I recently purchased my first home with a pool so this is my first foray into pool operations. For my work, I do mechanical and plumbing design work so I am fairly familiar with the general principles of plumbing piping and pumps. For an overview of the system, the house we purchase has an in-ground pool (approx. 15,000 gallons) with a variable speed pool pump (Jacuzzi J-VSP250), DE filter (Hayward Perflex EC65A), and a solar heating system. I noticed tiny air bubbles coming from one of my four return jets so I immediately think air leak. Being busy with the move in right now, I have hired a pool service company to maintain for the first few months. They sent out their service manager to take a look at resolving the issue. After 45 min. to an hour of time spent checking all possible air leak locations, he was unable to locate. He stated that while possible their is a small air leak in the below grade plumbing that he doesn't believe this is the case. I should also mention that our pool has a dedicated sidewall vacuum line that remains closed unless being used with our automatic vacuum. Through his investigation, he came to the conclusion that he believes the pump is a little oversized for the incoming lines and those lines are restricting flow a bit. The way it is piped into my pump is (2) separate 1-1/2" lines from the skimmer and vacuum line turn up from below grade and connect at a 1-1/2" valve and 1-1/2" line into the pump. The maximum flow through a single 1-1/2" line is 42 GPM and the default flow rate on low speed for the pump is 52 GPM. With just the skimmer line open and vacuum line fully shut, the pump primes a little slower and once down to low speed is when the air bubbles appear and the basket at the pump is only about half full. If you open both the vacuum line and skimmer line to fully open (so two 1-1/2" lines instead of just one) the pump primes with no problem and can hold that prime once it reverts down to low. The pump itself is running normal without any concerning noises and the guy tells me the pump is pretty robust and I am not doing any damage to it even with the air bubbles. I do not care about the air bubbles unless they are doing damage to my pump which I am told they are not.
I am not necessarily looking for an answer or fix, but just thoughts and suggestions on the above diagnosis as the plumbing designer in my wants to understand everything going on. Thanks for any comments or input.
I am not necessarily looking for an answer or fix, but just thoughts and suggestions on the above diagnosis as the plumbing designer in my wants to understand everything going on. Thanks for any comments or input.
