Water drains from spa to pool when filter pump turns off???

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C

CVTim

Member
Nov 9, 2020
10
San Diego, CA
Big mystery here. Every day after my filter pump turns off, the water level from my spa slowly drops about 18 inches, apparently draining into the pool (which sits at a lower level than the spa). The next day, when the filter pump turns on, the spa fills up (spilling into the pool below) and everything works normally. This daily draining of the spa is driving me crazy! Something is amiss. Any brilliant thoughts out there?
 
Show us a picture of your pool equipment pad. Focus on the return side plumbing. You should have a check valve in the line that is used to send the water to the spa when you are running your pump in normal Pool mode. That check valve needs repair/replacement.
 
Cannot see the return valve setting as it is hidden by the puck thing.

There appears to be a bypass line under the main return lines. The smoke color thing looks like it might be a check valve. There is a valve with a blue handle too. Shutting off that line should shut off the spa make up line.

Do you have an automation system?
 
CVTim said:
I do have a remote control system (Pentair) for the filter/spa/lights.
Click to expand...
What Remote is it? I suspect it is an Easytouch or Intellitouch. Both of those can manage your Spillover without using the make up line.

Turn the blue handle valve off. See if that stops the spa drain issue. It will also stop your spa overflow. We can manage that later.
 
It’s a QuickTouch II, and unfortunately stopped working last summer, despite changing out the batteries. When you advise turning off the blue valve, do you mean turning the valve handle 90 degrees on the Hayward one (blue label)? I still want the water to circulate in the spa so it doesn’t get “stale.”
 
Those remotes are not repairable. But you still have access to all your programming at the control box near your pool equipment pad. What system do you have?

Yes, close off that blue handle valve and see if your spa no longer drains. If so, that means the check valve (the smoke colored thing) has failed. If you can repair it, great. Or you can program your automation to run the spillover a couple times each day. Your choice.
 

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Marty is referring to turning the blue handled ball valve underneath the chlorine puck feeder, not the Hayward valve with the blue label. Turn the blue handle 90 degrees so that is perpendicular to the pipe and that will shut off your spa makeup line. You want to do this after the pump has run long enough to fill your spa back up, closing that valve will turn off the spa makeup line, and may stop the leak down into the pool when the pump is off.

Mark
 
Thanks for all of the ideas. FYI my filter control unit is a Pentair Sun Touch. All of this equipment is about 25 years old. I’m including a couple more pix to show what the lower level valve/plumbing looks like. I assume the blue valve that is in these pix is the one that I should turn...

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Tim,

The blue valve will shut off your spillover. It allows some water to go to the spa when in the pool mode.

The dark tan "bubble" on the same line as the blue valve is your check valve that is no longer working. It will need to be replaced.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Looking at the Suntouch manual, you can schedule a Circuit Function called Spillway. If you do that a couple times per day for 30 minutes or so, you can leave the blue handled valve closed and ignore the check valve issue. Your Spillway (spa to pool) will run each day to keep your spa water chlorinated.
 
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