Valve Settings

[zergrush]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking on these forums for quite some times and learned a wealth of knowledge. Currently, I'm trying to figure out what the labels mean and what positions my valve should be in order for my pool filter to work properly. I'm a recent home buyer that came with a pool and I'm hoping someone on these forums will be able to provide me some insights before contacting a local pool service guy.

I do have a spa that waterfalls into my pool with in-ground filter heads and the pool was built by Shasta.

I've enclosed two pictures below of my valves and pipes.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated and if you need more pictures to help decipher my system, please let me know!

Regards.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

It would be nice if (in addition to what you have) you could post an overall view of the pad.

Lets start with how it's set up now.
1) The pump is set to draw from the pool only (no flow from spa).
2) The pump is set to flow to what looks like the filter (not enough in the pics to tell for sure).
3) The system is set to bypass the heater (pic doesn't show the heater).
4) System is set to feed the Spa and the pool.
5) System is set to not feed the water feature.
6) System is set not to feed the QDR (not sure what that is but probably a skimmer/cleaner setup).

That's about all I can gleen from the pics so far.

You can set it to draw from the spa and/or the pool with the valve on the suction of the pump.
You can set it to discharge to either the filter or some other device that's not in the photos using the valve on the discharge of the pump.
You can set it to feed the spa and/or the pool with the valve labeled 'spa therapies'.
You can set it to feed the pool and/or water features.
You can set it to feed the QDR using the QDR valve, IF it's set to feed the pool.
You can se it to feed the aerator, IF it's set to feed the pool.

More pics will allow us to provide more info about the system. But that's all for now.

 

[zergrush]

Hi Bama,

Thanks for the prompt response. I will post more pics to give a better overall feel as to how my system is setup. You may have to pardon my ignorance regarding some of your terminology and explain it in layman's term.

In the mean time since it's a little to dark over here in Arizona to take pictures, I don't suppose you know what "Water Feature", "Spa Therapies", or "QDR" means do you?

 

[jblizzle]

I am guessing there must be a waterfall or deck jets which would be the water feature.

The therapies are probably jet returns along a bench seat or something like that.

No idea what the other stands for.

I would be tempted to play around with the valves ... seems like there may be some cool features you have not seen yet.

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[Bama Rambler]

As Jason said, the 'water feature' is either a waterfall or jets.
The 'spa therapies' will be the seat jets.
The 'QDR' is a cleaner. It actually stands for "Quick Debris Removal" It goes to an A&A QuikSkim cleaner which should be located in the deck somewhere.

 

[zergrush]

As Jason said, the 'water feature' is either a waterfall or jets.
The 'spa therapies' will be the seat jets.
The 'QDR' is a cleaner. It actually stands for "Quick Debris Removal" It goes to an A&A QuikSkim cleaner which should be located in the deck somewhere.

I'm still not exactly sure what the waterfall feature but I think I may have a vague idea. Spa therapies makes a little bit of more sense and thanks for clarifying the acronym of QDR. I tried googling it and results came up with a lot of acronyms for the US government.

Anyways, below are a few more pictures that show my overall system. Hopefully this will be a little bit more of us.

Any idea what I believe the label says "Therapy Air" means? And please disregard the weeds that are growing around! Haven't had time to kill them...

 

[jblizzle]

Is there a reason you have not just opened one valve at a time and see what they do? As long as you are there monitoring things you really can not hurt anything. Worst can would be accidentally closing all the returns but that could only hurt things if left like that for hours I think.

I would have tinkered around with everything by now

Posted with Tapatalk

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'm gonna guess that you don't have any wall returns. The spaceship looking thing that the vac hoses are laying over is the floor cleaning diverter. It distributes water to the different heads or groups of heads.

Have you ran the spa?

 

[jblizzle]

The "Therapy Air" is that pipe with the slot cut in it. Air will be drawn into this pipe when you are in Spa mode and cause the bubbles in the Spa ... this is how my past house was setup. Although I did not have the valve to adjust the amount of air that is sucked in.

As the valves are currently setup it looks like you are sucking from the pool and should have water returning to both the pool and the spa therapies (which may have air being drawn in).

Can you post a picture of the pool set up so we can see how your spa/pool are oriented?

