Pool and Spa waterfalls won't work at same time

[Atlnicole]

Hi everyone,

We recently moved into a new home that has a saltwater pool with Jandy system (I'm a novice when it comes to pool talk and everything I know I learned on this site - LOVE TFP). We live in Atlanta and do not close the pool for winter. Today we noticed that the waterfall to the pool was running very slow but the flow from the spa was fine. Tonight I tried to prime the pump thinking it had low pressure. Once I did this the waterfall to the pool worked great, but the spa wasn't working at all. I noticed the inlet valve to the spa didn't have any water flowing through it. I turned the pump off and took the inlet valve cover off and put it back on once the water started flowing out. I turned the pump back on and all was great for a few seconds. As the spa started filling up to flow over the edge, the waterfall to the pool slowed down to a trickle. The spa waterfall works great. So it seems only one will work properly at a time. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
Nicole

 

[northtechsan]

Sounds like you only have one pump for the pool/spa/waterfall. When the valves are set at pool mode water is sucked in through the drains & skimmers the pushed through the equipment and back into the the pool through the pool returns and waterfall. When you turn on the spa the water is sucked in from the same places but returned through the returns in the spa only.

Most of the PB's we talked to were going to build our pool the same way. In order to have the waterfall run the same as the spa we had to have a booster pump added to the system that would supply pressure to the water features when the spa is on.

 

[Atlnicole]

Thanks for the reply. I thought we had an auxiliary pump or booster pump. Attached is a picture of our set up. I thought to the right of the set up was the extra pump. Like I said in my first post, this is all new to me and I'm learning as I go along so forgive me if I sound silly. I appreciate all your help.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104456478521036113881/November82011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJqImuixi9qZGg

 

[JasonLion]

In your picture, I see two pumps. The first is the main pool/spa pump and the second is a pool cleaner booster pump. The booster pump is only suitable for running a pool cleaner, it is not involved in either the waterfall or spa.

You do have a couple of valves, notably the two near the ground in the front center of the photo, that are involved in balancing the flow rate between various destinations. I don't know where each of those pipes goes, but it is possible that you could get the effect you desire by adjusting those valves. You should also keep in mind that the main pool/spa valve is automated, and the controller may or may not be moving it to the same position each time you try to adjust things.

Another possibility is that your filter is dirty and that is reducing the flow enough to cause the problems you describe. If you haven't recently, you should check the filter pressure and clean/backwash the filter if needed.

 

[Atlnicole]

Thank you so much. We will check the filter this weekend.

 

[daddybug]

You could also have a bed check valve.

 

[Atlnicole]

Update: We had someone come out today and discovered 2 issues. We do have a bad check valve which was causing a slow drain from the spa. In addition, the pump impeller was clogged with leaves so it was restricting the water flow and caused the waterfalls to be disrupted.

I appreciate everyone's help and guidance.