Spa Draining When Pump Is Running

[g&dtools]

I have the San Juan fiberglass Mandalay Bay pool/spa combo. The spa is on the same level as pool with a spillway separating them.

The system has 1 VS pump, 1 cartridge filter, 3 Return??) Jets in the pool, 2 Main Drains in the pool, 5 Return Jets in the Spa and 2 main drains in the Spa.

I had breakers trip during the winter and some stuff cracked. The water turned green and looked really bad. So I had it cleaned recently. When he was clean it he changed the position of a valve(s) and the spa started to drain into the pool. It got below the jets. He switched the valve(s) back and the spa filled back up. He finished and everything was working fine. He had his helper come do a weekly cleaning a week later and everything working fine.

The rain raised the water level at the top of my skimmer or slightly above it.

I attached a hose to the Spigot on the top of the pump and opened to drain it down. I’ve done this before with no issues. But this time my spa started to drain.

It will refill and equalize with the pool when the pump is off.

Where do the automatic actuator(?) valves and manual valve need to be positioned?

I have attached pictures of the suction side and the pressure side of the equipment. I also attached pictures of the pool.

How do fix this???

 

[Jimrahbe]

g&d,

In your pics the Intake valve is set to suck water from just the pool, and send some water back to the spa..

So in theory, your spa should not drain down with the pump running, it should be spilling over into the pool..

It is possible that your Intake valve is leaking.. (the valve itself, not the actuator that sits on top of the valve)

I'd try things again without the garden hose and see what happens..

With the Return valve set like it is in your pics, some water should always go to the spa.. This means that an Intake valve leak would have to be pretty big before it would effect the spa level..

Run the pump without the garden hose and let us know what happens..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[g&dtools]

g&d,

In your pics the Intake valve is set to suck water from just the pool, and send some water back to the spa..

So in theory, your spa should not drain down with the pump running, it should be spilling over into the pool..

It is possible that your Intake valve is leaking.. (the valve itself, not the actuator that sits on top of the valve)

I'd try things again without the garden hose and see what happens..

With the Return valve set like it is in your pics, some water should always go to the spa.. This means that an Intake valve leak would have to be pretty big before it would effect the spa level..

Run the pump without the garden hose and let us know what happens..

Thanks,

Jim R.

I actually tried that and it still drained the spa. I don’t understand why it worked fine before I drained off some water and now it does this. Could the valve go bad just coincidentally when I drained it? If that is the only thing it could be, which valve is it?

 

[Jimrahbe]

g&d,

Please confirm that you are running the system with the valves set just like they are in your pics...

If so, the Intake valve is the automated valve that is right in front of the pump.. The only way the spa can drain is if water is being sucked from the spa drains.. With the valves set like in your pics, this should be impossible.

If this were my pool, I would remove the actuator, and then take the top off of the Intake valve and see what the diverter looks like.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[g&dtools]

g&d,

Please confirm that you are running the system with the valves set just like they are in your pics...

If so, the Intake valve is the automated valve that is right in front of the pump.. The only way the spa can drain is if water is being sucked from the spa drains.. With the valves set like in your pics, this should be impossible.

If this were my pool, I would remove the actuator, and then take the top off of the Intake valve and see what the diverter looks like.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thank You for both responses. I will try that tomorrow. Seeing as I am currently in an electrical power outage!! LOL

 

[g&dtools]

Ok. I tried letting the pump / system run for a few hours. Had the wife watch it during the day. She said the spa didn’t seem to be draining. But shut it off because she had to leave. I didn’t want it to completely drain the spa while no one was watching it. Let the pump/system run all day today and the spa didn’t drain. I didn’t change any valve positions from the pics I originally posted. Now I’m scratching my head. I did notice some bubbles coming out of one of the spa jets.