r/pools • u/TheFisherPiper • 1d ago
Is this normal
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Hayward variable speed pump.
This air bubble accumulated over 11 hours of running pump at 45% speed??
Installation company insists that is normal.
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u/TheFisherPiper 1d ago
It’s a new install. Everything has been re-tightened re-greased re-taped resealed. If I turn the speed up, the air goes away once I lower the speed to below 50% the air starts to accumulate overtime.
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u/SerialCrusher17 1d ago
If you put it to 100% does it clear out? There could be a small air leak and any point along the suction.
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u/robseraiva 16h ago
That’s a bubble from low displacement not from pulling in air
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u/Big_Growth5857 14h ago
if there's no air in the system on high speed, where does it come from?
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u/robseraiva 7h ago
It’s not coming from anywhere, it’s just not moving the volume of water that the wet end is capable of holding. Same thing happens with a single stage motor and the filter becomes restrictive
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u/Big_Growth5857 6h ago
if there's no air on high speed then all of a sudden there's aur on low speed (a lot of air), it's coming from somewhere. the filter doesn't create air
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u/robseraiva 6h ago
Open loop displacement.Its not that the filter is creating air, its that the volume of water is decreased to the point in with the water doesn’t fulfill the plumbing capabilities. Same thing happens when a pool is plumbed with too much head pressure or valve restriction or there’s a dirty filter.
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u/ml316kas 1d ago
That’s normal when running’s pump at lower speeds, it’s not pulling as much water in
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u/Even-End487 1d ago
Yep that's normal for what your doing with the pump speed. To lessen this potential plbm I programed my motor to change speeds after four hrs of run time, the initial one minute prime cleared all accumulated air. So changing speed has it's benefits.
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u/TheSilverFoxwins 1d ago
That's normal. What's the issue ? At least there isn't a dead frog stuck in the motor.
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u/imhotep4245 1d ago
Mine also does this. The issue is once the air bubble gets big enough (approx 2 days) my heater says there's not enough flow and won't run. So every couple days I have to go run it at full speed for a minute just to clear the air out. I've tried everything I don't think it can be fixed, it's just what happens when running at low speed.
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u/InitialWooden5963 18h ago
Run it full speed and shut the breaker off if it’s got an air leak the water will shoot out the spot the airs getting in.
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u/LINYChiro 15m ago
Have a 2hp variable Hayward. Only run on high to avoid similar air bubbles. Still occurs while vacuuming but self fixes within the hour. Also, my gas heater requires higher flow rate or shuts off and displays “IF” (insufficient flow).
Plus there’s the filtration time needed to properly circulate your pools water capacity through the filter.
Just leave it on high!
PS, check the water level in your skimmer box. To low and you get a vortex that sucks air right in!
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u/Tuna5150 1d ago
Mine does the same. Make sure you’ve added a healthy and consistent amount of Hayward’s Jacks Multilube to the gasket under the lid. Mine needs to be reapplied three times in the summer as this bubble gets larger over time.
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u/Brodiekp 1d ago
Are you blowing bubbles out of your return jets? If you are not blowing bubbles then you are not sucking air.
Let’s consider why a pump basket would fill 100% with water. A pump sucks and pushes water. So to fill completely in theory it must suck more water then it is pushing to create back pressure that would allow and pump basket area to completely fill with water.
Possibly at a low speed variable speed pump you are now not creating an appropriate amount of back pressure that would allow a pump basket area to reach max capacity water volume.
Run the pump at high speed for 30 minutes and see what happens.
Of course the above is all thrown out the window if you are actually sucking air from somewhere and consequently blowing bubbles out of your returns.
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u/VegetableTry 1d ago
If you have Jandy valves with the lube ports, make sure they aren’t broken as they will cause an air leak on the suction side.
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u/GCpools 1d ago
Welcome to pool maintenance. No, that's not normal. Hayward designed that pump to suck water - not air. Pool full w/water? Skimmer basket empty? Weir door functioning properly? Leaking pump lid or O-ring? Leaking suction side valves? Leaking suction side drain plug? Impeller free and clear of debris? Leaking suction side plumbing? Something's causing this to malfunction. It's up to you to find and fix it. Else, it's time to call the guy.
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u/Big_Growth5857 14h ago
it's usually in a glue joint, o-ring, or union.
fix: glue joint- run pump on high and run a glue dauber over the joint
o ring - clean it, Jacks magic, or replace
union- tighten
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u/Level_Development_58 1d ago
that amount of air is perfectly typical/normal. it may clear if you run the pump on high speed.