I came across another thread while doing some reading and made me curious about the water level in the pump basket. I noticed if I am running the pump at 1750 rpm or higher the pump basket is always full with no air. However if the pump is being run at 1400 or 1600 rpm it will gradually drop the water level in the pump basket over the course of a few hours to about 3" below the lid. Is it normal for it to drop the water level in the pump basket when running at lower rpms?
Lower water level in pump basket running pump at lower RPM's?
- Thread starter NUTNDUN
- Start date
Seems to be normal for more air to accumulate in the pump at lower speeds. I only see a bubble form in my 2 speed, but there are reports when running even lower speeds for the water level to drop more.
I pulled all of the unions apart along with the lid to the pump and applied lube to all of the orings just to see if it makes a difference. We have been having nothing but rain this week with more on the way the next three days so it is a little hard to keep an eye on the water level inside the pump. I don't think the lube made a difference but I know it's good to have it on there. I wouldn't mind running the pump at the lower rpms 1,200 to 1,400 as it does seem to still do a decent job skimming the pool but don't like the water level being lower in the basket.
George,
Not sure where the problem is, but just for reference, I run my system at 1200 rpm 24/7, most of the time. I have a few bubbles in the top 1/4" or 1/2" under the pump lid...
I guess my point is, if it were normal for the bubbles to get worse and worse over time, you would think my pump would be almost empty, since it is almost never shut off.. I do crank it up to 2800 rpm once a day to run the waterfall for about 15 minutes...
The air has to come from somewhere, so I would have to assume you have a very small suction-side air leak.. When you shut the pump off, does the water in the pump drain back into the pool? With a small air leak this could take a while... Do you have any Jandy valves in front of the pump?
Thanks,
Jim R.
Not sure where the problem is, but just for reference, I run my system at 1200 rpm 24/7, most of the time. I have a few bubbles in the top 1/4" or 1/2" under the pump lid...
I guess my point is, if it were normal for the bubbles to get worse and worse over time, you would think my pump would be almost empty, since it is almost never shut off.. I do crank it up to 2800 rpm once a day to run the waterfall for about 15 minutes...
The air has to come from somewhere, so I would have to assume you have a very small suction-side air leak.. When you shut the pump off, does the water in the pump drain back into the pool? With a small air leak this could take a while... Do you have any Jandy valves in front of the pump?
Thanks,
Jim R.
Manufacturers say this is normal...
my VS keeps the pump pull down to 100 rpms though. Neighbors pool gets bubbles at 1000 rpm. Personally, I believe he has a small air leak somewhere. If every line is full of water and the basket is full at high speed, it only makes sense?
my VS keeps the pump pull down to 100 rpms though. Neighbors pool gets bubbles at 1000 rpm. Personally, I believe he has a small air leak somewhere. If every line is full of water and the basket is full at high speed, it only makes sense?
Jim,
I do have two of the Jandy 3 way valves in front of the pump. One for the two skimmers and one to bring the bottom drain and the skimmers together right before going in to the pump. I was having the pump run 24/7 but last night I changed the schedule to only run from 9am to 9pm at 1750 rpm so I could check the basket in the morning and see how much water was in it. Problem is all the rain we have been having and the humidity between the water on the lid and the condensation under it, I couldn't tell how far it was down this morning with the flashlight before leaving for work.
Are the Jandy valves possible culprits for leaking air?
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I noticed at 1750 rpm mine keeps it full but at 1400 is when I notice it creep down a couple inches below the lid over the course of a day.
One other thing to note also is I do not have any check valves in the plumbing. I guess technically it shouldn't matter as long as everything is air tight on both the pressure and suction sides when the pump is off the water shouldn't drain back. I will mess with the Jandy valves and also try to eliminate the bottom drain and the skimmers one at a time and see if I can pinpoint where the air is getting in.
I have a TriStar pump and pull air in at 2250 rpm. I have less than 10 feet of suction pipe with a Jandy shut off valve. Not sure where the air could be coming from. I've checked the pump chamber and inlet union o-rings.. both lubed and fitted properly.
I currently have the pump programmed to prime every 3 hours for 4 minutes to eliminate the bubbles.
I currently have the pump programmed to prime every 3 hours for 4 minutes to eliminate the bubbles.
George,
I would run each pump input by itself and see what happens... Run just skimmer #1, then just skimmer #2, and then just the MD...
I suspect your air leak is at one of your Jandy valves... They make rebuild kits that are not that expensive to try, even if they didn't help..
Thanks,
Jim R.
I would run each pump input by itself and see what happens... Run just skimmer #1, then just skimmer #2, and then just the MD...
I suspect your air leak is at one of your Jandy valves... They make rebuild kits that are not that expensive to try, even if they didn't help..
Thanks,
Jim R.
Thanks Jim.
I will give that a shot. I may even get lucky and just have to tighten the screws on top of the valves since they are new or maybe it is just a bad o-ring from the factory. I didn't even give it a thought to the valves possibly being an issue and once you said something I realized they are rebuildable and could cause issues.
I have been trying different valve settings and doesn't seem to be making a difference. If I run the pump at a little higher rpm (2,200) it pretty much fills the basket to the lid other than a couple of quarter sized bubbles that stay there. It seems like there are bubbles that randomly appear coming from the bottom of the basket towards the pump side. Not a lot but random ones that are smaller than a pea. I ran the pump at 2,200 yesterday for an hour or so to get the basket full and shut everything down around 6pm to see how the water level would look this morning. Doesn't look like it lost any water at all. I am going to unhook the pump and pull the pump cover off and check to see if anything might have clogged the impeller. It's the only other thing I can think of for now. Plus I can double check the seal between the pump housing and the motor plate.
I wanted to revisit this since I realized something I didn't do right. Since I redid the whole equipment pad I had emptied all of the sand out of the filter and removed the laterals. When I reassembled it I am pretty sure I put the lateral screens facing up. Could this cause some issue? I plan on dumping the sand again and turning the laterals so they face down.