Spa Losing Water Slowly

[manofice3484]

Hey all, I have a brand new pool and raised spa. It's cold here in NC and we've had temps below 33 at night.
I noticed my spa was losing some water sometimes at night and the builder said it was most likely from freeze protection mode turning on every 15 minutes, switching from pool mode to spa. I accepted that answer and to fix this, we just set the spill over to run in the morning to fill it back up (would range from 1-4 inches maybe). Well the last couple nights have been warmer, maybe 50 degrees, and I've noticed my spa was maybe 2 inches lower in the morning still. The pool level is not going down, so I assume the water is leaking back into the pool. Now I'm noticing since I'm home that even when the system is completely off, the spa drains down a little bit. I only have a check valve on the spa return side, which the builder early on opened up and confirmed was good, no debris and clean, so my current thought process is that it's back flowing through the suction line since there isn't a check valve on that side? Any one have thoughts on this? The actuators do appear to turn fine, but i'm going crazy trying to think about where the spa water is slipping back into the pool.

Thanks in advance

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
The pictures you show have the spa side return and suction both completely turned off, or at least I am assuming your are in Pool Mode in those pictures. Thus, you really do not need a check valve on either side.
Is the spa still when you are in Pool mode?
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[manofice3484]

Welcome to the forum!
The pictures you show have the spa side return and suction both completely turned off, or at least I am assuming your are in Pool Mode in those pictures. Thus, you really do not need a check valve on either side.
Is the spa still when you are in Pool mode?
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

Hi Mknauss, you are correct, it's in pool mode in that picture, it was just a reference. But while in pool mode, I did notice the spa level dropped 1/2 in-1in. It's a slow drop, I can't visually see it actively draining, but if I leave it for an hour and come back, I see that the level is lower.

 

[mknauss]

I suspect the suction valve is not completely closing off. The Cam in the actuator may need adjustment.
You can manually adjust the actuator by using the toggle switch. But for a permanent fix, the cam would need to be adjusted.

Another way to check it is to take the suction side actuator off the valve, manually adjust the valve, and see if that fixes it. Again, the permanent fix will take adjustment of the cam in the actuator. Easy to do.

 

[mknauss]

Valve Actuators - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[manofice3484]

I suspect the suction valve is not completely closing off. The Cam in the actuator may need adjustment.
You can manually adjust the actuator by using the toggle switch. But for a permanent fix, the cam would need to be adjusted.

Another way to check it is to take the suction side actuator off the valve, manually adjust the valve, and see if that fixes it. Again, the permanent fix will take adjustment of the cam in the actuator. Easy to do.

I was also thinking it was not fully closing, even though it appears to be, but like you said I would need t open it up and check. Thanks, I will start with this!

 

[manofice3484]

Valve Actuators - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

So I took the actuator off, and it did have a small amount of movement to make it close completely. Not a lot, but it didn’t appear to be 100% closed, so I bet that’s it. I have it manually fully closed and will monitor the water level! If it holds, I’ll make the actuator adjustment.

 

[manofice3484]

So over night, it still lost water. Any other idea? The system was off last night and was in spill over mode over night. So spa suction was manually closed all the way and the return to the spa open.

 

[mknauss]

Has to be a connection between the spa and pool somewhere that is not sealing.

 

[manofice3484]

Has to be a connection between the spa and pool somewhere that is not sealing.

Do you think it's more likely on the suction side or return side? I'm wondering if the seal to the suction spa side is defective maybe. Would they have to drain the whole pool to replace the diverter?

 

[mknauss]

The suction side valve is what you adjusted yesterday, correct?

 

[manofice3484]

The suction side valve is what you adjusted yesterday, correct?

Correct, I manually made sure it was in the closed position for the spa suction.

 

[mknauss]

I'm wondering if the seal to the suction spa side is defective maybe.

Then I do not understand this question ---

 

[manofice3484]

Then I do not understand this question ---

You mentioned that a connection between the spa and pool maybe isn't a perfect seal? So i'm wondering if even when I manually closed the spa suction, if the seal isn't perfect and it's still allowing water to flow through the closed diverter? I hope you weren't saying that it must be a pipe under ground somewhere.

 

[mknauss]

OK -- a leaky diverter valve is possible but rare. Especially as yours is so new. You can pull apart that valve and inspect/lubricate the orings, etc if you like. As long as the pool equipment is situated above the water level. Otherwise you will need to drain down the water level in the spa (and pool if necessary) so that it is below the level of that valve.

 

[manofice3484]

OK -- a leaky diverter valve is possible but rare. Especially as yours is so new. You can pull apart that valve and inspect/lubricate the orings, etc if you like. As long as the pool equipment is situated above the water level. Otherwise you will need to drain down the water level in the spa (and pool if necessary) so that it is below the level of that valve.

Since it’s rare, I don’t think I’ll mess with it. I’ll wait till the pool company comes and checks it out. Man this is annoying