Jandy Valve - Can Closing Gate Be Rotated 90 Degrees To Close Inlet

[sag365]

Wondering if the closing gate can be rotated 90 degrees on a Jandy valve (take off lid, rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise and reattach). See attached pic. Unless I am missing something, I would be unable to run the spa only, and therefore only heat the heat the spa (when heater is installed), with the current valve setup, as the inlet cannot be shut off. It looks like the pool skimmer cannot be turned off and I would also be unable to shut off the MD.

 

[JasonLion]

These valves come with stops that prevent the handle from rotating to one of the four positions. The handle/lid assembly can be rotated so the blocked position is any of the four positions and the stops can also be removed completely, so all four positions are allowed.

Unless you just installed them yourself, I would be very surprised if those valves have not already been adjusted so that the handle will move to the desired positions.

 

[sag365]

Awesome, thank you!

 

[jblizzle]

You would need to rotate the right valve 180 degrees and the left valve 90 degrees CCW to isolate the spa. If you can not do that, then you may need to pull the valve apart and try rotating the top.

FYI, based on your other thread, having to turn 2 valves to isolate the spa suction may make automation of the system more difficult.
You could add a 3 way valve vertically on the main drain pipe, and remove the existing right 3-way valve, and have the skimmer turn left above the ground and enter the new 3-way. That way you would have the one existing valve with an actuator to choose between the pool and spa and the new 3-way to adjust the skimmer vs floor drain.

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Also, you are not going to want to turn that right valve 180 degrees while the pump is running as it will close off all flow. The layout of that valve is far from ideal and I would suggest re-plumbing it.

 

[sag365]

That is what I am planning to do down the road. Have a valve without automation to control MD and skimmer and leave it set, then have pool and spa on its own valve w/automation.

For right now, I wil move the valves with the pump off. However, if I turn the right valve 180 counterclockwise, it should be ok with the pump on. Just means the skimmer will be the only drain for a brief second.

What is interesting is that it looks like the spa drain is completely shut off. Have been in the house for over a year and have not touched any of the valves to date. Not sure why no spa drain is being used.

 

[jblizzle]

For right now, I wil move the valves with the pump off. However, if I turn the right valve 180 counterclockwise, it should be ok with the pump on. Just means the skimmer will be the only drain for a brief second.

Does not matter which way you turn that valve, it will shut off all flow for a brief second and I just would not recommend it.

What is interesting is that it looks like the spa drain is completely shut off. Have been in the house for over a year and have not touched any of the valves to date. Not sure why no spa drain is being used.

It is normal to not use the spa drain at all unless you are in spa mode. If you do turn the spa drain on, you must insure that you have more water returning to the spa than you are sucking out or you would end up draining the spa and sucking air into the pump.

 

[sag365]

Question: With winter pool water at 60 degrees, do I not want to only pull water from the spa drain when in spa mode. Granted, with the overflow, bubbles, and splashing about I will lose some water out of the spa, but that will just get replenished when put back into pool mode. Right? Or should I have a very small amount of water coming out from the pool when in spa mode?

 

[jblizzle]

In spa mode you want 100% suction and return to the spa .. otherwise you are losing heat.

In pool mode you likely want 100% suction from the pool (any combination of floor and skimmer) and 95+% return to the pool with a little going into the spa to keep the chemistry balanced.

 

[sag365]

Thanks.

My spa has a leak. Neighbor (who's father used to live in this house) says it is likely a faulty check valve and the spa water is trying to find its level with the pool (spa has an overflow into the pool), backfilling. This could be true if not for the fact that after lubricating the Jandy valves today (wow were they tight, and rubber raised surround on the gate is practically gone) and closing both the spa drain and spa return, the water still falls in the spa.

What is also strange is that the center spa return eyeball has no water flowing out. Since I can see what looks like venturi controls on the spa deck, painted over, maybe that return is now being used for the blower line.