Sucking Noise

[Sue225]

Every so often the return makes a sucking noise. There is a little whirlpool at the time this happens. Is this normal? Pressure is always the same never goes up and never comes down.
Thanks for your input!

[waterbear]

usually caused by a very strong flow of water out of a return, If you have eyeballs in the return try a larger one. It will slow the velocity of the water coming out of the return since there will be less resistance.

[Sue225]

Filter is Silica I and pump is powerline 1.5 hp. Could pump be too strong for filter? How can you tell of sand is channeling?

[Jim_G]

Do you have a basket in the skimmer? water level in pool a little low. Pump is moving more water than the skimmer has availabel in it. if anything i would try adding some water to the pool, an inch or so.


Jim

[Watermom]

How big is your pool and your filter?

[mas985]

Check the weir door in the skimmer. Sometimes they get stuck and will create a sucking sound.

[waterbear]

Every so often the return makes a sucking noise. There is a little whirlpool at the time this happens.


Sue225, this whirlpool forms about a foot in front of the return, correct?

This is caused by water coming out of a return with very high velocity and the return is not breaking the water surface. I have seen this happen more than once and it even happens when I take my pressure cleaner off it's port and put the eyeball in. (it's a very small eyeball to maintain the proper operation of my water features, which share a separate pump with my cleaner. If I put in a bigger eyeball to reduce the pressure of water from the eyeball and increase the volume the sound and whirlpool effect stops. The sound is actually coming from the little whirlpool that forms.)

Having the return pointed to break the water surface can also stop this but then you will have quite a bit of water turbulence at the return. I suspect that the return has a very small eyeball in it or possibly some sort of obstruction if that is not the case...

[waterbear]

Filter is Silica I and pump is powerline 1.5 hp. Could pump be too strong for filter? How can you tell of sand is channeling?

You can tell if sand is channeled by opening filter and looking at the sand. How big is your pool? Is it inground or above ground? Are the filter and pump separate or did they come together on a 'skid pack' base.

how many returns does your pool have?

More info would help solve this problem for you but try removing the eyeball from the return that is giving you problems and report what happens.

[Sue225]

Pool is AG 24 round 13800 gal. Separate pump and filter. 1.5 hp pump and silica I filter. Waterbear, you decribed the whirlpool perfectly. We will adjust the eye. Actually the pool people told us to move the eye to a 45 degree angle previously we had is shooting straight out. This is when the whirpooling started. Do you have to drain the pool to the eyeball before you change it?
You guys are the best!

[waterbear]

Try angling the eyeball so it breaks the water surface but keep the 45 deg angle, it might help. Right now the current is completely underwater and that is what is creating the whirlpool effect. it seems that either you have a very small diameter opening in the eyeball or you have a very oversizes pump and the water is shooting through the filter at a very high speed. As a thought you don't have your multiport valve on recirculate instead of filter, do you?

If you decide to change the eyeball for one with a larger opening usually you just have to unscrew the retaining ring to take out the old one and put in the new on. No draining is necessary. You don't have to change out the entire fitting, just the actual eyeball part. A larger opening will allow more water to pass and it will not come out as fast.
Same idea of a nozzle on a garden hose. When the nozzle is on the water shoots out very fast and hard because it is going through a small hole. Take off the nozzle and the same amount of water is coming out of the hose but through a much larger hole so it does not shoot out as fast or as far.