Leaky inlet jets are leaking and need replacing

[Her pool boy]

I have a couple of inlet jets that are leaking and I am going to replace them. They are Jacuzzi brand, so have bought the Jacuzzi Series IF Directional Ball inlet to replace. I have to remove the old ones, and replace with the new ones. Any tips, or cautions before I start. I know trying to line up the holes in the liner with the new unit might present a challenge. Any tricks to ensure these line up? Also any hints to getting the old ones off, they have a medal nut, and one is rather rusty. I have done plumbing work before so am not concerned about clueing the pipe and connecting the hose, just more concern on the removal and installation as I haven't done that before. Any and all advice is welcome. I can't find any videos on YouTube of someone doing this work, so any links to someone doing this type of work would be appreciated. Thanks. S

 

[Patrick_B]

Hey Steve,

Never had to deal with this, but someone will have some tips for you. Good luck on the project.

 

[Her pool boy]

I understand there might not be a lot of people of this site that have had to do this as it is not something you would expect as part of your regular pool maintenance. So thought I share my experience in case anyone else has the misfortune of needing to replace an outlet jet, and for my own log as I still have one more jet, and it may need replacing in the future.

I am not an expert, just a handy guy who owns a pool and hates paying the pool experts hundreds of dollars for what I can do much cheaper. In this case I was quoted $350 per jet x 2 is $700. I completed this job for $70 in parts and about 3 hours of my time, not including draining and filling the pool.

First you have to get access. I was lucky as I have removable decking at the jets, and the ground surrounding my pool consists of large gravel. So it was easy enough to clear enough room that I could work in the area. I cleared around the jets .about a foot on either side, and about 2 inches below the fitting. This gave me enough room to complete the task.


Secondly, you need to drain the water to just below the lowest jet you are working on, since I was replacing 2, I need the water below both jets.


I have the Jacuzzi Series IF with Directional Ball inlet fitting, and replacing with same.


Removal of the old jet

To do this job you need access behind the liner. I used a pair of needle nose pillars with some electrical tape on the tips, as to not damage the liner. I pinched the top of the liner and lifted up and out to remove the liner from the track. A good hint here is to do this job in full sun, as the sun heats up the liner and makes it much easier to work with. Once you get enough of the liner out to grip by the hand you should be able to remove the liner from the track by pulling up and out. You will need at least an opening of 24 inches to give enough to get your hand behind the liner, and remove and replace the front of the jet assembly.


Before removing the jet I removed the face plate of the jet from the liner as I didn't want any of the work I was doing on removing the jet to be able to tear the liner. Once you have removed the face plate to remove the old jet you will need to remove the large nut holding the jet to the pool wall. The old Jacuzzi Series has a metal nut that holds the jet to the wall. I used a large pair of channel lock pliers to grip the nut. Hint: do not remove the pipe from the jet before loosening the nut. The pipe holds the fitting in place while you are twisting to remove the nut. Remember the saying, "righty tightly, lefty loosy". So I need to remove the nut by turning it to the left to loosen.


The first one I did, the jet was in such bad shape it just separated in the middle and came away. Obviously leaking for some time. The second one came loose with a bit of strength, but once loose it unthreaded easily. I used a sawzall to cut the supply pipe and removed the back side of the jet. Before cutting the supply pipe consider what length you will need it to be when installing the new one. Don't cut it too short and measure to determine your final length.


To remove the pool side of the jet fitting I reached behind the liner and pulled the jet out of the hole, and out from behind the liner being careful not to cut or rip the liner. It comes out very easily. Now using a soft scrub brush suitable for vinyl, I cleaned off the old gasket from both sides of the liner to ensure a good seal when installing the new ones.


Installing the new jet


Depending on how your plumbing is run will determine what fittings you will need to connect the new jet to the old supply line. In my case one jet had a 90 degree bend, and the other had a straight run to a tee bar in the main line and not much space to work.


Installing the new jet is easy enough. Put the pool facing part of the jet fitting behind the liner, insert it into the hold, and screw on the plastic bolt. The trick is to line up the fitting to the old holes in the liner, and get the gasket behind the liner. To accomplish this I followed the following steps.


After installing the pool side of the jet fitting through the hole I loosely tighten the large plastic bolt enough that I could still rotate the jet to line up the with the holes in the liner. I then placed the first gasket behind the liner and with one screw through one of the old holes in the liner, I lined it up the appropriate hole in the gasket, and with the jet behind the liner. Keep something in the hole of the jet during this process so if the gasket slips it won't slide down behind the liner. I used a piece of wood dowel I had, but anything will do that can rest inside the jet and protrude past the liner until you get the first screw in.


I then screwed the first screw in for a couple of turns just so it won't fall out. I repeated with the other three screws so I knew I had the jet and gasket lined up perfectly with the hole.


I then tightened the large nut of the new jet just enough to ensure it secured the jet in place and it would not move.


I then removed the top screw of the four screws in the liner.


I lined up the second gasket and the face plate, and with the face plate upside down, insert the screw I had removed through the face plate and gasket, into the open hole at the jet and tightened a few turns so it could fall out and could hold the weight of the face plate.


I then removed the other three screws and allow the face plate and gasket to rotate around into position, and then placed the three screws back into the open holes which lined up perfectly with the jet holes.


I then tighten all four screws to secure the face plate and seal the liner.


I fully hand tightened the large bolt at the pool wall to secure it place. The jet was now installed and now needed to be connected to the supply line.


Doing the plumbing.


Depending on how your plumbing is run will determine what fittings you will need to connect the new jet to the old supply line. In my case one jet had a 90 degree bend, and the other had a straight run to a tee bar in the main line and not much space to work.


Since my main supply line is ABS, and the new fittings are all PVC I decided to use a flexible coupler to connect my ABS supply pipe to the PVC pipe I would be using with the new Jets. Using the flexible coupler allowed for some play when connecting the old to the new. By sliding the flexible coupler down the supply pipe, it allowed room for the new pipe to fit in the space provided. Once in place I pulled the coupler back up the supply pipe to make the connection as I describe further below.


In the case of the 90 degree bend, I glued a 4" piece of 1.5" flexible PVC pipe to one side of a 90 degree PVC fitting using PVC cement, and a 3.5" to the other. That was based on my measurements to ensure it lined up with where my supply pipes was, and how much room I had when I moved the flexible coupler as far down the supply line as I could get. First I slide the coupler on the supple pipe, and the put in the 3.5" PVC pipe into the coupler. I slide the coupler back up to the PVC pipe and manipulate the length to ensure the 4" PVC pipe lines up with the jet connection. I then clue the 4" PVC pipe to the jet connection. Once the glue has set has set, a few minutes, I tighten the clamps on both sides of the coupler with a ratchet wrench, ensuring that I don't over tighten and strip the clamps. Jet one was done.

Jet two is the straight run and only requires a 3.5" pieces of PVC pipe to run from the coupler to the jet. As the space is really tight I again slide the coupler down the supply line. Insert the 3.5" PVC pipe into the coupler, then clue to the jet. Tighten, but not over tighten the two clamps and jet two was completed.

It took a bit of strength and patience to work the coupler down and get the PVC pipe in, and then get the coupler back in place. It was the hardest part otherwise this project was pretty straight forward.


Pool is now back to being full. No leaks, and the heater has it at 82 degrees....time for a swim.

 

[Her pool boy]

I had to replace another jet today and am glad I had this to refer back to, as it made it much easier. Other than having to chip out a bunch of concrete and finding a buried junction that didn't have a clamp and has been leaking for years, it went well. Filling now for another trouble free (and leak free) pool season.