Air in pump if pool not near overflow - looking for advice

Hello,

This is my first post, perhaps someone can give me a little advise...

In-ground pool, build approx 1994, built in spa with overflow. Have a hayward navigator installed in the skimmer most of the time, which works great. Problem has been air in the pump and return lines since home purchase in late 2010. When switched to the spa for dedicated return and suction, air bubbles gone. Have been meaning to get a service tech to look at it, but just haven't gotten around to it.

This weekend we have been getting tons of rain from a tropical storm, and while the pool has gotten very full, it has not over flowed, which I thought it should given the amount of rain. The grout under the coping tiles is practically nonexistent, again on my to do list. The water level is staying just below the coping tiles. But, what I just noticed is the pump is no longer sucking air and there are no air bubbles in the return lines.

With the water level so high, I assume it's gotten to the area where air was getting in, but I can't wrap my head around where that might be? Under the coping, the skimmer area perhaps?

If anyone has an idea, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm sure it's something right in front of me.

Thanks in advance.

Bill

If you want to take pictures and post them on Photobucket, Picasa or something like that, some of us will take a look. But I don't recommend that you hold your breath till we come up with an answer. ;)

Finding leaks, and especially suction leaks, is rarely a straightforward process.

Often times, with lower water levels, air enters the skimmer via a vortex. But if you getting air with the vacuum only, then it is probably where the vacuum hose attaches to the skimmer. More specifically, the part of the hose/connector that is now underwater.

We had a similar problem in our pool. If we hooked up the vac to the skimmer, the water level had to be pretty high or we would lose prime. I always thought it was weird since it should have been pulling water from the bottom of the pool so why would it matter what the water level was? We had to vacuum daily as there was always dirt in the pool.

Found out the fitting in the bottom of the skimmer was broken. When the pump was off, water would leak out. When the pump kicked on, it would suck that muddy water back into the pool. I discovered the leak when I winterized myself (paid to have it winterized the first year). When I was blowing out the lines, I put a gizmo in the skimmer and then air and muddy water blew in around the top of the skimmer. Had to cut the deck to get to the fitting. The broken piece had silicone around it so it was broken at install and not fixed properly. We bought the house with the pool already there and it was several years old. I guess the previous owners just dealt with it.

Thank you for the replies, I'll try and take some pictures this weekend and post. I was successful in installing the navigator in the pool vac port, I had always had issues before, but this time it's working. So, basket install in skimmer; still bubbles in the return lines and in the pump. I'm going to also try filling the pool to the max and see if I can duplicate what I experienced when the water level was high. Bill