No Spa bubbles

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Joe3

Joe3

0
Gold Supporter
May 16, 2018
36
Austin, Tx
Moved from here: What piece of plumbing makes the bubbles in the spa?

Have a problem that seems related to this one. I’m not getting bubbles at all. Water flows out of the aerator ports when the spa is on. I drained the spa, took out the jets, removed the port caps, reinstalled the jets, made sure they were open, and still pumped lots of water out the aerator ports. Filter was cleaned this week. This was going on before it was cleaned. If I pull two jets, then water doesn’t flow out the ports; no bubbles. The jets are 19 years old. Do they wear out and reduce flow to the point that this would occur?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Did you remove the internal jets and not just the exterior fitting? Did you run the pump with the internal jets removed?

That is the only way to clear lines.
 
Last edited:
How would I remove the internal jets? The photo shows what I removed. I did run the pump with all the jets removed.
If I put just one of them back in, water comes out the aerator ports.
 

Attachments

  • 49CDB6E8-51D4-46E1-B340-997CEC3A75F0.jpeg
    49CDB6E8-51D4-46E1-B340-997CEC3A75F0.jpeg
    26.1 KB · Views: 8
With those fittings, I believe the jet nozzle is part of the assembly. But after you remove all the those fittings did you run the pump for a few minutes?
 
Yes, I drained the spa, removed all 6 of the jets, then put in spa mode and ran water for a while before reinstalling the jets. As best I could tell, the aeration ports and pipes drained, but I didn’t blast any air through them. Made sure all jets we open before re-starting, still pumped water out the aeration ports. Removed one, but flow from both aeration ports continued until I removed a second jet assembly.

This problem began after the spa was pressure tested to detect a leak. Leak was localized to a drain outside the spa and repaired.
 
You say you ran water through them but was that using the pump? It is necessary to use the pump to create enough flow rate to remove debris.

Otherwise, it may have something to do with the repair. The may have messed something up.
 
The pump was used.
The leak was outside the spa and below grade level. It’s hard to imagine how it’s the cause.
I’m wondering about two possible explanations. Are there other possibilities that I’m missing?
1) The jets are so worn that they don’t allow sufficient flow to create the venturi effect and the back pressure pushes water up and out the aeration leg.
2) That there’s debris in the aeration leg above the Venturi that is creating a one way valve effect.
Is (1) more plausible? The rotating motion of the jets is very slow and stiff. I’m not sure how (2) would result in water being pumped out. It’s not a little water. The flow rises an inch above the collar if the screw in cover is removed.
 
1) If they are rotating fixtures, then perhaps they can seize up. But you should be able to tell by just looking at them. Are they spinning at all? However, even if they are seized, it shouldn't force water up the air pipe.

2) Air blockage would just result in less bubbles. Also, this would affect only one jet in your setup. With air ports at the spa, each jet and air port are independent from each other. BTW, what happens when you close all of the air ports and did you do this when you were flushing the lines? It might help force out whatever is stuck in the line.

The only reason you get water out of the air ports is because the water path is blocked in some way. But the blockage should be near the end of the venturi. Also, if they were repairing a return line to the spa, shavings of PVC and/or glue could have gotten into the lines and plugged the ports.
 
1) They are rotating fixtures. The move very slowly, if at all.
2) There are two air ports and six jets. Both air ports are affected. With all jets in, I have to screw down both air ports to keep from losing water. When I flushed, the air ports were totally open; ie, the caps were removed completely. Should I try draining again and then putting system in spa mode without the jets but with air port caps opened slightly?

I thought is was a drain line repair, but at this point can’t say for certain.
 
Should I try draining again and then putting system in spa mode without the jets but with air port caps opened slightly?
Click to expand...
I would give it a try. Also, while the jets are out, inspect them for any broken parts and how easily they spin and look through the center of the jet, you should be able to see any blockage. Also.check the flow rate feel out of each jet and see if it about same or one is weaker than the others.

If it was a drain line repair, then that would not of caused any problems. Any debris would have ended up in the filter.
 
Last edited:

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Thanks for working through this with me. I‘m at a loss and unsure which direction to go next.

I drained the spa below the level of the jets, pulled all the jets, closed down the air ports; then put it in spa mode and ran it for 10-15 minutes with both ports closed, then one port opened slightly and then the other. I checked all the jets and found no blockages. They seemed to spin freely, but had a lot of play in them. I put four jets back in, made sure I opened them, and ran in spa mode with the air ports closed, then with them open a bit. Saw no bubbles, but had no water flowing out the air ports. Installed the last two jets and had water flowing out the ports. Noticed that NONE of the jets rotated. When new, they all rotated rapidly. There seems to be a uniform decrease in flow from all. All of them seemed to be throwing water about the same distance, none very forceful. I removed the last two jets installed and started refilling the spa. No water flowed from the air ports. Noticed during filling that bubbles were present in the flow from the jets and the two fittings without jets- until the water rose above the level of the jets by about 3 inches. Does this make sense to you? What would make it behave this way?

I’m wondering whether to buy a couple of replacements. My hypothesis is that if wear is resulting in back pressure, water won’t be pumped out the air ports with two new ones inserted. May be I should order three in the event the threshold is a bit beyond two. Does that sound like a reasonable experiment at this point? Or is my logic faulty and I’d be throwing away money?
 
I believe those particular jets require them to seal well in the socket or water can make it back out the venturi port. However, it is highly unlikely that this would happen to all of the jets at the same. For some reason, there is no venturi action occurring within the jet. So either jets are damaged (unlikely all of them would be at the same time), or the flow rate through the jet has been significantly reduced.

This problem began after the spa was pressure tested to detect a leak.
Click to expand...
I am starting think that maybe this has something to do with the problem. They may have screwed something up during the pressure test. If the filter pressure is a lot higher than it was before and the flow rate out of the jets is much lower, there may be something stuck in the return lines. What is the filter pressure in spa mode vs pool mode?
 
Filter pressure is 24 in pool mode and 25 in spa mode.
The jets are difficult to screw in, but I think I’m getting them seated all the way. They all seem to come to a solid end point. That said, I looked closely at the threads on the two that were left out. The threads are flattened. Hope I don’t have cross-threaded fittings that aren’t seating completely.
 
When the jet fittings are screwed in can you pull them out without screwing them out?

The spa pressure is about where it should be. Not enough to indicate a blockage.

Still cant help thinking it has to do with the repair or pressure test.
 
Last edited:
I can only remove them by screwing them out.

I recall that at the time of the pressure testing all of the jets were removed. Some came out as only the jet insert, others came out with the housing. Unfortunately, I don’t recall which ones. I’ve been looking at SpaDepot for replacement jets and started looking at the housing on the assumption that I had bad threads and would need to replace one of more. If the housing itself is not seated and sealed properly, would that cause the problem?
 
Joe3 said:
If the housing itself is not seated and sealed properly, would that cause the problem?
Click to expand...
Possibly but I am not sure what you mean by housing. The spa jet housing should not come out. It is should be embedded in the gunite. Only the insert should come out.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply