Air bubbles - finding leaks with a stethoscope

[DanS]

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]

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]

Do you have a salt water chlorinator? If so, you might be getting hydrogen bubbles from the return. Just a thought.

Pat

[DanS]

I have a salt water chlorinator.

[mwsmith2]

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

[DanS]

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.

[vchavez]

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

[cygnusecks]

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.