Newbie here...with air in spa jets

This is my first post. I tried to search for this issue, but apparently do not have search privileges as of yet. Hopefully I have posting privileges...

Okay, so at one time our spa jets discharged mostly 100% water, with very little air. Now they discharge a fair amount of air. Nothing like when we turn on the air blower, mind you, but enough to warrant troubleshooting.

From my wife's reading (she is the pool guru in the family, but more from the chemistry and less from the mechanicals) she suggested we focus on the suction side of the pump, although there was very little evidence of air flow in the pump filter basket area as viewed through the cover sight glass. We replaced the o-ring in the cover, as well as both drain plugs and their flat rubber washers, then sealed off the air blower intake. No improvement. We foamed all of the exterior mating areas on the suction side of the pump filter basket with shaving cream - a very cool idea, btw - and detected an apparent leak in the Jandy valve top seal, so we also replaced the o-rings in that valve. Still blowing air.

Sticking with the idea that an air leak has to be on the suction side, the only other thing I can think of that we haven't done is foam the flange between the motor and the pump. I would think that this could also be a source of air to the suction side of the pump impeller. Does that make sense?

Oh, and it is a Whisperflo, if that makes any difference.

TIA,
Bill

Hi Bill,

I can't answer your question, and it may be awhile before somebody that can answer it will check in, since forum traffic is way down this time of year. However, you can log out and go to the main Poolforum page, then open any post made by me, Watermom, or Pooldoc and click on the google search link in our sigs. This will allow you to search the entire forum and archives, while you're waiting for someone who can check in here to give you any suggestions.

Welcome to the forum!