mystery bubbles

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I've been noticing mystery bubbles everywhere.. No not pearling..

I noticed my Maxi-jet 1200 keeps spraying out some air bubbles/mist.. This doesn't seem weird except it's completely submersed with a spraybar attachment on it (no venturi) it has no contact with the surface at all except for the power cord... same thing with the Maxi- 600..

I went upstairs and re-filled the cats water dish (has a pump to circulate the water) and I noticed it's doing the same thing...

Has my house become carbonated? I can't figure out where this is coming from and the pumps been submersed for weeks...

Any ideas?

 

[SparKy697]

I know that when you get water out of the tap in the colder climates, you will often see that the water is a milky color. But over a few minutes the tiny bubbles (not a don ho reference) that make the water look cloudy clear up and go away. I'm told that this is due to the temperature change from cold to warm in a short time.

Could this be what you are seeing in the cat's bowl?

I'm not at all sure that they are both related.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I noticed the bubbles before I filled up the dish..

Could the heat from the motor cause this?

I'm sorta at a loss figuring this one out. Tho temp difference could be a logical explanation..

 

[SparKy697]

Hmm heat form the motor making bubbles in a dish that has been there for a while sure sounds like boiling. I'm thinking (hoping) that is not the case.

Thinking out loud here, bubbles come from a few places. One would be dissolved gas in a liquid that is allowed to escape due to agitation, pressure change, or temperature change. Boiling due to temperature increase or severe pressure drop (I doubt that your pumps are boiling water by heat or cavitating either) As you mentioned, a venturi effect. I had this happen with that silly control valve that the XP filters include. All of the sudden I was getting bubbles and it turned out to be this little hard plastic cap in the middle of the handle that is meant to introduce air to the water stream. It had cracked and was no longer sealing.

Could the suction of your pump be close enough to the surface to pull a tiny vortex from the surface, introducing air to the stream? I know it's probably far fetched but desperate times....

BTW. Very nice job with the tank plumbing! I had something very similar in mind so that water changes could be done without dealing with the siphon issues.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Thanks. I still have to build a sump for this one, but when I do I'll be adding the ability to pump water out.. hard to live without it (but I still have the original setup in use now)

No the pump is about 6" down the glass (that would be a huge vortex, but very cool)..

I guess the possibility of microscopic air bubbles converging will have to stay my best guess.. just seemed very odd..