Airlock on one jet after refill.

[Krulligo]

Any quick solutions to resolving an airlock that is only affecting 1 jet after refill? I want to avoid draining and refilling. Rest of the jets working perfectly, so only isolated to the 1 affected jet.

Can I try to use a clean toilet plunger on the jet or blow some water through it with the garden hose? Any other ideas?

 

[Jimrahbe]

K,

I'd use a shop vac and suck a short burst of water out of the jet..

Did you add water to your spa by just dropping a hose in the tub itself, or did you add water to your skimmer area. In my tub, I get similar issues if I don't fill it from the skimmer area.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[phonedave]

Is this one JET or one SET of jets.

Pumps get airlocked. Individual jets, that is strange.

 

[Krulligo]

I inserted my hose into the pipe where my filter hooks up to as I have always done in the past when refilling. This allows water to run through the piping and out the jets when it is being refilled. Never had this issue before.

Good idea with the shop vac though.

Just for clarification, it is one jet and not a set of jets. All the other jets controlled by the pump work perfectly fine, so it is not an airlocked pump.

 

[phonedave]

I inserted my hose into the pipe where my filter hooks up to as I have always done in the past when refilling. This allows water to run through the piping and out the jets when it is being refilled. Never had this issue before.

Good idea with the shop vac though.

Just for clarification, it is one jet and not a set of jets. All the other jets controlled by the pump work perfectly fine, so it is not an airlocked pump.

I still don't see how a single jet can be airlocked. I am leaning towards a clog. Still, the shop vac may be the ticket.

 

[Mdragger88]

I second the idea of a clog. Can you remove the jet & check for a clog?

 

[Krulligo]

These particular jets look a bit finicky to remove thus I wanted to avoid touching them.

I found a video pertaining to the particular jet that is affected. The little hand jets that I have timestamped in the video:

Looks like you can remove them but I would be really afraid of breaking them as the person in the video did (this is an old spa and replacement parts are not so readily available). But I can see from the construction of the jet in the video of how it could potentially get clogged, even with small debris. I will try the vacuum method or the garden hose method. If that doesn't work I may just leave it as it is for now, and possibly deal with it during next water replacement.

 

[Mdragger88]

Maybe try using a little pipe cleaner to loosen/break up any debris that might be blocking it.

 

[Krulligo]

Good idea will try that as well.

 

[RDspaguy]

As demonstrated, DO NOT grasp the tab with pliers and twist, especially on this type where the tab does not span the fitting. They almost always break if old. If the escution (metal face cover) is fixed you can push on the face with a rubber material and unscrew it by friction, otherwise you have to use channel locks on the outer edge, which can damage the face and scratch the shell, but usually it's just visual damage.
I'm pretty sure those are still available, at least without chrome, and fairly cheap.

 

[Krulligo]

Thanks. Will try the suggestions. I also have a rubber strap wrench which might do the trick the grasp the outer edge of the metal face cover without damaging it.

Parts are much easier and cheap to get in the US. In Canada, not so much, but always good that they still make them.

 

[Krulligo]

Just an update. I poked around in the jet a bit and was able to pull out 2 leaves to unblock the jet. You guys were correct. Makes sense as I did an ahh-some purge with the filter off. It was relatively windy and soe leaves fell into the tub during the purge so probably got sucked into the plumbing.

 

[Mdragger88]

Glad u got it out!
I usually use a skim net to scoop out any ucky foam when purging & I lay it over the filter opening to hopefully prevent something from getting down in there.