View Full Version : Air bubbles - finding leaks with a stethoscope
I am getting air bubbles where my water enters the pool in the shallow end. I changed the o ring on the pump basket, and my pool guy put putty on one of the fittings from the basket to the pvc pipe. What do I try next? What is a good way to seal pvc pipe without taking it apart and refitting it? There are so many pipes and fittings. How do I know which ones would likely cause the air bubbles?
mwsmith2
05-17-2006, 02:08 PM
I use a 3/4" length of pvc that's about 3' long to trace down air in the system. Put one end to your ear, the other end to the pipe. You'll be able to hear the air in the lines. Once you get to where you can't hear the air bubbles, you've found your leak. I'd check your Jandy valves on the suction side. Those are notorious for leaking.
Michael
PatL34
05-17-2006, 03:36 PM
Do you have a salt water chlorinator? If so, you might be getting hydrogen bubbles from the return. Just a thought.
Pat
I have a salt water chlorinator.
vchavez
05-17-2006, 04:34 PM
I use a 3/4" length of pvc that's about 3' long to trace down air in the system. Put one end to your ear, the other end to the pipe. You'll be able to hear the air in the lines. Once you get to where you can't hear the air bubbles, you've found your leak. I'd check your Jandy valves on the suction side. Those are notorious for leaking.
Michael
That's very clever. I too, and having issues with air leaking over time as the pump runs.
I'll give this a shot....then again, most of the piping is underground...lol
mwsmith2
05-17-2006, 05:05 PM
I have a salt water chlorinator.
SWC generate some bubbles as a result of their operation. If you want to see if that's where they are coming from, turn your SWC off for an hour and see if you still have bubble. If you don't then they're coming from your SWC.
Michael
If it is the chlorinator, do I need to get it fixed, or is this OK? I did not have bubbles for the first two years, and the bubbles started at the end of last year.
mwsmith2
05-18-2006, 08:04 AM
Well, if it's the SWC, you can't get it "fixed", 'cause that's the way it operates. :) In the process of making Cl, you get some hydrogen too...that's generally what's in the bubbles. I'm a silly boy because I've held a lighter to the bubbles to hear 'em go *PLOOP*. I just love a science experiment.
However, if you haven't had this problem before, then it's probably not your SWC, I'd guess you're sucking air through a jandy valve.
Michael
PatL34
05-18-2006, 08:56 AM
Mike, are you still trying to blow yourself up?:D
Seriously take my word for it, it is hydrogen. I think there is definitely a leak and that has to be fixed. If air is coming, the best test I know, is to open the vent on the filter, and if lots of air comes out, then you have an air leak. That would be a big problem as you would be mixing hydrogen and oxygen with the possibility of blowing the cell or piping downstream apart. Your only recourse would be to shut off the SWC and use bleach until you find and fix the leak. That is why all piping and equipment on the suction side of the pump has to be airtight.
If it is only for about two seconds or so, the air leak is minimal, and could come from air dissolved in the water. The bubbles would then have to be hydrogen.
Hope this helps.
Pat
cygnusecks
05-18-2006, 09:00 AM
You can also use a stethoscope (like doctors use). Finally, to really look like a pro, you can use one of those fetal baby monitors like I did :-) My wife looked at me with a really curious look when I had the backyard dug up trying to figure out which pipe had running water by using our fetal monitor but it worked great.