Bubbles in pool and spa returns

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D

Dcash27

Member
Apr 29, 2022
13
Camarillo, CA
Pool Size
10000
SWG Type
Jandy Aquapure 1400
Hi,
I have a 1 year old inground pool/spa combo. I recently noticed intermittent air bubbles coming out of 1 pool return and 2 spa jets. There is a air bubble in my pump lid that comes and goes but I wouldn't say that it's that bad. I have gone through all the steps in trying to find a suction side leak but have yet to find a source. One thing that I noticed is that the bubbles stop if I close off the Top right valve and isolate the spa side. When the valve is open water returns to the spa side returns and runs the spill over. I have also noticed that when the valve is open you can see air bubbles swirling in the check valve that is after the Swg but there are no are bubbles seen in the check valve before the swg. Any ideas? I'm a new pool owner so any suggestion is greatly appreciated!







SWG.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum.
The SWCG creates hydrogen and chlorine gas. The chlorine gas goes into the water stream instantly. The hydrogen gas exits the pool returns as bubbles. Turn off the SWCG and the bubbles will stop.

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
D,

Pump speed and plumbing lay out have a lot to do with if you notice the SWCG bubble or not. Switching to spa mode most likely increases your pump speed and the spa plumbing is quit different than the pools.

This is very normal and has nothing to do with the cell needing to be cleaned or not.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
The bubbles stop when I isolate the spa from the pool. My pool and spa share a single VSP pump. I have a spill over on the spa. I have about 80% of return going to the pool and 20% to the spa. Again, when I totally close off the spa so there is no return to the spa, the bubbles stop and are not seen in my pool return. If it was an issue with the swg, there would still be bubbles with the spa isolated. Thanks, for the reply.
 
As far as bubbles when sending water to the spa, you have a Hartford Loop for the spa that pulls air in so you have bubbles when in Spa Mode. That same inlet can pull air in when at lower pump rpm, albeit less bubbles. See the open ended pipe that points down on your pad? That is the air inlet.
 
Ok. The only thing that I changed prior to having the bubble issue is the vsp rprm from 2750 to 1750. 2750 rpm was the speed the start up pool guy programmed in. I turned it down to 1750 to save some money. Everything works well at 1750 rpms, even the spill over. I have tried going back to 2750 bpm but I
still get the bubbles. Maybe keep in on 2750 for a few days to see if the bubbles clear? Thanks.
 
No need to run the pump at that high of rpm. I run mine at 1500 rpm. That satisfies the flow switch on the SWCG and skims the pool surface. Only two things you need to be concerned with.
 
D,

I am assuming these bubbles kind of look like champagne bubbles. Is this true?

When you shut off the upper right valve in your pic, you are turning off the Spa's spillover. If I understand you correctly, when you do this, the bubbles in the pool returns go away. This is because of the water flow. When you have the spa spillover running, some of the water has to go to the spa and some to the pool returns. When you shut off the spillover, you increase the water flow back to the pool returns. More flow tends to make the bubbles go away.

You can test the SWCG theory, by turning the cell off and then ramping the pump up in speed until all the bubbles are gone. Then, leaving the cell off reduce the speed and see if the bubbles come back. If they don't, then turn on the cell and see if the bubbles come back. Keep in mind that the bubbles build up in the plumbing over time. So, any change will take an hour or so, and should not be instantaneous.

If you have very big bubbles coming out of your pool returns, then that would not normally be from the SWCG.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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Dcash27 said:
I don't see how large bubbles from the swg would be normal.
Click to expand...

Show us a pic of the bubbles... I agree that "large" bubbles would not normally be the SWCG. SWCG bubbles are like the bubbles you see in champagne.

But the above test should rule out the SWCG. With the SWCG off, and the line purged, then running at a low RPM, you should not see any bubbles.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Hi Jimrahbe,

I did what you suggested, and it worked. No more bubbles after turning off the swg with my vsp at 1750 rpm. But the bubbles returned as soon as I turned it back on. So I have the swg set at 60% pool and 5% spa. Obviously, I need to run the swg but the bubbles are driving me crazy. It didn't do this before. The bubbles are definitely worse at lower pump speeds. At 3150 rpm (cleaner) the bubbles are like champagne bubbles and barely noticeable. My swg is Jandy Aquapure plc 1400 rated up to 40K gallon pool. My pool is a little more than 10K gallons. Could this be the issue? How to I fix this? Thanks for your help. The inserted pic is the pool return closest to the pump.

Danbubbles .jpg
 
Not really. The SWG produces hydrogen gas at one electrode. That gas travels through the plumbing and out the returns. If there’s a high spot in your plumbing, and I have one before my last return, the gas can build up in the pipe until the bubble becomes big enough to move out to a return. I find if I put my hand over the first return in my loop, the closet one to the pump, a large bubble of trapped gas will come out the last return due to the plumbing having a high bend in the pipe (I confirmed this with old pictures of my pool build … idiot plumber created a high spot in the plumbing for some stupid reason).
 
Thanks again guys for the replies. It's just weird how the bubbles start immediately as soon as I turn in on. I would think that it would take some time for the bubbles to collect in a high area before they break loose and come out of the return. But as soon as I turn it on, the bubbles you see in the pic start. And they
continue like that for quite some time. I can see bubbles form in a check valve window that is located after the swg immediately after turning it on. I'll keep looking into it. Thanks again!

Dan
 
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