Some kind of air leak?

[marcxaurelius]

Hi. I’m hoping someone here can help me. Recently my pump was leaking water under the motor. I replaced the shaft seal and went ahead and replaced all the accessible gaskets, o-rings, etc. during that process. Motor seems to be running fine now and no more leak, but now I’m getting a bunch of air in my pump basket. I’m also hearing a noise I haven’t heard before, which sounds like air or something somewhere, but I’m not sure, and I can’t tell exactly where it’s coming from. Lastly, when I turn the pump off it loses prime. In the 2nd picture, there is air escaping that backwash plug after turning the pump off. If I stick my finger over the hole to cover it, the pump does not lose prime. Is that my problem? Does that plug need to be replaced, or is there more going on? Any help is appreciated.

I took videos but wasn’t able to figure out how to post them. If it is possible, please let me know. Last picture is a pic of my setup.

 

[ajw22]

Put your videos on YouTube and put the link in your message here.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

If you have a leak on the backwash line that's allowing your system to drain with the pump off, than the backwash slide-valve is either open or defective. That line should be isolated from the plumbing system when closed.

 

[marcxaurelius]

Thank you, @ajw22.

Here is a short video showing the amount of air in the basket:

This one I took to try to demonstrate the sound I’m hearing. It seems to be coming from this area, but like I said, I can’t tell for sure:

Here you can hear the air coming out of the plug when the pump is off:

I hope these are helpful.

 

[marcxaurelius]

If you have a leak on the backwash line that's allowing your system to drain with the pump off, than the backwash slide-valve is either open or defective. That line should be isolated from the plumbing system when closed.

Could that also be the cause of the air in the pump?

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

You could have a suction side leak also, but if your pool plumbing is draining while the pump is off, you have a pressure side leak. It looks like you've isolated the drain plug in the backwash line as the source. That points to an open or defective backwash valve. At start up, you're gonna see l hear lots of gurgling in the plumbing as air get's purged. Once the pump primes and purges air, it should run normal, but you should see water leaking at the source of the leak.

Looking at the video, it does look like you have a suction side air leak. Usual suspects are the pump lid seal/o-ring or loose drain plugs. Clean and lube the o-rings and see if it helps.

Can't comment on the noise.

 

[marcxaurelius]

So here is a picture of my backwash line. A guy came over and briefly took a look at it. He told me that the valve in the 2nd picture needed to be closed. It’s when I do that that my pump loses prime when turned off. If I keep it in the position seen in the picture, the pump doesn’t lose prime when turned off.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

The valve in the second photo above directs your effluent during backwashing. You should have no flow in that line when the backwash valve is closed.

In the photo below, the component circled in yellow is your backwash valve. If this is closed, there is no flow to the pipe shown in red.



Check the position of the valve. It should be in the down position for pool mode. Pull up for backwash mode.

The valve's plunger has o-rings and other wear items. Did your guy check this valve?