Air bubbles in pump strainer pot

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What WaterMom is getting at, is that bubbles in the strainer side usually mean a suction side leak. And two of the most common locations are at the lid O-ring, or at the fitting connecting the suction side piping to the pump.

If you post pictures (Webshots, Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, what?) of the pump and piping, you might get other suggestions.

This might be partially true, but there are more causes than those two. I have a Hayward setup, and the pump housing cracked. There was water underneath the motor. One of the ways to find it is to turn the motor on and off repeatedly. When you shut it off, it will leak.