One jet spitting air

[LukeG]

We re-opened our pool a week ago. We have three jets. Two of them seem to be working just fine. But one of them is spitting air—it’s mostly shooting water, but on a fairly regularly basis, maybe once a second, an air bubble shoots out. Is it something wrong with the line?

 

[PointeTaken]

How big of a bubble are we talking? A big blob? Or a fairly small bubble that resembles carbonation? Is this the return closest to the pump? Are you on a SWCG?

Any air present in your system is going to enter on the suction side, not the pressure side. More often than not, the resulting bubbles will appear in all of your returns, though if the amount of air is small enough I suppose it’s possible that any visible bubbles could dissipate in longer runs to your farther returns, and you’re only seeing noticeable bubbles in your closest return. Do you see any bubbles or other indications of air, like frothing, in your pump basket? Do you hear any air running through your filter?

Also, are you on a variable speed pump? If so, do you notice more bubbles at different pump speeds?

These are initial questions that come to mind. But, I’m also going to tag @mknauss because he’s got a lot more experience with these things.

 

[ajw22]

Depending how your returns are plumbed the return spitting air may be the first in the flow and spit out most of the air so the other returns don’t see it.

I doubt you have a problem with the line.

As was said look for a leak on your suction side.

Check your skimmer wear doors. That type of cycling air bubbles can be due to skimmers sucking in air then refilling with water due to a weir door going up and down.

Check your water level in the skimmer.

 

[LukeG]

How big of a bubble are we talking? A big blob? Or a fairly small bubble that resembles carbonation? Is this the return closest to the pump? Are you on a SWCG?

Any air present in your system is going to enter on the suction side, not the pressure side. More often than not, the resulting bubbles will appear in all of your returns, though if the amount of air is small enough I suppose it’s possible that any visible bubbles could dissipate in longer runs to your farther returns, and you’re only seeing noticeable bubbles in your closest return. Do you see any bubbles or other indications of air, like frothing, in your pump basket? Do you hear any air running through your filter?

Also, are you on a variable speed pump? If so, do you notice more bubbles at different pump speeds?

These are initial questions that come to mind. But, I’m also going to tag @mknauss because he’s got a lot more experience with these things.

The size: fairly small bubbles, like carbonation.

The returns: we have one close to the pump at the deep end and two at the shallow end that are about the same distance from the pump; the troublesome pump is just one in the shallow end. (Since it's not the closest jet, this is what has me confused.)

We do not have a SWCG.

No indications of frothing in the pump basket.

I do not hear any air running through my filter, but that may just because because the pump is too loud for me to hear anything.

The speed does not seem to impact the presence of bubbles (other than how fast they shoot out of the jet). It bubbles regardless of the speed.

 

[PointeTaken]

The size: fairly small bubbles, like carbonation.

The returns: we have one close to the pump at the deep end and two at the shallow end that are about the same distance from the pump; the troublesome pump is just one in the shallow end. (Since it's not the closest jet, this is what has me confused.)

We do not have a SWCG.

No indications of frothing in the pump basket.

I do not hear any air running through my filter, but that may just because because the pump is too loud for me to hear anything.

The speed does not seem to impact the presence of bubbles (other than how fast they shoot out of the jet). It bubbles regardless of the speed.

Then +1 to what @LukeG said about the weir and your skimmer water level. I hadn’t considered the regular interval of the bubbles being indicative of that but it makes sense.