Hayward chlorinator entraining air?

[dave42]

Hello,

We have an 11 year old gunite pool with in-line hayward chlorinator. I noticed air bubbles continuously coming out of the 2 returns closest to the pump. There is no air in pump or filter while pool is running.

I thought the chlorinator was making an odd sound. There is no water leaking from it. When I leave dial on full, the bubbles coming out of the returns are small. When I turn chlorinator dial to off, after about 30 sec, bubbles are larger and more frequent. Of note, the cover for chlorinator seems a little more difficult to turn that last turn until it clicks.
I put some silicone pool lubricant on threads but it still does not turn as easily the last revolution.

Does this seem like it is our problem? Thanks.
Dave

[PoolDoc]

If no air is going through your pump, the only way air could get in your lines is if you have a spa type venturi somewhere: any leaks downstream of the pump will let water OUT, instead of letting air IN! (There are a few uncommon exceptions, involving pools at different levels from the pump.)

However, you may not have noticed a small amount of air . . . and if you have an OFFLINE chlorinator, those are notorious for creating small suction leaks.

[dave42]

Just an update. No air at all in pump. Took cover off Hayward inline chlorinator and removed inner part to check oring. Oring was deformed. Replaced oring and air entrainment stopped. It seems that chlorinator creates Venturi effect and was pulling air into it. Just in case anyone ever has this problem.

[PoolDoc]

Is your chlorinator an off-line or on-line model?

If it's upstream of your pump and filter, and is an on-line model, there are some issues you need to be aware of.

[dave42]

Chlorinator is in-line and is downstream of heater and filter (chlorinator is last piece of equipment before water return to pool).

[PoolDoc]

Well, it's fixed, so that's the main thing.

It's puzzling how an inline chlorinator, that's downstream of the pump, could let air into the piping with the pump running. But I can think of a couple of ways that is possible, so I'm not going to worry about it further.

[aylad]

Cross threading the cap when replacing it after refilling with pucks will do it.....;)