Newbie Here

Feb 20, 2022
10
Fort Worth, Texas
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
Hello pool peeps!

I'm in the DFW area and my family just finished putting in a saltwater gunite pool late last year. Prior to this we had an above ground pool with a saltwater system for about 4 years. We are loving the new pool and travertine decking! Our backyard has turned out exactly like we had hoped.

I do have one small problem I'm hoping someone here can guide me on. My pool builder was not exceptionally forthcoming with information during the process and afterwards. One question I have is our spa. In past experience I've only ever had a standalone hot tub. One thing that we like about it is that the bubbles/pressure will come out with enough Force and Air where there would be enough turbulence to get a massaging effect on your sore muscles.

Well our spa does not do that at all. The Jets have some good pressure and it's hot and everything, but it's almost akin to sitting at a warm bath there's no real turbulence at all. Our builder has told us that a hot tub and a spa are two different animals and you're not going to get that effect, and that it is not possible.

I had read online about something called a Venturi pipe that I think is plumbed into the system to pull in air and introduce the bubble through the jet. But I'm not sure if you have to have particular Jets to handle this or if it's even possible with an attached spa to our pool.

I was going to hunt for a pool or spa professional in our area that might do custom work but I wanted to check with folks here since I did not get anywhere with my builder. I appreciate the insight!
 
It looks like you have a blower on your spa. Can you turn that on and get the desired effect? Mine bubbles pretty good without the blower, but I sometimes run it for a minute or two to clear out any water and make sure there is enough turbulence for me.
 
Can you please post the type of pump you have and what speed you are running the pump at?

What is the pressure on the pressure gauge when you are running the pump in spa mode?

How many jets are in your attached spa?

Do you know the maker of the jets or can you take a picture of them?

What is plumbing run length from your equipment pad to the spa?

What is the plumbing pipe diameter (1.5”, 2”, ?)?

With enough info @mas985 might be able to calculate the expected water flow rate per jet.

I tend to agree with your builder - attached spas and detached hot tubs are completely different beasts. They have different plumbing and pump configurations as well as various styles of jets. You will never get the same experience in an attached pool spa that you get in a stand alone hot tub. You may be able to increase the jet pressure by closing a few of them if they are the type that can be closed. The air blower adds more air to the jets but doesn’t significantly increase jet pressure or flow rate.

A Venturi jet is nothing more than a passive jet design that allows the flow of water to pull air into the water stream from an attached air line. Almost all spa jets are Venturi jets.
 
Can you please post the type of pump you have and what speed you are running the pump at?

What is the pressure on the pressure gauge when you are running the pump in spa mode?

How many jets are in your attached spa?

Do you know the maker of the jets or can you take a picture of them?

What is plumbing run length from your equipment pad to the spa?

What is the plumbing pipe diameter (1.5”, 2”, ?)?

With enough info @mas985 might be able to calculate the expected water flow rate per jet.

I tend to agree with your builder - attached spas and detached hot tubs are completely different beasts. They have different plumbing and pump configurations as well as various styles of jets. You will never get the same experience in an attached pool spa that you get in a stand alone hot tub. You may be able to increase the jet pressure by closing a few of them if they are the type that can be closed. The air blower adds more air to the jets but doesn’t significantly increase jet pressure or flow rate.

A Venturi jet is nothing more than a passive jet design that allows the flow of water to pull air into the water stream from an attached air line. Almost all spa jets are Venturi jets.
Here are my specs:

Pump Type- pentair intelliflow vsf P/N
012056 - Thp 3.95

Booster pump - century centurion
Pentair - LA01N

Blower - silencer, 1.5 horsepower, model 1-6315241

Pressure in spa mode - 25 psi

Number of jet - 6

Maker of jets- pics

Run length - 27 feet

Pipe diameter - 2"
 

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It looks like you have a blower on your spa. Can you turn that on and get the desired effect? Mine bubbles pretty good without the blower, but I sometimes run it for a minute or two to clear out any water and make sure there is enough turbulence for me.
Yeah the blower adds a bit more pressure but no bubbles or anything
 
The jet pictured looks like a regular 11/2" pool jet. You can change the eye of the jet to get a stronger water flow by reducing the opening size. Not sure how it'll affect the rest of the workings.
 

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That's not really a spa jet, that's just a standard wall return. So now I'm confused a bit more ... what exactly did the PB install in your spa? Do you have any pictures from the construction of the pool showing the plumbing around the spa?
 
That is just the outer fitting. The jet nozzle is deep within the spa wall. Most likely #7 venturi tee. You need a long socket wrench to remove the nozzle. I would remove all 6 jet nozzles (plus outer fittings) and flush the lines to see if that helps. While the jets are removed, measure the nozzle orifice diameter. 3/8" is the most common but you need at least 15 GPM each for decent pressure (90 GPM) total. The PB did you no favor by using only 2" lines as that will reduce the flow rate considerably. If flushing the lines does not help, then replacing the nozzles with 1/4" will increase the water velocity and jet strength.

1645398622423.jpeg
 
That's not really a spa jet, that's just a standard wall return. So now I'm confused a bit more ... what exactly did the PB install in your spa? Do you have any pictures from the construction of the pool showing the plumbing around the spa?
This is all I have. Not sure if it's helpful... :(
 

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You have all the right stuff to have a nice spa. I had the same issue after mine was built. We fixed it by turning the Variable speed pump up to 3250 rpm on the spa mode setting and clearing out the air line.