to landscape to see the signatures. That info is key to receiving accurate responses. Enjoy the forum!

 

[mattss88]

Thanks for the welcome. I do hand tighten the pump basket (and added a little pool lube). Right now the VS pump defaults to 2750 instead of the prime setting (which is 3250 I believe) at start. After a few minutes it does clear most of the air out of the pump basket but I can still see some air in it as well as air bubbles coming out of the jets. And most annoying is my Polaris 360 just floats at the top of the pool instead of actually cleaning the bottom of the pool.

This used to happen occasionally with my 20 year old pump and stainless steal filter and until I replaced them about 6 months ago.

 

[Texas Splash]

Thanks for the additional info. No SWG, so we can rule out bubbles from that at the return jets. We know VSPs have a history of retaining some air in the pump pot and require occasional rpm increasing once or twice a day to purge the air. Usually this isn't a problem unless the pump pot runs dry or very low impacting prime. The fact you seem to have problems with it supporting your Polaris can be another story.

You currently have a 1.5 HP VSP, but out of curiosity, what size was your previous 20-yr pump? Just so we can understand some comparisons in operations.

You might consider posting a pic or two of your equipment pad. It may give us additional ideas.

 

[mattss88]

Here are some pics. The old pump was 1 1/2 hp as well. It was operational but clearly on last leg because the new VS pump results in much stronger flow.

Maybe I will add the prime setting back (some how I accidently turned it off when changing other settings). Didn't realize that could be a problem.

Thanks for the input. Just started taking on the pool job myself after a complete replaster, coping and tile job, so I'm having fun adding acid all the time and using my TFT kit!

 

[mknauss]

The pump is a Superflo VS. 2.2 THP. I suspect your other pump was uprated too.

 

[Texas Splash]

On the suction side it appears fairly straight-forward. Looks like you have 3 manual valves which have the potential to leak air with age, but if your previous pump did not have this air issue those 3-way valves may be fine. You mentioned that you added lube to the pump lid O-ring already, so hopefully the drain plug(s) are lubed as well. So on the suction side, that would only leave the union nut attached to the pump's suction input as a questionable issue. You might check that once again to ensure you have a good connection with no possible air leak (going in). Other than that, once you get past the initial priming stage, you may just be experiencing variances between the two pumps (young & old). We'll see if others have any other tips or suggestions.

 

[mknauss]

It appears on the suction side there are a number of valves. Check those for air leaks. Also the union at the pump. If overtightened it can deform the oring.

 

[mattss88]

Thanks for your input. Looks like I just needed to turn the prime back on. When I adjusted the Rpms below 1700 it turned the prime off.