Raised Plaster Spa Plumbing [Air]

[MyBad]

I am sorry if this is a dumb question, but we bought the place Nov 09. Foreclosure. I had a local pool guy out then to try to explain to me how to use the pool equipment, and care for the pool. Came across TFP and have been very happy with the results.

The raised spa, when in spa mode, has good pressure, and air bubbles. Sometimes it will lose the bubbles, and if I drain the spa to the pool, then refill it it will again inject a very good amount of air, again.

I have noticed someone has replaced the WFE-8 motor with a single speed 1hp motor. There is a 2inch PVC pipe, in the back of the equip, that goes into the ground by itself, that I can hear, and feel air being taken in, when we run the spa. It was open when we got the place, and the pool guy really had no idea.

Should there be some sort of air valve, blower, or ??? There doesn't seem to be any sort of power plumbed it either. Also it looks like someone had duct taped something to the top at one time. Thx

 

[waste]

Hey there

Sounds like the air line is flooding from time to time (the air line is the pipe with the tape on it) and your venturi jets don't have quite enough pressure to draw the water back out of the pipe so the air will flow. If it normally works fine, I wouldn't worry about installing an air blower (though most of them accept 2" pipe). You might want to take the tape off of the pipe and 'dry fit' a 90* elbow on the pipe, just to keep/ minimize rain and debris from entering the pipe

As a final note, the pipe may have been taped off when the pool was last winterized.

 

[mas985]

Given the way the air pipe looks, I bet they had a blower at one time and it failed. They probably figured they could run without it. How far is the air pipe to the spa? More than 20' and it might be a good idea to have blower.

 

[MyBad]

Yah distance maybe 25-30 ft. Hard to tell what the owners had, is was a real mess. I think the idea with placing a 90 on top for now is an excellent idea. A blower would most likely solve the problem though it isn't much of a problem. Thanks to both of you for taking time to help me out!