Hayward Variable Speed Pump 2.70 thp - Basket Has Air

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Lemyre

New member
Jul 11, 2024
4
Pleasant Hill, CA
The debris basket inside my Hayward variable speed pump has about 2 - 3 inches of air and I think it's affecting my pressure through the filter, heater, pool sweep, etc. because I get a heater message "Open Water SW" which means not enough flow to activate the heater.

I have replaced the O-ring, and my pressure seems better (today I could run the heater and pools sweep simultaneously) but I am not sure it's "fixed" as I still have a 2-3 inches of air. Is that much air a problem? How could it remain if my O-ring is new, with new rubber pool ring lube?

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

Thank you,
Mark
 
What speed are you running the pump? Is the air there right after you prime?

A bit of air won't affect the pressure, that is likely a dirty filter, or if your filter is clean, you are running the pump at too low a speed to trigger the pressure switch in the heater. Solution is to raise the RPM until the pressure switch closes.

Running high speed, likely a suction side leak.

Air in the pump basket on low speed is usually caused by one of two issues.

1) Pump lid leak. Sometimes pump basket lids will seal better at higher RPM than lower RPM because the pressure in the pump basket is lower at higher RPM. Make sure you lube the o-ring with a silicone lube like Magic Lube II (don't use ptfe/teflon lube). Lube the pump drain plug o-rings.

2) Outgassing. The pressure in the pump basket is lower than atmospheric so dissolved gasses in the water can come out of solution. The lower the pressure, the more outgassing that will occur. However, at higher RPM/flow rates, any dissolved air that comes out of solution will quickly get taken out of the pump basket because of the higher flow rate. If the RPM is low enough so the flow rate is lower than the rate at which air rises in the pump basket, the air will remain in the pump basket.

To fix, put a short high speed run into your schedule.
 
Thanks for the thorough answer!

I used to run the pump at 2000 for 6-7 hrs a day, with 2 1/2 hours at 2350 when I ran the pool sweep. 2350 could handle the pool sweep, but when I started using the heater I had the Open Water SW problem.

When it the pump primes at max RPM the air in the pump is all but gone. However, at high RPM (3450) it "pulses" a bit like as if a cavacation error but I have not gotten that error code on my pump recently. (I did before when pulsing was worse, so I blew water backward from the pump to the pool with pulsing clo buster, and it seemed to clear something and make it better). However, it still pulses (less dramatically) at high RPM.

I'm a rookie at this so have some basic questions... what would be a good speed for normal circulation, normal plus heater, then the pool sweep plus heater?

Thanks again for you help.
Mark
 
Pulsing is usually a weir or water issue.
You water should be right in the middle of the skimmer mouth. (water level 50% up the mouth).
Check your weir doors to ensure they are working properly.
pulsing is usually a stuck weir door or low water level.
 
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