Spa leak - trying to isolate - need help

[Hubba Bubba]

Gentlemen, first off, this is a first time poster. Just found the site. I have pool issues, but none more important and dominating than this one:

I have a spa leak. The pool does not leak. I have turned off the pool and the spa, and the spa went down. Way down, like, to below the light niche. The pool stayed constant. So, of course, everyone said to me, "Your check valves are leaking water back into the pool. Okay. I replaced the check valves. Still... the water went down. "Well, you have a leak in your backwash valve." So, I replaced and lubricated all the rubber gaskets. Did not stop the leak and I checked the drain at the front of the house, anyway. Dry.

I drained my pool this spring (we'd had a bad storm with some large limbs fall in and it was a bad mess) and left it open for a week. Drained the spa, too. Pressure washed the sides, etc.. While I had this opportunity, I dug out from around the light niche and the drains and epoxied those, plus I pulled the light and sealed up where the pipe opening. I filled the spa to see if the water would come back through the returns. Nope. Not a drop. The spa, of course, lost water.

I filled the pool back up and started the season with a leak somewhere. Soon, my 2HP pump motor of 15 years failed and I replaced it. Oh well. 15 years, I suppose, was pretty good.

Anyway, I have inspected all my fittings of the exposed pipes. No leaks. I checked for air bubbles in the filter basket through the clear lid. None. I have noticed, though, that I do not get any water leaking when the pool runs. I recently ran it for three straight days non-stop. It did not leak and stayed steady at the same amount of water consistently. However, last evening I turned it off at 10:00 PM and then inspected it again this morning at 7:30. The spa had gone down about 2.5".

As a last mention, the pool sits above the pool equipment. I live on a slight hill and the pool is higher than the house, where the equipment is installed. Any suggestions would be welcome!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Is the spa higher than the pool?

Have you ran a bucket test to see if the water is just returning to the pool or if you're actually losing that water?

Can you post a pic of the pool/spa and equipment pad?

 

[Hubba Bubba]

Will post pics later, but in answer to the question, yes, the spa is higher than the pool, but will drop down below the pool's water level if left not running for a week. In fact it will almost completely drain under that condition.

Yes, have run the bucket test, plus, as you have seen from the prior original post, I tested it when the pool was drained and water does not drain back into pool from the returns. Water leaked out but nothing went into the pool. I also checked the alignment of the check valves, particularly where it rotates depending on whether the equipment is set to pool mode or spa mode. I pulled off the actuator and opened the check valve, replacing the lever and the gasket, insuring this was lined up correctly.

 

[Bama Rambler]

So you are losing water and having to replace it?

Check valves won't have an actuator or a handle on them. Though check valves doesn't seem like the problem.

It could be a leak in the main drain line.

 

[Hubba Bubba]

Yes, I am losing water overnight. It is enough that after three to four days I need to add water to the pool of about an inch to inch and a half or it will go below the skimmer. As mentioned previously, the pool itself does not lose the water, but cumulatively, the spa leaking ends up resulting the pool water lowering over time. I have completely drained the spa and let the pool sit not running for a week. It did not leak. I have filled both the spa and pool with water and run for three days straight with no loss of water. It only loses water when the system is turned off, and only from the spa.

As for check valves - sorry. Meant Jandy valves. There are two visible check valves. There is one that is on the fountain return to the spa. That is a recent replacement while I was on an expedition to find the source of this leak. There is another one the pool side of the pool/spa Jandy actuator. There was a chlorinator here, but I took that out and use chlorine.

Inspection here is there are no leaks at any of the joints. No leaks from any of the pumps. No leaks from under the heater. No leaks from the filter O-ring or drain. I have replaced the O-rings in the backwash valve, replaced the O-rings and inner valves in the Jandy valves (except the cutoff valves from the main drain and skimmers). I have sealed around the light niche, the inside of the niche and the floor drains of the spa with epoxy.

What am I missing?

 

[Hubba Bubba]

Bump for another look.

 

[Bama Rambler]

If it's draining below the pool level it almost has to be something isolated to the spa. It may be time to call the leak detection service.