Raised Spa Q: Water struggling to carry over spillway at startup?

[otie84]

Hi everyone. Our brand new raised spillway is great when it's running, but when the pump first turns on in the morning, it first struggles to flow over the spillway. The water rushes down the spa face instead of going over it. I found that if I push the water over the spillway in the morning, it starts flowing correctly. If I don't do this, the spillway struggles to correct itself on its own leaving water rushing down the face of the spa.

The pool builder is currently consulting with their team to come up with a fix, but at least acknowledge it's a problem since cleaning the filter did not do the trick. This is a brand new pool and the problem was recently discovered since pump went on a timer.

1) What could be causing this in your opinion...defective pump, poor granite install job that wasn't properly measured, something else?
2) Could this create bigger problems with the spa material or decking if this isn't fixed soon?
3) Can I turn the spa spillway off but keep pool circulating elsewhere until the spillway is fixed?
4) Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on the issue

 

[HermanTX]

We need to know some additional information. It is best you put your equipment and pool details in your signature.
Please Create Your Signature to help us understand what your current setup is and this will help responders to quickly see your equipment and pool details without having to keeping asking for the information.

What is model and HP of your pump? If it is variable speed - what speed are you running it at start up each morning?
We would need to see a photo of your equipment to determine if you can turn off the spa spillway. Most can but need to see how your plumbing was set up.

 

[DrewLG]

Photos of the spillway, please. And of the equipment pad with the valves set as they are when you see this problem.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

The spa water is not moving enough to break the tension of the spillway. You can run a start speed at a higher rpm for a few minutes that’s programmed if your system allows it. If not the spillway needs to have a coating like a tile protectant applied to help with breaking the tension.