Help with my spa jets.

[Dparnell]

Finally got in our new spa this evening and the Jets were really unimpressive. We have a 9' inground spa with a total of 10 jets. 6 of the Jets are connected to my Pentair VS pump, the other 4 are connected to a Pentair Whisperflow 2HP. The Jets connected to the Whisperflow feel stronger than the VS but even those aren't all that strong. On spa mode I have the VS set at 3450 rpms and they jets are still weak. Could the return fittings be the cause of the low pressure? Four of the jets have two rotating holes, all the other jets have fittings that are flush with the plaster with a pretty large opening.

Any ideas how I can get stronger jets?

 

[Dparnell]

Not sure if it makes a difference but theses are the fittings attached to the return lines:
Pump 1 - Pentair VS has four jets with Waterway 212-9177 fittings and two jets with Waterway 400-9197P fittings.
Pump 2 - Pentair Whisperflo has 6 jets with Waterway 400-9197P fittings.

The waterway 400-9197P looks like a basic return fitting with a large opening. Could that be the problem? Too much water flowing freely without restriction?

 

[rphpool]

I am not sure if this helps but my jets rotate left and right to control flow. Rotate left is full power, rotate right to turn off. I also have the rotating 2 hole jets among others. I also run my spa at 3450. Do you have a air blower? That will really get some force coming out.

 

[mas985]

Not sure if it makes a difference but theses are the fittings attached to the return lines:
Pump 1 - Pentair VS has four jets with Waterway 212-9177 fittings and two jets with Waterway 400-9197P fittings.
Pump 2 - Pentair Whisperflo has 6 jets with Waterway 400-9197P fittings.

The waterway 400-9197P looks like a basic return fitting with a large opening. Could that be the problem? Too much water flowing freely without restriction?

Those are the exterior fittings and not the actual jets. The jet nozzles themselves are deep within the spa wall and look like this:

Smaller nozzles will have stronger streams so the PB may have just put in the wrong size nozzle for the pump sizes. What size pipe did the PB use to and from the spa?

Also, is the VS going through the filter and heater too before heading to the spa? If so, there is probably just too much head loss to get the flow you need for whatever size jets you may have.

 

[Dparnell]

Turns out the air lines on my spa were stil capped. Cut the caps off and the spa jets are blowing like mad! Glad it was a simple fix.