Issue with built in spa returns/water level

[skr1988]

Good evening all,

This evening my family and I were using the pool/spa that was finished in February of this year. Tonight, I noticed issues when I switched from the pool to the spa.

When I first turned on Spa Mode on my iAquaLink app, I ran the spa for 10 minutes, and noticed abnormally strong pressure from two returns of the 6 returns, and excessive amount of bubbles from these two returns. The water level remained at a consistent level.

I then ran the SPA for 10 minutes with the heater on, and the difference in pressures from the returns had disappeared, and all returns seemed to have similar pressure. The excessive bubbles had disspeared, and it was similar to what I remember when the pool was first built. The water level remained a consistent level.

I then turned on the air blower and ran it for approximately 10 minutes with the spa and heater settings turned on. All the returns had similar high pressure, but the water level dropped 2 inches in spa over the course of these 10 minutes.

I ran the spa/heater/air blower combo for about 20 more minutes, and the water was down an additional 3/4 inches. Or 2.75 inches total.

I then turned off the air blower due to the water loss, and ran the spa/heater combination for about 20 more minutes. When I did this, I returned to the similar problem at the start where I had two returns with significantly stronger pressure, and a large amount of bubbles coming from these two returns. The water level did not change at this point, and was still down about 2.75 inches from where I started.

I then turned off the entire system for approximately 20-25 minutes, the valves automatically turned to the normal pool settings. When I checked after 20-25 minutes the spa had returned to the normal "full" level.

I then tried to turn on the spa/heater combination again to see what would happen, and I had the same problem with two returns being significantly stronger than the other 4, and a large amount of bubbles coming from these two returns in particular.

(Spa first turned on, two returns much stronger than other 4)

(Spa after heater turned on and all returns similar pressure)

(Spa with heater and air blower turned on, all returns similar high pressure)

(Spa with heater turned on after turning off air blower, two returns significantly higher pressure and excessive bubbles)

As mentioned above, once I turned off the system, the spa refilled after approximately 20-25 minutes, but when I turned the spa back on, I had the issue of two returns having significantly higher pressure and a large amount of bubbles. This time it did not change whether I had the heater on or not, the two returns remained significantly higher pressure than the other 4 and the bubbles were persistent.


I really appreciate any assistance you all are able to provide!

 

[ajw22]

Show us pictures of your equipment pad where we can clearly see all the plumbing and valves.

I think you are getting air in your system.

When you see those behaviors look into your pump basket and see if you have air bubbles churning in it. Observe your pump basket under the different conditions and see if the water flowing through the pump looks different.

 

[skr1988]

I apologize, I left the next morning for a family emergency and just got back.

When I tried the spa today it seemed to work for the first 30 minutes or so, once the spa got to temp and the heater shut off it then started again with two spa jets putting out water at a significantly stronger flow than the other 4 with a large amount of air bubbles. At this point I noticed the spa slowly draining again.

This is how all the equipment looked when I noticed the problem again.

Later on I tried setting the heater at a higher temp to force it on, and even when it was on and I had the same problem with 2 jets with a high level of water pressure and air bubbles.

I turned everything off for 30 minutes and came back and started the spa/heater and the 6 jets were normalized. I thought it had something to do with the spa/heater, but an hour or so after that I tried it again with the spa/heater on and two of the jets were significantly stronger than the other 4 with all of the air bubbles. It seems it doesn't matter if the spa and heater are on together, and maybe it was more of a coincidence.

I really appreciate your assistance with this!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Skr,

All of the spa jets, should have about the same amount of force...

If not, then the first thing I would suspect is a clogged jet or jets..

If this were my spa, I'd remove all the jets and then turn on the spa to blow out all of the junk that can collect in the spa lines.

The reason that it can appear intermittent is that the debris can move around.

Thanks,

Jim R.