Can a bad seal in a pump result in oil in the water?

[koranke]

I have a new swim spa, around 6 months now. It has two banks of water fountains, one on each side. I almost never have them running. A few weeks ago I turned them on for the first time in a few months and was surprised to see the water on the one side come out brown for a few seconds. The water on the other side came out clear. If the brown water was from stagnation somehow, I would have expected both sides to come out brown. This got me wondering if there could be a slow leak of grease through a motor seal that's getting into the water and building up over time. I asked the manufacturer about this and they assured me that couldn't be the case. Thoughts anyone?

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

There is no grease in water pumps.. the bearing are a sealed bearing.. the muck was probably something growing on one pump area and not the other... Are these being treated with chlorine or just allowed to do whatever?

 

[koranke]

Yes, the water in the spa is being well maintained. I check the chemistry every two or three days and keep the chlorine at around 2 ppm with an occasional shock treatment, which has been enough to keep the water clear. So in short, it sounds like nothing to worry about it.

 

[cowboycasey]

If you are checking chlorine levels every 2 or 3 days and using shock treatment then there is something to worry about... How much CYA do you have in the spa? It will help with the chlorine being so intense... You can follow the FC/CYA Levels for 30 CYA.. What test kit are you using? Test Kits Compared

You may wan to run those pumps at least once a week or so to get some chlorine in the pipes to keep them clean...

 

[JamesW]

It might be rust.

 

[JamesW]

Can you show all of the equipment?

Is there any equipment that looks like steel?

Try a magnet on any parts that look like they might be steel.

 

[koranke]

1. Yeah, starting to run those fountains once a week, especially after adding chlorine or scale control.
2. I'm not shocking the water every two to three days. Doing that maybe once every two weeks. Is 2 ppm too much chlorine? The manufacturer (PDC Spas) recommends between 3 to 5 ppm. I'm using chlorine without stabilizer (the spa is covered all the time). The test strip always shows stabilizer as low.
3. I guess I should drop the side panel and take a look at things.

 

[cowboycasey]

So we do not trust guess strips at all, they are all over the place so who knows what your actually at... Grab a great test kit and then you will know exactly where you are at... Test Kits Compared

with no CYA 2 FC is up there... 3 to 5 FC would not be fun in a spa with no CYA...

The best thing I did to my hot tub was went to a salt water generator... Add 30 CYA take fc to 4 or 5 and turn on the SWG.. set hours to keep FC at 5.. easy peasy

 

[Poolbreh]

Is it a submersible pump that runs the fountains?

 

[koranke]

Kind of splitting into two different topics. Regarding water chemistry, I actually do have a a Taylor dropper test kit, though I had only been using it for pH and alkalinity. I just tested CYA and it's around 70. The test strips had it closer to 50.

Regarding the pump, it's not a submersible. I think there might be a thin oily residue on the surface after running the fountains, but I need to confirm that later today. I had the fountains off for the last filtration cycle and the surface looks clear. Later on I'll run the fountains for a while and see how the water looks after that.

 

[cowboycasey]

If your CYA is at 70 you need to be taking your FC to 5 for a minimum.. the chart says 8 to 10 FC for a pool in the sun but a spa with a cover will not burn FC away during the day...

I would stay around 5 fc daily and see how that works for you

 

[jseyfert3]

I'm using chlorine without stabilizer

I just tested CYA and it's around 70. The test strips had it closer to 50.

Did you add CYA separately than? Or did you previously use stabilized chlorine and then recently stop? CYA only comes from adding directly or by adding stabilized chlorine (dichlor or trichlor), it is not present in tap or well water.

To your original topic my first thought was something growing as well. When off do the fountains have a trickle of water through them when the pumps run? If not instead of remembering to run them once a week I’d try adjusting the valves to allow just a small amount of water through when the pumps are on. That way during filter cycles it just pushes old water out of the tubes and into the lines. This assumes a swim spa does filter cycles the same way a regular spa does, running the pumps once or twice a day for 10-15 minutes.

An Ahh-Some purge also wouldn’t be a bad idea to get out any residues and biofilms present from the manufacturing process.

 

[koranke]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll try upping the FC some more. I've never directly added stabilizer, so it must be coming from the dichlor or shock. Maybe it's time to change the water. It's been almost 6 months, which is on the long side, but I'm the only one that uses it, I shower before getting in and only use it maybe 40 minutes a week. I hadn't been letting the water trickle through the fountains, but that's a good idea too. The spa is set for an 8 hour filter cycle, which is around what the manufacturer recommends.

 

[JamesW]

Did you look for steel in the system?

 

[jseyfert3]

I've never directly added stabilizer, so it must be coming from the dichlor or shock.

Dichlor is stabilized chlorine. For every 10 ppm of FC added with dichlor, 9 ppm of CYA is added.