D2David

Figured it out. I took both jets out and felt around inside the housing. The right side had the plastic ring in the housing, while on the left (the side with the air control valve and the jet that felt loose), the ring was gone. I had extras fortunately and replaced. Turned the pump on and everything works correctly now. So to sum it up, you should have 2 thin rings for each jet. One sits in the retaining ring (the one that you unscrew to get to remove the jet), and the other sits in the actual housing in the pool. Guess the pool company failed to install it properly.

We had our pool open last week by the same company that closed it for the winter. Not sure what has happened, but the step jets for the pool now leak water from the air controller instead of air. I believe it's a Hayward setup. The jets still function, but pressure certainly isn't as high as it was last year. The other returns in the pool seem fine. The pump has no air in it. I have been keeping the controller closed to minimize the water loss. Thinking the pool company failed to reinstall the jets properly, I pulled them out and inspected. Everything seems to be in order, but I'm unclear as to why water is now flowing out of the controller. Did they incorrectly winterize it and water got in where it shouldn't have? The small ring is present on both jets, but I noticed the left jet (which is on the same side as the controller) seems to spin more freely and is harder to close than the one on the right. I've search and asked around and I can't seem to find a solution. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!