How is air getting in my power head?

[dansd]

One of my power heads is completely submerged, but it occasionally squirts out a bunch of air bubbles. Since it's completely under water, and it has no air tube, how does air get into the powerhead? This is not a major issue but it baffles me. I thought one of you might know why this is happening.

Danno

 

[HClH2OFish]

My guess would be due to cavitation caused by the impeller blade.

As the impeller turns, it causes a certain amount of cavitation which forms small air bubbles. They are probably slowly building up in the PH until it gets 'burped' out.

I get the same thing with mine occasionally...

 

[coastal]

It could be due to an excess of micro bubbles in your tank or it is drawwing from the surface ocasionaly

 

[Arch01]

Sounds like cavitation to me, too. Have you ever seen The Hunt for Red October? Cavitation is bad in Cold War submarines, but harmless in marine aquariums.
_________________
Mercedes W196

 

[HClH2OFish]

:lol: Actually it's bad in *any* kind of pump.
The cavitation is actually small bubbles imploding which can lead to damage and excess wear on pump assemblies.

 

[Anonymous]

Let me guess, it's a Maxi-Jet. I got so annoyed by it that I took my ph's out of the tank and bought a bigger return pump.

 

[danmhippo]

When you mentioned "completely submerged", just exactly how far down the surface is "completely submerged"?

if the intake is only an inch or two away from the surface, the swirl caused by the suction power could still bring air into the suction end. Also, make sure you cap on the air inlet for the power heads, as most powerheads are not designed specifically for reef tanks, they usually put a air inlet hole at the exit of the powerhead to add bubbles for FW tanks.

 

[Anonymous]

How long have the power head been in operation? Somtimes a small amount ot air gets trapped and take a little while to belch out. Also, cavatation is only a problem if you are restricting the inlet. Normal operation would not cause a cavatation problem.

 

[Anonymous]

The prefilter screen/sponge can get dookie in it and decrease the inlet to the powerheads fluid carrying capacity, which will lead to cavitation.

Clean out the screen and guts of the PH and see if that helps.

 

[Anonymous]

The prefilter screen/sponge can get dookie in it and decrease the inlet to the powerheads fluid carrying capacity, which will lead to cavitation.

Clean out the screen and guts of the PH and see if that helps.

Is dookie your 'word of the week', Hes?

:wink: :lol: