It is currently May 25th, 2012, 4:50 pm

All times are UTC - 6 hours [ DST ]



 Page 1 of 1 [ 13 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: November 28th, 2011, 11:01 am 
New User

Joined: August 22nd, 2011, 1:50 pm
Posts: 18
Location: Frisco, TX
I am loosing water once the pump shuts off for the night. So based on searches from this wonderful site, I replaced all 3 check valves. I am still loosing water from the spa.

However, If I turn the pump off at night with the spa valves activated the spa remains full. My thought is it must be from the Spa Overflow, I switched the check valves to make sure. It only looses water with the spa off and the pool valves open. I would also think this rules out any leak.

As a temporary fix, I just program the spa to run for 5 minutes before the pump is turned off for the night.

What else am I missing? Where could the water possbily go?

Thanks in advance!

The pic of the Spa Return is the Spa Intake from the drain

Attachment:
Pool Pump.JPG


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.


Last edited by breweb01 on November 28th, 2011, 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.


_________________
14,000 Pebble Sheen Salt Water Pool All Pentair Equipment/ Cartridge Filter, 400K BTU Heated.
Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: November 28th, 2011, 1:38 pm 
Lifetime Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
User avatar

Joined: December 8th, 2010, 2:39 pm
Posts: 502
Location: Mount Airy, Maryland
If the spa is higher than the pool, the water will level to the pool level. if you're main drain is open in your spa, turn it off so no water goes through the spa drain. If you have check valves on all your returns, this should solve your problem. The only time you need the drain open in your spa is when you use the spa exclusively.



_________________
18 x 36 Inground Gunnite, White Plaster 21K gallon
18" raised spa, 8' Diameter (620 gallon)
Triton II Sand filter, Intellichlor IC40 SWG
Pentair Pump, Max-E-Therm 400 BTU
Lamotte ColorQ PRO 7-Plus test kit
TFT-100 test kit
Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 1st, 2012, 11:24 am 
New User

Joined: October 20th, 2009, 9:46 am
Posts: 12
Location: Cumming, GA
did you ever find a solution? i'm having the same problem and have replaced all the check valves. it has not always done this.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 1st, 2012, 1:42 pm 
Special Contributor
Special Contributor

Joined: May 20th, 2007, 4:29 pm
Posts: 3053
Location: South Central NJ
Check the suction side valve too. Especially if the spa doesn't seem to spill quite as much as it used to.

Scott



_________________
Owner of - PoolGuyNJ LLC
Expert Pool and Spa Repairs, Renovations, and Augmentation. Helping people decide what is the right gear for meeting their needs. Expectations Set, Expectations Met, No Surprises.
Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 1st, 2012, 3:12 pm 
New User

Joined: August 22nd, 2011, 1:50 pm
Posts: 18
Location: Frisco, TX
Still have this issue if I do not turn the pool off while in spa mode.

I do not believe the suction side is on for the spa if the pool is on. The overflow is in the middle of the spa on the floor.

My water only disapears if I leave the valves in the on position for the pool. To me this says it has to be the overflow to the spa, but I changed the check Valve???



_________________
14,000 Pebble Sheen Salt Water Pool All Pentair Equipment/ Cartridge Filter, 400K BTU Heated.
Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 1st, 2012, 6:39 pm 
In the Industry

Joined: December 12th, 2011, 5:03 pm
Posts: 19
Location: Orlando, Fl
Spa drains into pool:
1) Spa return line check valve
2) valve diverter seals on Spa MD line, or Spa Jet line (different from the spa return)
3) leak from spa (you would know due to water loss from pool)

When you go into spa mode (as opposed to spillover mode)
you effectively turn off the spa return, and turn on the spa jets and spa MD.

Easiest way to find it, assuming that you know it is not #3,
is to swap valve diverters from a known good valve into either of those positions.
Also, give them a visual inspection as you remove them, look for a bad diverter seal, or debris jammed into the seal.
Also, you have Jandy NeverLube valves, which are pretty robust, and also come with a lifetime warranty.

Good luck!
-B.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 2nd, 2012, 7:33 am 
Special Contributor
Special Contributor

Joined: May 20th, 2007, 4:29 pm
Posts: 3053
Location: South Central NJ
Spa drains when off and valves are in pool mode. The check valve flapper has already been swapped, ergo:

The suction side valve used to determine pool or spa suction has a small leak, less than the return flow so you don't see it except that the spill won't be as strong, something that may not be noticed when running as the difference isn't enough. It's still happening though. Once the pump is off, water is leaking past the valve. When in spa mode, the valve is seated on the other side and may seal but in pool mode, it isn't seating.

Empty the spa. Remove the 8 screws holding the valve lid to the body and actuator. Remove the valve guts. I'd wager the gasket inside is damaged.

Scott



_________________
Owner of - PoolGuyNJ LLC
Expert Pool and Spa Repairs, Renovations, and Augmentation. Helping people decide what is the right gear for meeting their needs. Expectations Set, Expectations Met, No Surprises.
Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 16th, 2012, 3:10 pm 
New User

Joined: October 20th, 2009, 9:46 am
Posts: 12
Location: Cumming, GA
PoolGuyNJ - i think you have nailed it in my case. i had completely forgotten but my spillover had decreased quite a bit. i plan to dissassemble this weekend. i also have the Jandy Neverlube valves - how do i replace those under warranty? bought the house with the pool already installed and no docs about the pool.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool - updated
PostPosted: February 20th, 2012, 3:34 pm 
New User

Joined: October 20th, 2009, 9:46 am
Posts: 12
Location: Cumming, GA
ok, i'm still on the hunt for an answer. i checked the diverter for the spa suction and it looked good. also checked the diverter between the spa return and pool return and it looked good. check again the check valve for the spa return and it looked good. i'm running out of ideas. no water loss that i can find. here's a picture of my setup if anyone has any more ideas.

Image


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 20th, 2012, 7:10 pm 
Special Contributor
Special Contributor

Joined: May 20th, 2007, 4:29 pm
Posts: 3053
Location: South Central NJ
Clay, first let me tell you your pool builder did you no favors keeping things so compact. I think you now understand why this is a bad thing.

With the symptoms you have described, either the diverter in front of the pool/spa pump has a set of guts, be it an o-ring or main blade gasket, or the check valve on the spa return line is bad. That is it unless the spa itself is losing water. You have indicated though that left in spa mode, there is no loss. There is no other path for the spa water to get to the pool. Look are deceiving sometimes.

Scott



_________________
Owner of - PoolGuyNJ LLC
Expert Pool and Spa Repairs, Renovations, and Augmentation. Helping people decide what is the right gear for meeting their needs. Expectations Set, Expectations Met, No Surprises.
Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 25th, 2012, 10:15 am 
New User

Joined: October 20th, 2009, 9:46 am
Posts: 12
Location: Cumming, GA
still can't find the culprit. i'm wondering if one of my neverlube valves was set incorrectly when i had some work done on the heater a while back.

what should the position be while in filter pump mode for the valves at both the returns and the drains?


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: February 25th, 2012, 10:33 am 
Special Contributor
Special Contributor

Joined: May 20th, 2007, 4:29 pm
Posts: 3053
Location: South Central NJ
When in pool mode:

The suction side should be off to the spa.

The return to the spa, assuming the jets in the spa are also the return, should be about 2/3 off to the spa or 50/50. The check valve should stop any back flow.

This would force more water in the spa, causing a spill over.

When in spa mode, both the suction and return should be off to the pool and use 100% of the flow for the spa. This way, what ever comes in, goes out.

When in spa fill mode. all suction from the spa is off and all return flow goes to the spa.

When in spa drain mode, the spa's drain(s) are open and the spa return flow is minimized. This forces the spa to drain faster than it fills, lowering the water level. Note that to completely drain a spa with a side mounted suction port. the side mounted port should be plugged so the draining is coming from the bottom only. They should be tied together.

The air loop is not connected to the pool so it can't cause this either.

If you have a separate pump for the jets and only one return inlet or 1/2 the jets as pool returns, and the check valve or suction side three way valve is not defective, then the only other possible solution would be a air leak on the spa booster. Since you said the water is going back to the pool, in this case, this situation is not possible but mentioned for those that have a spa booster.

Scott



_________________
Owner of - PoolGuyNJ LLC
Expert Pool and Spa Repairs, Renovations, and Augmentation. Helping people decide what is the right gear for meeting their needs. Expectations Set, Expectations Met, No Surprises.
Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Spa draining water into pool
PostPosted: March 19th, 2012, 9:30 am 
New User

Joined: August 22nd, 2011, 1:50 pm
Posts: 18
Location: Frisco, TX
I thought I should post an update. I had a pool guy come out, the actuator needed adjusting as it was not closing all the way while in pool mode. He said even with the check valve the was to much pressure allowing it to drain. In the first post picture above it was the actuator by the pump that I believe I mis labeled spa return. Not sure what it should be called but is from the spa drain.



_________________
14,000 Pebble Sheen Salt Water Pool All Pentair Equipment/ Cartridge Filter, 400K BTU Heated.
Offline
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
 Page 1 of 1 [ 13 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 6 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  


TroubleFreePool.com The Web