 

[zergrush]

Is there a reason you have not just opened one valve at a time and see what they do? As long as you are there monitoring things you really can not hurt anything. Worst can would be accidentally closing all the returns but that could only hurt things if left like that for hours I think.

I've done that. Problem is because I'm not too familiar with pool systems, so I'm not exactly sure what to be looking for. The only thing that I could really make out is, when I turn valves into a different position, the filter PSI drops.

I'm starting to get a grasp with all your responses though.

The "Therapy Air" is that pipe with the slot cut in it. Air will be drawn into this pipe when you are in Spa mode and cause the bubbles in the Spa ... this is how my past house was setup. Although I did not have the valve to adjust the amount of air that is sucked in.

Ah, interesting. I'm assuming if I want to run the spa that's one of the valves that I need to switch. And am I correct, that I'll need to turn the valve so the handle is pointing down?

As the valves are currently setup it looks like you are sucking from the pool and should have water returning to both the pool and the spa therapies (which may have air being drawn in).
And just to make sure I understand you clearly, it sounds like my valve settings currently sucking in the water, into the filter, and then being dispersed back into the pool and by the spa jets?

Can you post a picture of the pool set up so we can see how your spa/pool are oriented?

I'll post a picture up tomorrow. Thank god for the weekend.

I'm gonna guess that you don't have any wall returns. The spaceship looking thing that the vac hoses are laying over is the floor cleaning diverter. It distributes water to the different heads or groups of heads.
Have you ran the spa?

No. I haven't ran the spa yet. I'm kind of ignorant as to which valve settings I need to position in order to get it working and what position to have suction going.

Regarding the vac hoses, from reading various sites, am I suppose to connect the hoses into the skimmer?

 

[Bama Rambler]

In order to run the spa you need to switch the valve on the suction side of the pump 180° to the spa side, and then switch the spa therapies valve 90° to block the flow to the pool. If you want the spa heated you need to switch the heater valve 90° towards the label to close the bypass and fire up the heater.

You should have a vac plate that goes into the skimmer that the hose goes into.

 

[some]

More on the QDR.

I have a similar Shasta pool system. The pipes and setup are so similar to yours, they may as well have been done by the same team. I had a much bigger challenge when I moved in to my home - there were leaks everywhere which took me quite some time to discover and patch up. Of course I didn't know this was the case so I dealt with an under-performing system for months before all leaks were discovered and repaired.

I had a number of questions about the QDR. It seemed like it was working but I found out it wasn't doing what it was suppose to do.

I had to call Shasta support a couple times to get information on it. I too could not locate a website which described it's use.
I could also tell it hadn't been used in years. The amount of dried mud on the lid and on the surrounding plastics was so thick, the lid could not be placed in correctly. I assumed it was some form of a chemical release system though the net would burn up if strong chemicals were placed in it. I could tell the prior owner and pool crew had no idea what is for.

The QDR (Quick Debris Removal) is designed to use the pressure from the return flow to draw water in from the drain on the bottom of the pool. It requires an air-tight seal to do this otherwise it will draw in air and spray bubbles into the pool. It draws water out of the main drain by sending the return water through the QDR cavity. The pressure of the water which is sprayed through then causes suction from the pipe which is above the net. The pipe leads to the drain. The drain water is sucked into the qdr cavity, through the net, and sent back into the pool.

My net was installed on the upper 'shelf' of the QDR cavity which was higher than the inflow pipe. Once I cleaned everything up it became clear the net needed to be installed on the lower 'shelf'.
I had to soak the lid for a while in water and scrub off any and all dirt. I then applied lube around the rubber and slipped it into the opening. Before I had cleaned it up, I couldn't secure the lid to anything. Too much mud was caked on it. Now that it was cleaned and lubed, it slipped right into the area it belonged and gave me an airtight seal.
Once the pump was turned on, I received perfect suction from the pool. It quickly whisked all of the debris which had been held in the pipe for years.
I found it to be a lifesaver, it has since sucked in quite a bit of debris.

The only challenge I have left is getting the popup jet actuator to quit jamming up. The gears are old and must be worn out. Only then will my pool do what it was made to.

I was able to call Shasta and request a schema of my pool. It was only mildly helpful. They are also willing to send a representative out for a small fee to tell you exactly how your pool was built and how to maintain it.