cannot get sufficient waterflow into spa to maintain the waterfall into poo

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The valve in the fourth picture that has an actuator on top of it, above/behind the check valve, is the most likely place to look for the problem. I'm fairly sure that is the one Richard320 means. It is also remotely possible that the manual valve in the foreground of the same picture is involved, but that is much less likely.
 
thanks
i just checked all 3 valves on that run, the actuator and the valve at the end of the run had the valve diverter fully open so water could flow from the inlet port through both of the outlet ports. i opened it manually , but even when open the pressure running through the port that takes the water to the chlorinator was seemingly significantly stronger than the port to the spa (or going through the viewing window

if i had to check the spa pipes for bloackage what would i have to do, could i run a hose through the viewing window valve and check to see if water was coming out of the spa jets ?

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it is, i have do the manual override both automated using the toggle switch and manual by switching to off position and opening the valve having removed the actuator
 
is the spa drain valve in picture 1, the valve just in front of the pump that controls the water into the pump
when i turned the control panel to spa mode, this valve turned through 180 degrees and the spa water started to drain

when i turned it back to pool mode the spa stopped draining.

is that the way its programmed i would have thought on spa mode it would not have drained from the spa

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i need help identifying which are the suction valve for the pool and the one for the spa , are they in any of the photos i published
 
First off, two valves should be turning when switching from pool to spa mode. If not, then it is probably an issue with the return side valve not switching to spa return. Normally, there are three modes for these two valves:

Pool Mode: Suction/Return valve set to pool only
Spa Mode: Suction/Return valve set to spa only
Overflow Mode: Suction valve set to pool and return valve set to spa

Second, I noticed on one of the pictures that the suction side valve was only partially off. That is not normal. You normally want the either 100% spa suction or 100% pool suction and never a mix of both. However, on the return side, having a little spa on all the time is ok and preferable to some people who want some return to the spa even when in pool mode.
 
thanks mark

both valves are moving when switching between pool and spa
i have checked the valves for the return and suction, is it correct that the suction is the valve just before the pump
the return is the valve straight after the water comes out of the heater

these both seem to be working i have operated them with the actuator removed , opened the valve checked the diverter is not blocking the hole to the spa and it seems to do what it supposed to.

what i have noticed is that there is a lot of noise when i diver t the water from pool return to spa return and the pipes shake ! given the valves seem to be doing their job is this likely to be a blockage earlier in the pipe and if so what can i do to check to test for a blockage
 
hi richard

i checked the valves (return and suction) today, in fact i removed the actuators and operated both by hand, they both move freely
the valve for the return i actually opened up the valve itself and checked where the diverter was positioned and it was aligned with the OFF on the handle (which i believe is correct)

what i did notice was there is a lot of noise and pipes shaking when i move the return valve from pool to spa and also the flap in the first viewing window (the one immediately after the pipe exits the heater) closes when the diverter is moved to cover the pool return, that is moves to spa return, i would not have expected this to happen and it must explain why no water flow to spa is occuring
 
fujijohn0 said:
is it correct that the suction is the valve just before the pump
the return is the valve straight after the water comes out of the heater
Click to expand...
Yes and Yes

But if your spa is draining when you put the valves into spa mode, then water is not returning back to the spa. See if there is a piece of plumbing that is bypassing the flow around the spa to the pool.

But again, when I look at your pictures, the valves don't appear to be at EXACTLY 180 setting which means some of the water can go to the other port. If this happens on the return side, the spa will eventually drain. Can you post a better picture of the return side valve and actuator that is now under the backwash hose?
 

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yes the setting at the minute is pool mode but this valve does not move when switching between spa and pool or vice versa

the small cartridge on the spa line is that what is also called the energy filter, drives the polaris cleaner , its on the right hand side of picture 2 above?
i do clean that regularly (weekly), however its worth pointing out that the pool guy broken the pipe that the filter used to sit on , so now this just seats on the bottom of the plastic container, that happened some time back.
 
fujijohn0 said:
both valves are moving when switching between pool and spa
Click to expand...

fujijohn0 said:
yes the setting at the minute is pool mode but this valve does not move when switching between spa and pool or vice versa
Click to expand...

Umm - So which is it. Do both valves more or not when switching between modes? Both valves need to switch positions when going between pool and spa mode. If the return valve does not move, then the spa will drain.
 
there are 3 of these actuators the one in the pictures above does not move, i think it just feeds the main filter and / or that small cartridge filter for the polaris
the other 2 do. the other two are the one immediately in front of the pump (suction) and the other is the one shortly after the output from the heater (return)
 
OK - I am starting to understand the layout a little better but have a few more follow-ups.

What is the normal clean filter pressure in pool mode vs spa mode and has it changed recently?

Have you removed the flapper from the check valve (clear cover) to make sure the check valve swings freely?
 
the normal clean filter pressure on pool is around 25 psi, it currently is closer to 30 psi
never had the spa on before in spa mode, just turned the blower on previously to get a spa effect so not sure what the pressure is normally on spa but at the minute it is also around the 30 psi mark, same as on pool mode.

i can say the flapper on the viewing valve coming out of the heater seems to open and close without issue (the back of the flapper is white and i can see it opening and closing). what i just tested was whilst leaving the system on pool mode i adjusted the return valve with the actuator on it (3 ports) to create an overflow from the spa to the pool and what happened was when i moved it over to supply only the spa the flapper on the valve closed completely and the spa drained very quickly, the pump was just pushing air.

could i have the switch on the actuators the wrong way around ?
 
could i have the switch on the actuators the wrong way around ?
Click to expand...
Definitely. The spa would drain in one mode and overflow in the other mode. If it is draining in spa mode, the return side actuator switch is in the wrong position.

But 30 PSI is very high and probably causing some restriction to the pump and will lower the flow rate. Have you cleaned the filter recently?

You still do not have a signature with your equipment. Please add one and read this: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/115-read-before-you-post
 
thanks mark
my new filter arrived yesterday, will replace the old one this week, the current one has a couple of rips and also a stress fracture on the manifold.
when i put the polaris on the psi has risen to closer to 40.
 

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