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Pulsating Pump


scotty

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My teenage kids put too many kids in the spa and it over flowed. Now one of the pumps is pulsating on and off. I turned it off at the box but when you turn it on it still pulsates while it is in prime. Has this happened to anyone else. I am going to let it sit overnight and see if dries out. We had speaker problem once before when they got wet and they were fine when they dried. Any idea would be appriciated?????

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My teenage kids put too many kids in the spa and it over flowed. Now one of the pumps is pulsating on and off. I turned it off at the box but when you turn it on it still pulsates while it is in prime. Has this happened to anyone else. I am going to let it sit overnight and see if dries out. We had speaker problem once before when they got wet and they were fine when they dried. Any idea would be appriciated?????

What is the brand and model of your spa? How much horsepower on the jet pump?

I beleive I have your answer.

http://www.soundclick.com/havenhead

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It is a costco platinum 2 with two pumps (one is fine, this is only happening to one pump. I think they are 4.5 hp.

It sounds like you have too much foam in the water or a high TDS. If the pump is pulsating. Goes strong then weak, then strong, you are sucking in foam in the suctions and the pump is trying to pump water with varing amounts of air in it.

Pumps will compress air and that reduces the efficeincy of the water flow. If the filter is too small and this forces too much water into the suction, this increases the effect. Is it the pump that is attached to the filter?

I am just guessing here.

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It is the main pump. So when this happened the pumps were not on, but of course their is alway water moving through the filters. It just started. (Maybe someone hit the pump with their arm and turned it on. When I say pulsating it sounds like it is on, off, on, off every two seconds. So what do I need to do. My filters probably need cleaning? I am not only a newbie here, but I am a spa newbie. My husband is very handy though!

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It is the main pump. So when this happened the pumps were not on, but of course their is alway water moving through the filters. It just started. (Maybe someone hit the pump with their arm and turned it on. When I say pulsating it sounds like it is on, off, on, off every two seconds. So what do I need to do. My filters probably need cleaning? I am not only a newbie here, but I am a spa newbie. My husband is very handy though!

Check to see if the motor is running the same speed all the time, but the water is pulsating.

If the motor is going on then off, every few seconds, it will destroy the motor.

See if the voltage is constant to the motor.

They use some smaller filters on that spa as I recall. The pulsations could also come from the check valve in the filter housing.

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It is the motor going on and off. It is turned off at the breaker now. I will clean the filters in the morning and my husband will look things over. I thought maybe something got wet. He can check connections tomorrow. Any other ideas for him to look at. I really appreciate your input tonight.

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I will check for ideas in the morn. Off to bed. Any more idea are appriciated!!!

I would make sure the control box and pump motor is dry inside and the filter is clean. I have seen water overflow completely turn off a tub by tripping a breaker, but not on and off.

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  • 1 month later...

The problem you have is well-known to Hydrospa units. They were hard to get a hold of, tried to blame me for the problem, then tried to fix the problem by replacing major components.

Call Costco and tell them what is wrong. Make sure you do it in writing and you'll get more responsiveness form Hydrospa.

Best choice is return the piece if junk and get a good quality brand.

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It sounds like you have too much foam in the water or a high TDS. If the pump is pulsating. Goes strong then weak, then strong, you are sucking in foam in the suctions and the pump is trying to pump water with varing amounts of air in it.

Pumps will compress air and that reduces the efficeincy of the water flow. If the filter is too small and this forces too much water into the suction, this increases the effect. Is it the pump that is attached to the filter?

I am just guessing here.

All spa pumps are centrifical pumps and cannot compress air. Water is moved out of the diffuser by the impeller, and the empty space is filled by the water behind it. If to much air enters the system the pump will air lock as it cannot move air, nor can it compress air.

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All spa pumps are centrifical pumps and cannot compress air. Water is moved out of the diffuser by the impeller, and the empty space is filled by the water behind it. If to much air enters the system the pump will air lock as it cannot move air, nor can it compress air.

If air and water are mixed and fed into a centrifugal (I use a spell checker) pump (or any pump) will have reduced power because the air encapsulated will compress inside the tiny water and chemical (soaps) bubbles (foam). The effect is to reduce the power at the jets, then as the bubble are reduced by the reduced aeration, the pressure goes back up again. The jets will always run under this situation but up and down, over and over. It is worse if you have an aerated jet that sprays directly into a suction fitting. It is part of what engineers have to consider when designing spas for all sorts of water conditions.

I am sorry but I don't like misinformation, be disseminated by people working as hard as they can to fulfil their grudges. Here is some music for you to chill out with. :D

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_pl...;upperOnly=true

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If air and water are mixed and fed into a centrifugal (I use a spell checker) pump (or any pump) will have reduced power because the air encapsulated will compress inside the tiny water and chemical (soaps) bubbles (foam). The effect is to reduce the power at the jets, then as the bubble are reduced by the reduced aeration, the pressure goes back up again. The jets will always run under this situation but up and down, over and over. It is worse if you have an aerated jet that sprays directly into a suction fitting. It is part of what engineers have to consider when designing spas for all sorts of water conditions.

I am sorry but I don't like misinformation, be disseminated by people working as hard as they can to fulfil their grudges. Here is some music for you to chill out with. :D

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_pl...;upperOnly=true

No grudge here Jim, you stated that the pump would compress air. It will not. What you have described is cavitation. This can happen if the water level is to low, or the plumbing is either too small on the suction side, or there are to many 90s in the plumbing. Foam sits on top of the water, so if it is being sucked into the pump, the water is to low. If all other factors or OK, I would pull the pump and check for a blocked, cracked, or broken impeller. I would also check for any blockage in the line.

No misinformation here, just an old spa tech telling it like it is.

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It is worse if you have an aerated jet that sprays directly into a suction fitting. It is part of what engineers have to consider when designing spas for all sorts of water conditions.

Sort of makes you wonder if it might be better to find some way to build a spa without bottom suctions. Perhaps you could just draw all the water in through filters in a nice, safe filter compartment set aside from the bathing area.

Hmm. Sounds like a good idea.

But I don't think that is the problem with this spa - the one the thread is about.

B)

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No grudge here Jim, you stated that the pump would compress air. It will not. What you have described is cavitation. This can happen if the water level is to low, or the plumbing is either too small on the suction side, or there are to many 90s in the plumbing. Foam sits on top of the water, so if it is being sucked into the pump, the water is to low. If all other factors or OK, I would pull the pump and check for a blocked, cracked, or broken impeller. I would also check for any blockage in the line.

No misinformation here, just an old spa tech telling it like it is.

No, cavitation by definition is when you exceed the draw of the suctions (poor suction design) to the point where the water is actually turning to vapor. (Hot tub water vaporizes at lower vacuum, because of the temperature. It is acutally boiling at lower air pressure "high altitude") As you know water will not remain as liquid under a strong vacuum. So when I listen to many pumps running on other spas, I often hear cavitation going on, because of the reduced flow on the suction side.

The pumps will indeed compress air when they try to put pressure on a bunch of air pockets contained in the water.

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I appreciate the attempt to educate consumers about pump cavitation and the like, but I think that Scotty needs to call the factory and/or Costco and get someone out there to look at the thing.

If you happen to have a friend or relative who could safely check the voltage at the spa when the motor tries to turn on, I would do that right away. It sounds to me like a control system problem or a low voltage problem.

Jim is absolutely correct when he says that leaving the motor to turn on and off like that can do damage.

B)

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