We have an in ground pool and spa. The spa blower has never worked since we moved in. I was never able to turn it on. I finally got around to replacing the blower (same plumbing, volts, amps, hp as the old one) and suspect that the plumbing between the blower and spa is blocked. The new one is an Air Supply Silencer. The old one was one of those metal Polaris Anzen blowers.
What does work?
The spa does have a Venturi air inlet pipe (is that what it’s called?) sticking out of the ground by the pump and filter, shaped like an upside down umbrella handle. When I run the spa there are some bubbles coming from all of the jets. I’ve hooked up my shop vac to this pipe and can observe a significant increase in bubbles from all of the jets when I push additional air through. This tells me that things are pretty good between the Venturi pipe and the spa.
What happens with the blower?
The blower turns on just fine. However, no air ever comes through the spa. I tried running it for a few minutes. After shutting it down, I pulled up the blower, checked the check valve and it was closed. I pushed down on the plunger (felt a bit of resistance) in the valve and a bit of air and water sprayed back at me through the pipe. This tells me that something is obstructing the pipe and that when running the blower I’m just building pressure in the pipe between the check valve and whatever obstruction is there.
The water that sprayed back looked mostly clear. I’ve stuck an endoscope around 5-6 feet into the pipe and the water is clear. The camera made it past the first 90 degree turn towards the pool. Just cant tell if I’m seeing an obstruction.
What’s next?
Any suggestions on more troubleshooting I can try? Or is this one of those “call a plumber” or “time to break up some concrete” type issues?
What does work?
The spa does have a Venturi air inlet pipe (is that what it’s called?) sticking out of the ground by the pump and filter, shaped like an upside down umbrella handle. When I run the spa there are some bubbles coming from all of the jets. I’ve hooked up my shop vac to this pipe and can observe a significant increase in bubbles from all of the jets when I push additional air through. This tells me that things are pretty good between the Venturi pipe and the spa.
What happens with the blower?
The blower turns on just fine. However, no air ever comes through the spa. I tried running it for a few minutes. After shutting it down, I pulled up the blower, checked the check valve and it was closed. I pushed down on the plunger (felt a bit of resistance) in the valve and a bit of air and water sprayed back at me through the pipe. This tells me that something is obstructing the pipe and that when running the blower I’m just building pressure in the pipe between the check valve and whatever obstruction is there.
The water that sprayed back looked mostly clear. I’ve stuck an endoscope around 5-6 feet into the pipe and the water is clear. The camera made it past the first 90 degree turn towards the pool. Just cant tell if I’m seeing an obstruction.
What’s next?
Any suggestions on more troubleshooting I can try? Or is this one of those “call a plumber” or “time to break up some concrete” type issues?
