Overview - Our pool and spa are built on the main house level. The spa is built above the pool with a spillover waterfall. The pump and equipment are located on the ground level which is a good 10 feet below the pool. I say this because I believe gravity and water pressure are causing my problem. When the temp drops and the freeze protection activates, each cycle of pool mode to spa mode and back causes the spa level to drop about 1/2 - 1 inch. Over the course of several hours the spa level drops below the spa jets. The solution has been to turn on the spillover every 4-5 hours to transfer the water back from the pool to the spa. This has to be done as long as the freeze protection is operating.
My thinking is as the value moves from pool to spa and back there is a small amount of water that is transferred from the spa to the pool during that value transition due to the head pressure that builds up from the gravity of the 10 feet below the pool level and since the spa sits above the pool, it is the one that loses out in this exchange. Is this possible even with the check value in operation? Or regardless of the elevation difference between the pool/spa and the pump equipment water should not be leaking out.
One solution I thought about is to manually reposition the value at the actuator so when in pool mode and w/o the spillover feature on, a very small bit of water is allowed to travel from the pool to the spa as if the spillover was activated. This would allow enough water to go back into the spa during that 30 minute pool mode. Then when it goes back to spa mode any water that seeps into the pool during that transition will be replaced during the next pool mode cycle.
If this is possible I'll need some advice to know how to even go about fixing the actuator at the value. Also, will this little bit of water flow cause any issues with the freeze protection of the pipes? Assuming it can be done, once the treat of freezing temps is over in March or April I can reposition the actuator/value back to the original position until next winter.
Thanks for any insight.
My thinking is as the value moves from pool to spa and back there is a small amount of water that is transferred from the spa to the pool during that value transition due to the head pressure that builds up from the gravity of the 10 feet below the pool level and since the spa sits above the pool, it is the one that loses out in this exchange. Is this possible even with the check value in operation? Or regardless of the elevation difference between the pool/spa and the pump equipment water should not be leaking out.
One solution I thought about is to manually reposition the value at the actuator so when in pool mode and w/o the spillover feature on, a very small bit of water is allowed to travel from the pool to the spa as if the spillover was activated. This would allow enough water to go back into the spa during that 30 minute pool mode. Then when it goes back to spa mode any water that seeps into the pool during that transition will be replaced during the next pool mode cycle.
If this is possible I'll need some advice to know how to even go about fixing the actuator at the value. Also, will this little bit of water flow cause any issues with the freeze protection of the pipes? Assuming it can be done, once the treat of freezing temps is over in March or April I can reposition the actuator/value back to the original position until next winter.
Thanks for any insight.
