No bubbles when turning on in ground spa

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ajw22 said:
Okay Mister builder.

Tell me specifically what model of air/water manifolds were used in the spa and what model jets are in the manifolds?

Do you have pics of the air and water piping in the spa before it was buried under the gunite?
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Ill reach out to the plumber and see if I can get the info from him on the manifolds and jet models, as far as picutres Ill go back through and see what I can find but yes I should have them
 
Nonyabiz said:
No, the plumber defintely did not install these. I can only assume he didnt do that because the blower is only 9' from the spa? Not sure.
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The symptoms you describe are due to the air line filling with water.

Your spa jets are weak because when the blower is off some of the flow goes into the air pipes instead of out the jets.

The purpose of the CV is to keep water from backflowing into the air pipe.

Your plumber did not understand how air/water spas really work and I wonder what else in the spa plumbing he messed up.

When the blower runs the air line is cleared of water and the flow through the spa jets is correct.

You then have a venturi principle keeping the flow correct when the blower turns off until your heater turns off and upsets the equilibrium between the water flow and air pipe and the water backflows into the air pipe.
 
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ajw22 said:
The symptoms you describe are due to the air line filling with water.

Your spa jest are weak because when the blower is off some of the flow goes into the air pipes instead of out the jets.

The purpose of the CV is to keep water from backflowing into the air pipe.

Your plumber did not understand how air/water spas really work and I wonder what else in the spa plumbing he messed up.

One the blower runs the air line is cleared of water and the flow through the spa jets is correct.

You then have a venturi principle keeping the flow correct when the blower turns off until your heater turns off and upsets the equilibrium between the water flow and air pipe and the water backflows into the air pipe.
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Interesting, all this makes total sense. I think my best option at this point is do the blower modification you referenced in an earlier post to dial back the blower pressure. I REALLY apprecaite all of your help and walking me through the diagnosis, this site has been so amazing.
 
Do you have an automatic heater bypass?

Show me pictures of the plumbing around the heater and to the right. I can't tell where pipes run from this overhead shot.

Where is the pipe going into the SWG cell?

Where does the heater input and output pipes go to.

I need to see all the pipes at both ends.

img_8584-jpeg.561730
 
I see four IntelliValves. A standard pool/spa uses two IntelliValves. What do the other two do?
 
I think water is flowing through your air pipe T from one pump circuit to the other. The T provides a connection between the two pump plumbing systems, which you should not have.

With both pumps running at 2900 RPM they do not have even flow. The pump flowing through the filter and heater have less pressure and flow then the dedicated spa pump.

You need to put spring check valves at the bottom of both air pipes. The closer to the ground the better so you get less of a water column in the pipes. This will stop any flow between the pipes and keep the water flow from each pump to it's jets.

The check valves will also create some resistance and slow the air flow which may help lower the blower strength.


Waterway 600-8160 2"SPG x 2"SPG 0.25# Spring Check Valveway-600-8160-Spring-Check-Valve/dp/B079SH7X14/
 
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