Sucking Air

[waldop1]

My pump and motor are only 6 months old. I have checked all my above ground connections and found one small dripper connection. I do get a flow which allows a cleaning effort but when I hook up the sweeper it stops sucking. I also have air coming out of the jets. When I release the top screw on my standard filter only air comes out for a short period. It does not appear I have a leak , the amount of water I loose in a day is normal.

Help

[PoolDoc]

You need to tell us what sort of cleaner, and what pump and filter you have. Many AG pool pump/filter combos cannot support a cleaner.

Air coming from the pool returns, indicates a suction leak, where air leaks INTO the pipes, rather than water leaking OUT. Suction leaks occur on the intake side of the pump. They can be rather hard to find, but common locations include:
+ pump lid -- check O-ring and for debris
+ valves on suction side of pump
+ intake fitting on pump.

It's pretty common to have suction leaks begin, after the pump runs dry and gets hot. The heat is often sufficient to soften the piping to the point of allowing leaks.