in ground pool with spa need help

[lucky]

hi,
This is a pic of what is in each jet . hope someone can help. We've put in a 1-1/2 hp pump and motor, changed 3, 3 way jandy valve, and a check valve, and still no luck. The pressure is there for about 10 second when you 1st turn on the spa then it drops off, but the pressure on the gauge stays the same.

thanks
debbi

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

The pressure should increase in the filter when going from pool to spa. These are pretty standard Waterway jets that have been around for years and years.

In spa mode, watch the water level and the amount of flow in the pump basket. If you lose full prime, you have a suction side issue. It may be a collapsed line, plugged drains, or an air leak.

The nozzles must be in for the venturi in each jet to work.The directional eyeballs are not required but do tend to help concentrate the flow.

In spa fill mode with the spa empty, do the jets shoot strongly across the the spa?

When the spa is full, switch to spa mode, open the venturi valve. If water comes out, at least one of the jet's air injection points in the jet body is clogged, likely with debris. Plug all but one jet and blow air in. A shop vac with the hose on its blower end works well usually. Repeat this for each jet. If the air intake is a threaded opening at the spa side, remove it so any debris can escape.

Scott

 

[lucky]

hi,
We don't lose any prime at all from the pump when switching from pool to spa mode.
That is the only thing we haven't tried is covering the spa jets and blowing down the air intake ( vent outside) As i have said before when we cover 2 of the spa jets water comes out of the air intake, i guess we have to get the air going first before we cover jets,
Thanks we'll give this a try when the rain stops
thanks from sunny florida :lol:

Debbi

 

[lucky]

hello,
To start with we dropped the level of the water in the spa so it was below the jets and we blew down vent pipe with a shop vac and covered 3 jets up and there are no signs of a blockage. we also took off the valve cover to the spa jets and blew down that and again no sign of a blockage.
We did manage to get air coming out of the jets after doing these things, so with the jets running we switched to pool main drain/ skimmer (so we was sucking from the pool into spa) which made no difference we still had air coming out of jets, but as the spa is filling up and the water was covering the jets, one by one they lost the air bubbles? and pressure.
debbi

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

If, when the jets are on and the spa level is low, the water shooting out the nozzles is shooting at a good clip, nearly straight across to the opposite side, the water flow is likely as good as it's going to get. The venturi effect is minimal at this point, with or without the directional fittings in place.

When the spa fills to above the jet level, the flow from the jet nozzles is not likely to be reduce by much, though the friction of the stream through water will make the stream slow and disperse. The same thing happens when moving your hand quickly through the air and trying it again in the water. Water slowed you down.

The water moving through the jet body creates a pressure vacuum. As the stream shoots out, it carries some of the water around it, with it. This vacuum is supposed to be filled by whatever the venturi has behind it. Since it is vented to the atmosphere above the water line, any water in the air loop should be drawn out, assuming the vent is not too far away to overcome for the given plumbing diameter and the velocity of the water stream.

A restriction in the air line will create a reluctance to clear the air loop of water that may exceed the vacuum in the jet bodies. This reluctance to draw in air (or resistance) is the sum of the head loss from the pipe size and distance away to the vent. It's harder to drawn in whatever is in the air loop pipe the farther away it is and the amount of vacuum is not that great. If the air vent were very close to the loop, you might not need a blower's assistance.

Blowers are often used if the distance is more than the vacuum can overcome. and why the bubbles shortly disappear as the water level in the tub rises without the blower's assist.

If, when the tub is full, you blew air down the pipe with your shop vac and air bubbles strongly out all the jet bodies, the vent is too far to far to provide unassisted air to the jets. If you used to get some unassisted air in the mix, something changed in the air loop to increase the resistance of the air loop.

Scott