Spa not recirculating, water overflowing into pool

[ATW22]

Hi All, new to TFP, so I am having an issue with spa not recirculating, water overflowing into pool.
I have checked my actuators and both appear to be working properly, my flapper does open, jets come on but it appears that I am not sucking the water back out and i get air in the pump basket when i go to spa mode.
I suspect an air leak but last year I had a pool pro come in and he replaced all the o rings and flapper on all the valves that moved due to the spa draining down. Does this sound like one of the new o rings failed already?
I checked the pump basket but nothing really in the basket, i run a sock in my skimmer and change it once a week and clean it every 2 days.
It's almost exactly a year to date when they were replaced.
Everything in pool mode works as it should. Any input is appreciated.

 

[Jimrahbe]

22,

Sure sounds to me like your Intake Valve is stuck in the Pool mode... Just because the actuator moves does not mean the valve actually moves..

I suggest that you remove the Intake actuator and then manually turn the valve and see what happens.. It could be the actuator moves and the valves doesn't or it could be the valve shaft is broken and the valve is not moving..

I guess it could also be that the floor drain in the spa is plugged up... So while you are at it, I would check the flow between the Intake valve and the spa floor drain..

Your problem does not at all sound like an air or water leak to me.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ATW22]

Sorry, i did remove the actuators and manually move both of them. When i move the one near the pump with the actuator on or off it shuts, water does not overflow, but the pump basket starts to get air..
When i do the same to the other actuator with the buttery fly valve next to it, it starts the jets and water overflows.
I have moved both manually and with actuators with the same result.
So my best guess is the tub is to sucking the water back thru the system for some reason.
I did look at the suction in the tub and i do not see anything visible blocking it. The pool is in a cage so we get little to no debris. Image attached

 

[Jimrahbe]

22,

This is how is should work...

In the Pool mode the pump sucks water from the Skimmer/Main Drain through the Intake Valve, and pushes it through your filter and back to the Return valve.. Most of the water is sent back to the pool returns, but a little water is sent through the make up valve and to the spa.. This extra water causes the spa to overflow into the pool.

In the Spa mode the pump sucks water from the Spa drains through the Intake Valve and pushes it through your filter and back to the Return valve.. All of the water is sent back to the Spa Jets.. There is no overflow, because all of the water that flows out the spa drains is sent back to the Spa.

Please tell me what the manual valve is that is half in the dirt on the spa input line to your Intake valve, which feeds the pump? What position is that valve in??? Please show a close up pic of that valve..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[markayash]

You mentioned having the valves rebuilt, was everything working before or did you have them replaced to fix an issue?

 

[ATW22]

The valve in the dirt has been like that since I purchase the home and has never been touched. Not even a handle on it, the pool guy who took care of the house for years told be never to touch any of the valve except for the cleaner valve for the vacuum which i have never used. The actuator closet to the pump was replaced about 3 months ago. My pump pressure is running at about 18.
This morning i noticed after running the system and checking the valves the spa water level was lower than usual.
Last year they rebuilt a few valves because the spa was draining into the pool every night. so the replaced the flapper and O rings and it solved that issue.

Attached pictures are of the entire system

 

[ATW22]

I ordered a new flapper and O rings last night just so I have them.

 

[Jimrahbe]

22,

The check valve on the return side is the primary cause of a spa draining down when the pump is off, so it makes sense replacing it fixed that problem..

Let's try and look at this logically... When in the Spa mode, all the water from the pump goes back through the Return valve and back to the Spa.. The only way that it will overflow into the pool is if the Spa's drain is not removing the same amount of water from the spa that the pump is putting in. Something is keeping at least some of the water from getting from the floor drain and into the pump. What could that be?

A bad Intake valve
A bad Intake actuator
A clogged, or partially clogged, line between the floor drain and the Intake valve.
The mystery valve with no handle bad, being set wrong or clogged. (I can't think of any reason to have a valve there, unless your equipment pad is way below pool level, and I doubt that in Florida..)

There is no magic here. It is a pretty simple loop of water flowing from the floor drain into the pump and back to the Spa. If the Spa is overflowing, in the spa mode, then more water is going into the spa, then is being removed by the floor drain.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Jimrahbe]

22,

So I have re-read my above post and have realized that if the spa floor drain input to the pump were completely clogged then there would be no water to pump back into the spa.. And even if you only got 50% of the spa water out the floor drain, you'd only have that 50% to put back into the spa..

So this means that when in the spa mode, the pump is getting water from the spa and the pool at the same time.. Seems that would mean a bad Intake valve... But you say you have checked that, so I am confused...

Have you actually taken the top off of the Intake valve and inspected the guts???

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ATW22]

I just took the actuator off and moved the handle back and forth (no change, I did not want to take it apart without the O ring even though it was just replaced last year.

So today i drained the Hot Tub and checked the drain and its 100% clear. I then shut the system down and cleaned the filter, it was really not that dirty as i cleaned it about 5 months ago but it was a bit sandy. Cleaned the the pump basket and got everything back up and running.

I still have water spilling over the side but it is definitely decreased by 75% to 80%. I will wait until i get the O rings in and take the valves apart.

 

[markayash]

I just took the actuator off and moved the handle back and forth (no change, I did not want to take it apart without the O ring even though it was just replaced last year.

So today i drained the Hot Tub and checked the drain and its 100% clear. I then shut the system down and cleaned the filter, it was really not that dirty as i cleaned it about 5 months ago but it was a bit sandy. Cleaned the the pump basket and got everything back up and running.

I still have water spilling over the side but it is definitely decreased by 75% to 80%. I will wait until i get the O rings in and take the valves apart.

Have you tried letting it pull air slowly? I know mine has got full of air and hard to get it flowing again. I usually have to crack the spa return to just enough where it pulls bubbles but won’t lose prime.
Just a thought

 

[ATW22]

Yes, i opened it slowly with the actuator off and paused at different points. The fact that i am getting a bit of air out out the spa jets points me to an air leak. I could be wrong as i am learning the new system still.

 

[Jimrahbe]

22,

I hope you bought the whole diverter and not just a couple of O-Rings...

Something like this ... https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai...iBh4WPkqXzAhX9mmoFHUVVB1kQ9aACegQIARBI&adurl=

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[markayash]

Yes, i opened it slowly with the actuator off and paused at different points. The fact that i am getting a bit of air out out the spa jets points me to an air leak. I could be wrong as i am learning the new system still.

I think Jim is right has to be a valve, if you had a pipe leaking that much you would have noticed your water level dropping big time.

 

[ATW22]

took everything apart and what it was is the pool guy stuck the valve nearest the pump (return on backwards when he replaced it. What a goof, however now that the tub is working properly i am getting sporadic air out of 1 of the pool jets when in pool mode.