Winterizing Inground Pool with Spa Nashville Tennessee SPA BLOWER QUESTION

[newbiepoolguy1975]

Hello Expert Pool Owners,

I just built my new inground pool and spa this summer. I have a hayward automated system in place and have a Inground Fiberglass Pool with a Inground Spa that is elevated 18 inches above the pool. I have kept the pool and Spa open in the Nashville Tennessee area and have a automatic pool cover in place and have kept the pool and spa running for the winter. My questions are regarding my freeze protect on my pumps, and air blower for the spa. I have my freeze protect programmed in my hayward omnilogic system and have the blower set to freeze protect. My question is can i turn off the freeeze protect on the air blower since it is running almost 12-20 hours a day when the temperature drops below 36 degrees to prevent freezing. During the last several cold days the blower is causing ice to form on the top layers of the spa and it is causing me to run the overflow water feature every few days to keep water in the spa since it is bubbling up over the edge. I cannot find any threads regarding if i can just turn the freezer protect mode off the SPA blower, do not know if the spa blower lines can freeze up like the rest of the plumbing. I would like to know your thoughts regarding just keeping the freeze protect mode on the pumps and to turn off the freeze protect on the SPA blower itself. It seems like a lot of air blowing for days it seems. Any suggestions for my area regarding my question? Thank you.

 

[rcerf]

I have a similar setup as you with an 18 inch raised spa. My freeze protection has been coming on at night till early morning. Unlike yours my blower does not come on , in fact I did not know that was even an option. My spa has a Hartford loop which keeps water from entering the blower line. Do you know if your spa has that loop installed ? 12 to 20 hours seems like a long time for the blower to run.

 

[newbiepoolguy1975]

I do have a hartford loop on the blower line but they did not install a check valve on the line by the spa. I am thinking if the hartford loop is above the water line. If a little water get above the hartford loop would the lines freeze inside the spa walls?

 

[rcerf]

I wouldn’t think some water in the line if it froze would do any damage. The pipe wouldn’t be full of water so there is room for expansion. When water freezes it expands about 9%. If you are worried about lines freezing inside the spa walls , you might want to think about closing the pool and spa for the winter.