T.J.

Since I have an in ground spa, I thought the setup would be more similar to an in ground pool so I am posting here. We bought a house that has an in ground spa in the basement. We have no way of finding out the history of the spa since it was a foreclosure. I have also never owned a pool or spa before. First I guess I will describe how the spa is set up. The spa is completely in the ground with piping running in the ground about 10 feet over to another room where it comes out of the ground then at ground level the pumps are there. The water is pumped over head into the ceiling another 20’ away into the furnace room where the heater and filter are. I am not receiving much pressure from the pump, maybe 2 psi according to the gauge on the filter. The water is circulating and I repaired all the leaks I could find. If I let the hot tub sit, the water level does not drop, at least not significantly. I was told that heaters have pressure switches on them and will not fire unless it senses something like 4 PSI. So because of this the water is not being heated. There seems to be air accumulating in the filter which I bleed off. If I shut the pump off the pump maintains prime for at least an hour. (It could be longer but I have not checked) I really cannot find any signs of leaks anywhere. The only place there could be a leak I guess would be under ground. Would there be signs of dirt entering the spa if that were the case? What should the pressure be? Does a heater only fire if there is pressure? Thanks