Spa drain mode, after it's almost empty, water fills i tback up

[Mad A]

I wasn't sure if I should post here or in the pumps and filters section...

What I am trying to do is remove a broken fountain pipe male fitting that is stuck in the fountain return at the bottom of my spa. To do so I set the controls to service mode and set the valves to "Spa Drain". While draining, there is still some water coming from the fountain return, but the level kept sinking and eventually it was almost all empty. At this point the drain started sucking air and gurgling, and stopped draining, yet water kept coming up from the fountain return, filling the spa back up slowly. Even when I shut the pump off, water kept on coming out slowly.

Any advice or guidance?

 

[Mad A]

So I figured it out. There was a manual valve I had to shut in addition to the automated ones controlled by the panel. With that valve shut no water returned to the spa and I was able to fully drain it.

After that a flat head screwdriver and a hammer get the broken piece of the previous fountain stub pipe out, and my home made one is in and working