Is this stand pipe for a spa blower and would it be good to install one?

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dailygenesis

dailygenesis

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Nov 19, 2022
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Oklahoma City
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21000
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Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
There is a stand pipe at my equipment pad. I've never been sure of what it is for. I guess I thought it was some type of safety thing. But the installer who recently put in my SWG thought it was an air intake for the spa venturi ring, and I think he might be right. I looked back at a photo of the spa during construction and there is definitely a pipe going up and over from the trench and connecting to the venturi ring. But there are also intake vents on top of the spa that connect to the venturi ring, so I guess I just never thought about the long pipe back to the pad being used for this too.

Anyway, if it is for this, it seems I could install a spa blower and possibly enhance our spa experience. We do have issue with two of our spa jets not creating many bubbles even with vents open. My previous investigation on this leads me to believe that these two nozzles were installed too close to the spa wall and there is not enough room for the venturi effect to materialize in those cases. I am wondering if adding a spa blower might help with this by pushing more air through the system.

So my questions are several:
  1. Does it seem correct that this pipe is an air intake for the spa and that a spa blower could be installed on it?
  2. Am I correct in assuming that a spa blower would enhance the bubbling action and might correct the issues we have with two of our spa jets?
  3. Is this something I could do myself? It seems pretty straightforward except the part where I would need to wire it into the automation panel and connect to one of my Aux relays. I know it's hard to answer "can I do it myself" questions I guess a better question might be just what would be required to install this and wire it in.
I'm sorry for all of the ignorance and open questions on my part. Any insights are appreciated. I'll include a few photos below to hopefully help.

Also, this was a blower I was looking at. Any thoughts on this unit -> Amazon.com

standpipe.jpeg

spa-construction.jpeg
 
The answer to all of your questions is yes. Yes, that is the air intake for the spa system. Yes, an air blower will push air through the system and enhance your spa experience. Yes, that is a good blower. I have the same one in a 1.5 horsepower version.

I would recommend going with a 1.5 horsepower version If you find that it provides too much air pressure, you can install a tee with a valve or a diverter valve under the blower to bleed some of the air off.
 
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I forgot to address part of your question. The physical installation of the unit is pretty straightforward. You might need to attach a wall mount into the siding or find a different way to stabilize the blower. I'm not familiar with your automation system so you may need to post a more specific question regarding that connection.
 
Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
I forgot to address part of your question. The physical installation of the unit is pretty straightforward. You might need to attach a wall mount into the siding or find a different way to stabilize the blower. I'm not familiar with your automation system so you may need to post a more specific question regarding that connection.
Click to expand...
Thank you! On the electrical -- here's a link to the installation manual for my automation panel - https://images.inyopools.com/cloud/documents/ecommand-4-install-manual.pdf

My biggest question is whether an additional breaker or dual breaker is going to need to be installed on the subpanel for this. I assume it will. I currently have 220 breakers for the main pump, booster pump, and then a 110 for GFCI and everything else. Nothing is wired to the Aux2 relay at this point, and that is what I assume I would use for the blower. While I feel I could probably figure this out, I'm not sure if I should attempt something like this on my own.
 
Been watching some YouTube videos and researching a bit and I'm thinking that perhaps it's possible to do this without adding an additional breaker by daisy chaining the power supply from Aux 1 relay to Aux 2. That would put the blower on the breaker that currently has only the booster pump. Based on what I see off the amperage requirements, it seems this would work. My terminology or thinking could be off here though so any insights are appreciated.
 
dailygenesis said:
Is this something I could do myself? It seems pretty straightforward except the part where I would need to wire it into the automation panel and connect to one of my Aux relays. I know it's hard to answer "can I do it myself" questions I guess a better question might be just what would be required to install this and wire it in.
Click to expand...
You would need to jump power from the booster pump relay to a new relay for your blower. Then connect the power lines from the blower to the new relay. You would not need a new circuit breaker. Both booster pump and blower will work off of same CB. You would rarely, if every, have both the blower and booster pump on at same time.

