Spa Blower Recommendations? and filter pressure?

[towney]

I have a IG spa but I am not totally satisfied with the current spa aggitation. Spa is using the venturi system for air flow. I hooked up my 3hp shop vac to the venturi pipe and like what I saw. So can some one give me a good recommendation for a reliable quite 2hp blower. Also I've seen they come 120v or 220v, any difference?
The blower would be placed by the pool equipment which is approx. 45' from the spa.

On a second question could someone tell me what I should be running pressure wise on my filter (se sig. for details) currently the pressure is around 28-29. I have been told I should be in the low to mid 20's. And if my current pressure is to high what should I be looking for. Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

230 volt equipment is slightly more efficient than 115 volt. At the lower voltage you run at higher current, which causes more electrical loss in the wiring. This effect is usually only a couple of percent difference. In practice it becomes a matter of which voltage is already wired and available. If both are equally available go for 230 volts.

With a 2 HP pump and an in floor cleaning system I would expect fairly high pressures. The important comparison is between the pressure when the system was new and the filter clean and the pressure now. If the pressure went up recently there are probably problems, but if it has been that way all along then you are fine.

 

[mas985]

Blowers are usually used when the air pipe is a significant distance from the spa. They help move the air flow through the air pipe so that the venturis work better.

Spa blowers don't really increase the pressure much out of the jets, they just create a lot more bubbles. If bubbles are what you are looking for than using a blower is fine.

However, if you are interested in stronger jets, then you really need more flow. But you should be getting plenty of flow with a 2 HP pump and only 4 jets. Unless of course the jets are high flow jets. Some require as much as 40 GPM/Jet to work properly.

Although your test with the shop vac may have "looked" better, you should really get in the spa to make sure it feels better before adding the blower otherwise you could be wasting your money.

Remember, what makes a spa jet really feel good on the back is the flow rate of the water and not the flow rate of the air. The blower will only help the flow rate of the air.

 

[towney]

Don't really remember the start up pressure, but if there were an issue where could it be?
With respect to the spa I regret not adding 2 more jets. The venturi pipe is right outside of the screen enclosure from the spa approx. 5ft. How would I tell if the jets are high flow jets?

 

[mas985]

The typical low cost spa jet is basically a nozzle with an eyeball. These usually require only 15 GPM to feel fairly strong. Higher end jets will spin or have wider dispersive patterns.

Have a look here and see if anything looks familiar to you. [EDIT] Corrected the link for gunite jets.

With a 5 ft air pipe, you really shouldn't need a blower assuming it is at least a 2" pipe. But I take it from your response that you would like a stronger feeling jet, is that correct? If so there may be some other options such as replacing the jets with different ones.

A 2 HP pump could easily produce 28-29 PSI especially with only 4 jets. Less jets usually means that there is more flow per jet but higher pressure. Even at that pressure, you should have close to 25 GPM per jet.

Another thing to check is to remove all of the jets (parts inside of pipe as well) and try to flush out the piping. Because the jets have very narrow openings, sometimes rocks or debris can enter the air pipe and get stuck in the jet reducing flow. Flushing the pipes is an easy thing to try just to make sure they are free

Other than that, you might want to look into different type of jet if the piping will allow it. Some spas are made to accept different types.

 

[towney]

mas or anyone else

Would a picture of the spa jet opening help you? I had the PB install a value so all the water was not going directly into the heater, so as to have a third of the water flow bypassing the heating and heading straight thru to the spa. The tech mentioned I'd get a little better flow since the pipe in/outtake was smaller then the 2" pipe.