Spa Jets no longer bubbling

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Z

Zepyro

Member
Jun 30, 2023
20
Tennessee
Pool Size
4600
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-3)
Hi guys,

In addition to air somehow getting in to my filter ( still suspect that it is a pressure side leak,) I am now having issues with my spa jets not bubbling.

My system has a dedicated 2.7HP variable speed pump for 8 jets. For the past 2 years, the jets have pushed out air when on. Hard to describe, but a standard amount of air. Suddenly a few weeks ago, I noticed that one of the jets was not blowing bubbles. So I took it out and found a few rock chips clogging the jet. But after taking the jet out and putting it back in, now none of my jets are blowing air.

I have a secondary "blower" inline on the system that obviously makes it bubble, but it is always overkill and splashes out water.

I do have an air pipe coming out of the ground at the equipment pad, but the blower sits atop that pipe.

2 different pool people have told me that it is normal for air to NOT be coming out of the jets, but I am not sure why after 2 years, that is "normal"

Thanks!
 
Remove the jet you cleaned out and see if you get your bubbles back.

Show us a pic of the jet while you have it out.

When you replaced the jet it may have been positioned wrong and blocked the air line.
 
Thanks for your reply.

So I have 8 different jets. But all have the “attachment side” that looks like what is pictured.

I have taken them all out. Checked for obstructions etc. and cant find anything.

I have tried various open/closed percentages of each jet, but no combination will get the jets to start bubbling again.

They used to bubble quite well when the pump was between 80-100% rpm. Now. They just pump water.

I can turn the blower on, but it’s loud and obnoxious. I just want the normal bubbles back.

Thanks!
 

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Zepyro said:
I have a secondary "blower" inline on the system that obviously makes it bubble, but it is always overkill and splashes out water.
Click to expand...
You may be able to jet the system to work properly even without a blower. My spa jets don't require one and I get plenty of bubbles out the jets.

Zepyro said:
I do have an air pipe coming out of the ground at the equipment pad, but the blower sits atop that pipe.

2 different pool people have told me that it is normal for air to NOT be coming out of the jets, but I am not sure why after 2 years, that is "normal"
Click to expand...
Not normal. They should always have air coming out with the water unless the air inlet is blocked.
 
I will give that a shot.

I have a separate question:

I have read in some cases that perhaps there is an air line that has become filled with water. Does this seem like a possibility in my case?

I don’t know how this system was plumbed as I bought it with the house.

The one thing I will say that makes me question this, is when I pulled the one jet off to clean it, they all stopped blowing bubbles.

It was the weirdest thing.
 
Zepyro said:
I have read in some cases that perhaps there is an air line that has become filled with water. Does this seem like a possibility in my case?
Click to expand...
When the spa jets stop running, it can be a normal thing for the air pipe to fill up with water if the PB did not install a Hartford loop into the jet air line. This can make it difficult for the spa jet venturis to clear the line alone. However, this is why many PBs install a blower to ensure it will clear the air line. That is the main purpose of a blower. As I mentioned before, spa jet venturis can work on there own without a blower but it depends on how the spa jet plumbing was designed.

Zepyro said:
The one thing I will say that makes me question this, is when I pulled the one jet off to clean it, they all stopped blowing bubbles.
Click to expand...
All of the water/air lines are interconnected and when you take out only a single jet, it can disturb the other jets. Either all the jets should be installed or removed when running the pump.
 
If I disturbed the flow whether it be the original debris, or by me only taking out one jet, is there a way to return things to normal?

Running the pump at 100% with all jets out so far has yielded no change.

Thanks
 
There could be an obstruction that is still in the pipe and not coming out.

Is the pump running on full speed?
 

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Zepyro said:
Yes. Pump (which is dedicated to jets) is running at 100% speed.
Click to expand...
With the jets removed, correct?

If that does not work, then the blockage could be something larger than what will fit through the jet housing.

You could try back flushing from the empty jet housing toward the pump with a hose to see if you can loosen anything.

Were you working on any of the equipment right before this happened or made any change at all?
 
Hi. I was working with my filtration system (trying to find a pesky air leak) but that is totally separate from the jet plumbing.

When I was working on it today, I turned the pump on, and it sounded different; like it was straining. So I took all of the jets off again. No debris caught in the jets, and tried to run the pump again. Still sounded that way. So I took the lid off of the pump, and it nothing that I could find possibly blocking in the strainer basket.

Now that I have replaced the lid on the pump basket, the pump primes initially, but does not prime fully. So there is some air remaining in the filter.

So in troubleshooting, it seems I have discovered a bigger or newer issues.

Thoughts?

Thanks again for your advise!
 
Can you post a video with audio?

The sound of a pump will change with head loss or it could be something else.
 
Last edited:
mas985 said:
The first video of the pump sounds like the pump is not priming.
Click to expand...
Yeah. That’s new.

When it starts up, it’s low on water. The check valve flap on that system is missing. And I can’t find any in stock.

That being said, after about 45 seconds or so you will see that it does prime. But not fully. That amount of air in the pump remains the same.

And all of this just happened today as I took the jets out again, and then turned the pump on. What you hear is similar to what I heard which made me take the lid off the pump basket to investigate, and now it partially primes.

The last time I had an issue with a pump not fully priming, was actually because there was not enough flow *out* of the pump. There was a restriction that I removed and the pump has been primed ever since. But that was on the filter system. Not this jet system.

Another thing I find interesting is you can see minor bubbles on all but two of the jet orifices. The one on the left that isn’t bubbling is also the one that I took out to investigate at the very beginning of this problem.
 
Zepyro said:
Yeah. That’s new.

When it starts up, it’s low on water. The check valve flap on that system is missing. And I can’t find any in stock.
Click to expand...
This is the dedicated pump we are talking about right. That should not need a check valve to remain primed. Something leaking air into the pump. A pump should never lose prime when it is off.
 
mas985 said:
This is the dedicated pump we are talking about right. That should not need a check valve to remain primed. Something leaking air into the pump. A pump should never lose prime when it is off.
Click to expand...
You are correct. Dedicated pump. You are also correct about the air getting into the system. I found that air leak and resolved that. - and I also feel like an idiot.

So now that the air leak has been taken out of the equations, here is a new video of the pump primed. Since there is no longer air in the pump, there is also no air coming out of any of the jet orifices.

streamable.com

Watch Video Jun 04 2024, 6 59 14 PM | Streamable

Watch "Video Jun 04 2024, 6 59 14 PM" on Streamable.
streamable.com
 
Do those tiny bubbles in the pump basket ever go away? It looks like you might still have a small leak. Leaving the pump off for awhile may expose that.

Do you have a pressure gauge you can install in the pressure side drain plug (1/4") and see what the pump pressure is?
 

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