See the attached that shows how the jumper line go from lower left to top middle to supply the blower power.
IMG_8005.jpeg
 
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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
The answer to all of your questions is yes. Yes, that is the air intake for the spa system. Yes, an air blower will push air through the system and enhance your spa experience. Yes, that is a good blower. I have the same one in a 1.5 horsepower version.

I would recommend going with a 1.5 horsepower version If you find that it provides too much air pressure, you can install a tee with a valve or a diverter valve under the blower to bleed some of the air off.
Click to expand...
I am looking at putting in a tee with a ball valve just in case I need to bleed some air off. Question -- would I need to cement the PVC joints when I do this or is it better to leave them with no cement?
 
I would cement the tee and valve. The blower and check valve can be press fit and secured with a couple screws as the instructions suggest.

Just a warning...the valve will be real loud when partially open. I used a central vac muffler to quiet mine down (very effectively). There are other types of mufflers available via Amazon and elsewhere...see link:

Spa Air Blower - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
I would cement the tee and valve. The blower and check valve can be press fit and secured with a couple screws as the instructions suggest.

Just a warning...the valve will be real loud when partially open. I used a central vac muffler to quiet mine down (very effectively). There are other types of mufflers available via Amazon and elsewhere...see link:

Spa Air Blower - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
Gotcha. I see in that further reading there is a recommendation to use a variable speed control switch installed on the unit itself to control the speed. That would seem to provide control without the extra noise or plumbing. Any thoughts on that?
 
I would set it up as is for now. I have a spa with six jets, similar in size to yours. I rarely find the need to reduce blower pressure to the spa. Installing the variable speed switch may be overkill for now. Just my 2 cents.
 

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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
I would set it up as is for now. I have a spa with six jets, similar in size to yours. I rarely find the need to reduce blower pressure to the spa. Installing the variable speed switch may be overkill for now. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. And I was going to go with the 1HP, which I think is lower than yours too, right?
 
Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
Correct. I have the 1.5 hp (240 volt).
Click to expand...
Not sure if you know but trying to figure out the difference between non metallic and partially metallic conduit. I think what was installed currently is partially metallic but everything I’m seeing to get for my new run is non metallic. Is there any issue with me using non metallic liquid right to run the wire for the blower?
 
I have been working towards installing my own spa blower and I'm about ready to get started but just had one quick question for anyone who can help -- can non-metallic liquid-tight conduit be used for this installation? I purchased some non-metallic at home depot because that is what I saw, but then realized that all of the other conduit on my system is from the original build and is metallic. Do I need to use metallic for this? If I use non-metallic is there anything else required (I saw somewhere that I might need to run an extra 8 AWG copped wire through it to bond it?)

Any insights are appreciated!
 
The installation manual will specify if a bond connection is required and the blower will have a bond lug if it needs to be bonded.

The blower will have a ground lug for a ground wire.



1697311048172.png



Air-Supply-Outdoor-Blower-Performance-Curve.jpg


 
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JamesW said:
The installation manual will specify if a bond connection is required and the blower will have a bond lug if it needs to be bonded.

The blower will have a ground lug for a ground wire.



View attachment 535662



Air-Supply-Outdoor-Blower-Performance-Curve.jpg


Click to expand...
Mine is the 1HP Silencer. From what I see it doesnt have a lug for bonding. Thanks for the info
 
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So, I went ahead and picked up some metallic conduit. I can return whichever one I don't use. I assume metallic would be ok to use as well? If so, I now have one more question -- there appear to be two types of connectors -- insulated throat and non-insulated throat. Non-insulated seems to be the standard. Is there a reason I would need to use the one with insulated throat? Sorry for all the questions it seems every time I get close there's one more option to decide between.

@JamesW @Rancho Cost-a-Lotta
 

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