Air leak advice / Automatic air relief valve

[koan00]

I am the second owner of a ~15 year old pool which has developed an air leak on the suction side. I had a pool tech come out, and after some re-plumbing didn't fix it, they said it was likely a leak coming from the main drain line (have not done a full pressure test yet, but everything seems pretty expensive going this route). The pump maintains prime fine and seems to operate just fine after, so they said it was safe to 'ignore' the leak unless it got worse.

So the first question is am I doing any long term damage leaving the system as is?

Second, assuming it's OK to ignore for now, I do still have a concern about all the air bubbles coming out of the returns. I'd like to eliminate them if possible, mostly for cosmetic reasons. When I operate my manual air relief valve, the bubbles go away. A bit of searching later, I see there are automatic air relief valves. Would an automatic air relief valve do what I want, or am I misunderstanding their function? I read in another TFP post about many not having a check valve, which would allow the system to drain when the pump is off, is that a concern?

Also, I can't seem to find many links to many automatic air relief valves. Does anyone have any suggested products/links? A couple pop up but don't appear to be in stock anywhere or don't have pictures of the product.

Thanks!

Pool Info:
- Below ground
- ~30,000 gallons
- Trichlor Puck chlorinator
- DE Filter
- Single Speed pump

 

[emdoller]

I'm dealing with a similar issue. I've been told that if you have air in the line it's coming from the suction side so I'm not sure how you'd get it from the drain line.

Either way, I'd suggest you fix it vs putting a band aid on it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Ed

 

[emdoller]

Mine has been doing it for a while so if your pump is running I don't believe you will do any damage.

Also, I bought a drain king (Amazon) and stuck it into the suction side of the pump and it showed me where my pin hole leak was as it forced water back into the suction side. I found the idea on this website and it worked.

Ed