Periodic Microbubbles from return

[rschelby]

Hello,

I get clouds of microbubbles from my return system at intervals of 30-45 seconds. I haven't seen any obvious leaks but am not certain of it.

I have a Mag12 pushing about 4 feet up from the sump. The flow goes from the 3/4" (?) outlet to a 1" spa line, through a coupler, through a tee and then up through the bottom of the tank to the modular lines (which are split again, standard issue for a 125 aga kit).

A. Is this a leak, or a build-up in my tee or coupler, or could it be caused by a dirty prefilter sponge (I'm cleaning that tonight)?
B. How can I prevent build ups?
C. How can I find leaks?
D. How can I fix said leaks?
E. Anything else to consider?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Russell

 

[barbra]

Given the fact that a Mag12 should use 1-1/2 piping instead of the 1 you are using I would say it is a leak in the system somewhere. But then again your prefilter is cutting down your flow somewhat too, so maybe you can get by with that diameter. A starved pump can make bubbles though.

The bubbles probably are at intervals because your pump is running cyclically, they do that sometimes but it usually gets consistent after it has been running for a while. Has this setup been in place for very long?

 

[rschelby]

Since November, it seems to be getting worse. It is 1" ID if that makes the difference (I am horrible at plumbing!)

 

[barbra]

If your sump is too small and the flow rate is too high you will have bubbles. Do you see the bubbles pulling through your sump system? Get a flashlight and look really close....they might be hard to see if they are small and moving fast.

Do check your return connections though, the problem could be there.

Plumbing is fun in a sucky sort of way - I own more PVC than Home Depot