Hi there! I have a broken Venturi valve under the decking. The threads and valve broke free in my inground spa that the water returns after going out through the filter. When I try and use the spa it will get hot but the spa won’t circulate. I noticed if I put a restrictive nozzle on the return line and cover the Venturi air line located in th decking the water will circulate when spa is on. Is there a way to put a “on or off” type valve on the decking air intake! Ok permanently close the air intake line? Any suggestions?
Broken Venturi Valve
- Thread starter pstrimple
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,068
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
here are the pics. I used a camera and inserted in the return line. These are under the decking. Each nozzle is connected to an airline the is in the decking. 2 of the 3 line have the venturi nozzle attached. One broke off from what it appears from pic, so I cant just screw it back in. The depth of the nozzle is about 18 inches from the return hole where it feeds into the spa. so at this point when i turn on the spa it will heat but water will not circulate or bubble. However, when I place my hand over the return line with the broken nozzle and the air line on the decking the water will circulate like normal. So I put a new water return line cap in the spa that has a restrictor so I just need some way to stop the water that is ejected out of the airline when I turn on the spa. I hope this makes sense.....but probably not. 
I dont want to break open the decking to fix the broken valve, unless there is another way to fix this??
I dont want to break open the decking to fix the broken valve, unless there is another way to fix this??Attachments
With the orifice in the one jet missing, most all the flow goes there instead of the more restrictive jets with the orifice in them. When you block that one the flow increases to the others and they work as they should.here are the pics. I used a camera and inserted in the return line. These are under the decking. Each nozzle is connected to an airline the is in the decking. 2 of the 3 line have the venturi nozzle attached. One broke off from what it appears from pic, so I cant just screw it back in. The depth of the nozzle is about 18 inches from the return hole where it feeds into the spa. so at this point when i turn on the spa it will heat but water will not circulate or bubble. However, when I place my hand over the return line with the broken nozzle and the air line on the decking the water will circulate like normal. So I put a new water return line cap in the spa that has a restrictor so I just need some way to stop the water that is ejected out of the airline when I turn on the spa. I hope this makes sense.....but probably not.
Your spa is "circulating" its just not giving you the jet action you expect because the water flow at the other two is too low to form the "vacuum" need to pull in air.
Keep your hand over the broken one long enough and the others will stop bubbling as you will force water into the air line unless they are individual lines. If each jet has its own air line, an expandable pipe plug could be used at the outlet, but be aware that water may be forced out onto the deck eventually as air controls don't seal against water very well.
If you can actually plug the hole deep into the jet, it will give you what you want. There are companies that are able to repair those without cutting into the deck. Its a process, I used to do it, but it takes someone who has either been in the business long enough or been taught by one. Hayward used to make a kit to do that repair. They stopped over 30 years ago, but you could make a DIY one that worked.
Thank you very much for your wisdom and response. The expansion plug could be a temp fix. Its better than my champagne cork cut to size and a 10lb weight on top of it.