Micro bubbles solved on external.pump installation

ddc0715 · Aug 19, 2020

I installed a external little gaint 3 mdqx sc pump a few days ago, good pump great flow, my plumbing included several elbows, 45's an unions. I ended up with a bad micro bubble problem. So I tore it down, reglued, resilconed, add more tef tape, etc. And still had the micro problem with no water leaks. So I read an article about cavatiging. And it sad alot of turns in his flow lines can cause water tight turblance. So I cut it all out and replace with a single run of spa tubing. And BOOOM . no more microbubbles. You learn something new everyday. So to all you future plumbers. Use less elbows and beens and run straight shots of spa tubing. If possible. Cause i beat my head against the wall for days wondering why. Here are some before and afters.

laverda · Aug 19, 2020

To be honest I am surprised that completely cured your problem. Any restriction on the inlet side will cause the issue as it creates a vacuum drawing air past the seals in the pump or in any area that is not sealed completely. By reducing the number of joints you reduced the restrictions to flow and eliminate possible leak points. Ideally you want the feed to the pump to be larger in diameter than the output. Also as short and restriction free as possible. If you have an intake screen you will probably find the bubbles returning as/when it starts getting clogged.