Balancing diversion of Blower to wall Jets (with a venturi vacuum on blower line) and floor bubblers in spa

[bhollehday]

I have a blower going to a spa with 4 bubblers in the floor and 4 jets in the wall. I have a 3-way valve controlling the return between the floor and wall. With the 3-way valve set anywhere between 20%-100% open for wall jet return, and the blower off, I get a good amount of bubbles to the wall and if I turn blower on there are heavy bubbles. If I turn the valve to the 80%-100% floor, it seems like I don’t get any bubbles through the floor with blower off. When I turn the blower on, the floor will bubble. Equipment is below water level.

I’m trying to figure out what is optimal for the 3-way valve position. Should I be able to split it so the blower will push air through the floor while still getting powerful jets on the wall? It seems like if I try and split it, you have to have the wall jets mostly closed, and it’s very sensitive in that position and seems to bounce between wall and floor.

Why does the return not bubble with the blower off when the return is on the floor? Is that because the wall jets are connected to a venturi? I’m wondering if it’s got debris in the line and was going to try and remove covers and flush.

Also, should the position of the return on the spa be on the floor when spa is not in use? To help clean the floor of the spa?

 

[kadavis]

The four jets in the wall are Venturi jets, they will pull the air through by themselves, where the bubblers on the floor need the blower to make them work. It is always better to return water from the bottom up for cleaning and heating

 

[bhollehday]

Thanks for the reply.

After looking at it again, it appears that the 3-way valve doesn't do anything for the water return. It appears to just divert the blower line. If I have the pipe A open and B closed, then without the blower there is a venturi suction on the blower line and bubbles on the wall. When I close pipe A and open B, there is no more suction on the blower line, no more bubbles on the wall jets (now just straight water returning through the wall), and I only get bubbles from the floor if the blower is on.

The problem I have is balancing. It puts a heavier load on the blower when valve B is open and A is closed (You can hear it), since A is actually drawing air because of the venturi effect, and B isn't. When I start cracking valve A open, the blower takes the path of least resistance and the floor bubbles tend to stop while the wall jets gain more aeration. Even when I think I find a happy medium, after a few minutes the floor bubbles start to burp rather then bubble.

Is there any solution to this? It seems like since pipe A has a vacuum when running and pipe B doesn't, its never going to be able to balance blower output between A/B. It almost like I need to make the floor bubblers less resistive, if I want to balance maybe by changing the covers to something with larger least resistive holes?

We just purchased the home and am investigating the equiptment. I'm beginning to think something isn't working right. If there is no spa return diverter for wall and floor, then you would assume both the floor and the wall should be returning equally? It seems like the wall jets would have a venturi like setup just as the floor bubblers would. But the floor bubblers never bubble or pull suction from the blower line, until the blower is on with Pipe B open and Pipe A mostly closed. Could it be that the venturi for the floor bubblers is clogged or something?

 

[bhollehday]

anyone?

 

[kadavis]

Take a Picture of the setup, you keep saying valve A or B so I'm not sure what the plumbing looks like

 

[bhollehday]

 

[bhollehday]

Pipe "A" is the wall jets, pipe "B" is the floor bubblers. The remaining pipe is coming from the blower.

 

[bhollehday]

What I'm trying to figure out is how I should be using this 3-way valve. When we bought the house its setup to not have either A or B partially open when using the controller. But If I close pipe A, then I get no aeriation from the wall jets and I get huge bubbles from the floor. If I try set 10% A and 90% B, then I seem to get bubbles every so often (like its burping), but I good aeriation to the wall jets. Id like to know if there is a way I can make this system work better (possible by changing the bubbler covers on the floor to something with smaller holes?). Or is this how a spa is conventionally setup with this configuration? And your supposed to either be using bubbles at the floor OR the wall, but not both?

 

[K311y]

Hey there - bhollehday

Did you ever get this figured out? I believe I have the same setup and really the same problem. There are venturi jets in the spa walls and floor vents. If I turn the balance toward the wall jets (20-100%) I get fierce bubbles and flow from the jets. If I turn the flow to the floor jets I get little to no bubbles and a high whine from the blower as if blocked. What is really odd/frustrating is that sometimes I get a stream of bubbles from the floor jets so I know they are not blocked.

Is the problem simply that our blowers have gotten weaker with age and are no longer capable of pushing the floor jets, while it gets "help" from the wall jets due to flow?

KC

 

[bhollehday]

Hey there - bhollehday

Did you ever get this figured out? I believe I have the same setup and really the same problem. There are venturi jets in the spa walls and floor vents. If I turn the balance toward the wall jets (20-100%) I get fierce bubbles and flow from the jets. If I turn the flow to the floor jets I get little to no bubbles and a high whine from the blower as if blocked. What is really odd/frustrating is that sometimes I get a stream of bubbles from the floor jets so I know they are not blocked.

Is the problem simply that our blowers have gotten weaker with age and are no longer capable of pushing the floor jets, while it gets "help" from the wall jets due to flow?

KC

Maybe someone will jump in. But no I got no where.

I still get good bubbles from the floor, but it seems like its not balanced between the 4 bubblers. It sound like it puts more of a load on the blower when 100% floor bubbles, but still bubbles well. My issue is im not able to balance between the wall jets and floor bubblers. And im not sure if you are supposed to or if you only supposed to use one or the other.