My spa has a spill over waterfall that falls into the pool and for a while now it has been draining down to pool level at night when the pump is off and my auto fill has to pump in water the next day to get the pool water level back up to the correct amount. I did research and the common solution I found was to replace the backflow valve. I replaced it and the draining continued. To prevent the waste of water I closed the manual valve to the spa return while the water was drained and it stayed at that level for a couple weeks. Yesterday we had our first rain since I closed the valve and the spa has filled halfway up with water but it did not drop as I expected to overnight. This leads me to believe the water is draining from the return line that pumps water into the spa when the pump is on. As a test, I turned off the pump today and opened the spa return line and as expected the water level droppped, but before it dropped down to the pool level I closed the valve again and the water stopped draining. I'm at a loss as to what is causing the spa to drain, any guidance would be appreciated.
Spa Draining
- Thread starter Kstubblefield
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,607
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
The valve in red is the return that goes to the spa, the other valves in that set of pipes are the return for the tanning ledge bubblers(fountains?) and the pool side returns. The red circle in the spa pic is where the water pumps into the spa, the blue circles are the port where the blower blows air for spa bubbles The water drains down just below the air ports at night when the valve for the spa return is open. Just below the air ports is about the same level as the pool as far as I can tell since the spa is raised.
Attachments
K,
90% of the time, when the spa water drops with the pump off, then check valve is leaking..
If the drain-down stops, when the red circled valve is closed, then what else can it be..
Not all check valves are the same. If you replaced it with a generic flapper, it may not seal like it should.
Could also be that when the original valve was installed, some glue got on to the mating surface, so you can check that also.
Normally, when the spa drains down, it drains back into the pool, so I do not understand the idea that your auto-fill has to add water to the pool, as the pool water level should have gone up and not down...
If the pipe that leaves the check valve was leaking, it would leak into the ground whether the red valve was closed or not.
Thanks,
Jim R.
90% of the time, when the spa water drops with the pump off, then check valve is leaking..
If the drain-down stops, when the red circled valve is closed, then what else can it be..
Not all check valves are the same. If you replaced it with a generic flapper, it may not seal like it should.
Could also be that when the original valve was installed, some glue got on to the mating surface, so you can check that also.
Normally, when the spa drains down, it drains back into the pool, so I do not understand the idea that your auto-fill has to add water to the pool, as the pool water level should have gone up and not down...
If the pipe that leaves the check valve was leaking, it would leak into the ground whether the red valve was closed or not.
Thanks,
Jim R.
The first replacement I did was just a flapper kit and it was still draining so I cut out the old valve and replaced it with a new one.
The spa is draining back into the pool when the pump is off. This raises the water level in the pool and it then drains out the overflow. The next time the pump comes on it then fills the spa back up using the water from the poo and the pool water level drops. The auto fill valve then opens to fill the pool back up to the appropriate level.
I can't understand why it drains with the valve open and why it doesn't when its closed.
All signs lead to the check valve but I have replaced it already. I guess I could have received a bad one.
@Kstubblefield
Makes more sense now...
Here is an option for you...
The red valve and check valve are part of a "make up line" that sends water to the spa, when in the pool mode, causing it to spillover into the pool.. This is how the spa water stays fresh, so you can't just shut it off and leave it that way..
But.. You can set up your automation to control the spillover on a schedule.. If you did that, you could shut off the make up line and the leak.
Looks like you have a Pentair set-up with an EasyTouch or the newer IntelliCenter.. Either way, you can set up what is called the "Spillway" function.. This would move the Intake valve to suck water from the pool and the Return valve to send the water back to the spa.. the amount of spillover would be controlled by the pump speed.. You would need to schedule this Spillway mode, twice a day for 15 minutes or so each time..
The downside it that you would no longer have a continuous spillover, which is not such a bad thing.
Thanks,
Jim R.
Makes more sense now...
Here is an option for you...
The red valve and check valve are part of a "make up line" that sends water to the spa, when in the pool mode, causing it to spillover into the pool.. This is how the spa water stays fresh, so you can't just shut it off and leave it that way..
But.. You can set up your automation to control the spillover on a schedule.. If you did that, you could shut off the make up line and the leak.
Looks like you have a Pentair set-up with an EasyTouch or the newer IntelliCenter.. Either way, you can set up what is called the "Spillway" function.. This would move the Intake valve to suck water from the pool and the Return valve to send the water back to the spa.. the amount of spillover would be controlled by the pump speed.. You would need to schedule this Spillway mode, twice a day for 15 minutes or so each time..
The downside it that you would no longer have a continuous spillover, which is not such a bad thing.
Thanks,
Jim R.
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