Spa flow issues....

[schaffee10]

Hello all,

Since this is my first post a little about myself, This summer will be my 3rd season with an inground fiberglass 14x30 pool and inground fiberglass 8 person spa. I run ozone and cholorine in the pool and ozone and bromine in the spa. Have learned a lot over the past 2 seasons and keep reading more and more and learning more and more, anyway on to my issue.

I have from the start never been happy with the flow of water/ Jet pressure on my spa. The guys who installed it where pool guys and did not know alot about spas. Anyway I have since then replaced the standard 1hp pool pump they put on the spa with a 4hp 2 speed pump. Alas my spa got pressure that was acceptable to me, however I had an issue over this winter my pipes froze, luckily I caught it in time before any major issues, however I did loose my filter housing. I have replaced with a smaller filter, was 120 now 50. Now I am beginning to wonder if I made a mistake. With the new filter in the flow on high speed feels like a circ. pump and low speed just barely moves the water. If I remove the filter cartiage it flows great. But I am boogled because the filter has a built in spring loaded bypass, so I would assume if my flow of my pump is more then the filter can handle it bypasses the cartiage and should not block my flow like it does. I guess I am looking for suggestions, I have 2 thoughts right now, a new larger filter with higher flow rate, (not sure what current one is rated for Waterway 50 ft2) or put a manual bypass around the filter to bypass it when I use the spa. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed. And thanks in advance.

Scott

 

[mas985]

With a 4 HP pump, you probably should have up sized the filter as well. Larger pumps require larger filters.

I am not familiar with a spring loaded automatic bypass. Do you have a model number and/or picture of it? A fixed bypass would also help.

Also, do the spa and pool share equipment/water? If so, you will likely run into a problem with mixing bromine and chlorine. I think this will gum up the filter. If you have separate equipment for each and they are isolated, then there should be no problem.

 

[schaffee10]

Thanks for the response, Yes both systems run on separate stand alone systems. The only thing they have in common is the control unit to turn pumps and heaters on/off.

See attached link for a breakdown of the filter. Item #10 is the bypass, basically its inline where the water enters the system. My understanding would be that if the pressure exceeds a set point this would open up and allow the excess pressure to flow through the housing and bypass the filter on top. See diagram. http://www.ezhottubs.com/parts/filters_inline.htm

Ideally I would like to not have a manual bypass around the filter, so suggestions to make this flow better would be ideal, however I know I can do that as a last ditch effort. I have some pics I will upload after lunch. Thanks

 

[schaffee10]

Lets see if this works....

Ok here we go, you can see the main and skimmer lines coming into the pump, from there into the filter, then heater, then chorlinator then through the ozone ventrui and back the the jets.

 

[mas985]

Do you have a part # for the filter or maybe a manual. Bypass valves will usually have a flow limit as well and will not be able to bypass enough water if the flow rate is too high. I suspect that may be your problem. The bypass valve could be completely open but it is not big enough to handle the flow rates from that pump. The limits should be in the manual of the filter.