mat300z Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 Hi guys, I wondering if you guys could help me out. I just bought a house with a pool spa combo with a spa overflow feature into the pool. It has 3 valves that are labeled spa drain, pool drain, and skimmer. It has another valve seperate from the rest that seems to control the spa overflow feature and another valve next to it that has zip ties on it (dont touch I guess?). I see 3 pumps one definitley goes to the pool spa combo, one goes to the spa jets, and i think the last one goes to the pool cleaning robot. My question is how do you isolate the spa from the pool so that I can heat the spa and not the pool. Also is this feasible with a natural gas heater? Would it be cost efficient to do it this way. I would guess that the spa is about 400 gallons and the pool is probably 12,000 gallon or so. If I can get this working then I will have a custom cover made to fit the spa to keep the energy costs down. Thanks for any help that you can give Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegsOnEarth Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 Now from what you have described, it sounds like you may have some goofyness at your valves. Usually there will not be a seperation between all 3 of the parts you mentioned (skimmer, pool drain, spa drain). Usually, the pool drain and skimmer will share a circuit and a valve (this will allow you to change whether you are pulling water from the pool via the drain at the bottom, the skimmer or split suction evenly between them). However it sounds like this is not the case with your system and that all 3 circuits have their own valves. My guess is that you should be able to shut off suction from the skimmer and pool drain, isolating suction from the spa drain with the valves you currently have on the system, but I couldn't tell you how exactly without seeing the configuration. This means you may have to experiment a bit with the three valves, but the basic idea is you need to pull 80-100% from the spa drain and maybe a tad from the pool to circulate some fresh water into the spa. This will not effect your spas heat drastically. The other thing you must isolate is the return water. It sounds like the valve you describe as controlling the overflow would be the ticket there. That should be the valve that directs where filtered water returns back into your system. You can try turning the valve all the way one way or another and checking which returns you get flow out of (either the pool returns or the spa returns. You can split the difference as well). To isolate your spa, you would want 100% of the return flow to be diverted there. As for the zip tied valve... I have no idea. Do you have a water fall or something similiar? Was there solar on the system at some point that was plumbed out? Once again, it's all guess work without being able to see your actual equipment. In any case, isolating the spa should be simple for you, once you determine how your valves control the flow of your system. Also is this feasible with a natural gas heater? Would it be cost efficient to do it this way. Ummm how else would you expect to heat your spa exactly? The purpose of the heater on your system is to heat the spa. It is probably NOT a good idea, efficiency-wise, to try and heat your POOL with it. However, it's purpose would be to make your spa usable. Hope this was helpful, I know it's a bit long winded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat300z Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Thanks...I will play with it today. The other day I managed to Isolate the spa from the pool but I noticed after an a few minutes that the spa was draining into the pool. The water fall was turned off at that point. As for the heating question I was told that the heater was for the pool but never used. I cant tell what BTU it is but it is really big. I will take pics today and provide more details. I am still in the process of unpacking and settling in so just messing with this in my spare time. thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat300z Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Ok...You were right on all counts. I moved the valve that was seperate from the 3 and it controls the flow to the pool or the spa. I turned off the skimmer and the pool drain and just left open the spa drain and it seems to isolate the spa. Now the only problem is the spa is still draining (slowly) into the pool. Over the course of an hour or so it drain about a foot to a foot and a half. Any Ideas as to how to stop the spa from draining? Also you said I will need some fresh water from the pool into the spa. Which valve do I leave partially open? The skimmer valve maybe? The valve that is zip tied is on the pool side of the control valve that controls the flow to the spa or the pool or both. If I turn it to operate just the pool then the valve is zip tied on that side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat300z Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 The heater is 250,000BTU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegsOnEarth Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 If the spa is draining a bit, it means that water returning from your system is going back into both the spa and pool (since you are pulling only water from the spa, but returning it to both bodies of water, the level will gradually decrease). I don't know why or in what way the return valve is zip tied, but if that is the valve that controls your return flow than your answer is there. Switch it so that all water returns to the spa and the draining will stop. It's hard for me to say how to do the 80/20 split between pool and spa drain without knowing how your system works, but the skimmer should not be a factor (I would imagine). This is probably something you will have to play around with, but my assumption would be that your skimmer/pool drain share a valve to split suction between them, and further up the line would be a valve that allows you to split suction between that system and the spa drain. That would be the valve that you would want to set to pull mostly from spa (80-90%) and the rest from the pool drain/skimmer circuit. if you post pictures, I can not see them unfortunately. The computer I post from does not load images (I read these forums at work). You'll have to rely on the eyes of the other posters, who I am confident can take it from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat300z Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 I turned the valve that was zip tied and it immediately start to cavetate the pumps. I guess it is a main shut off valve for both the pool and the spa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 If you can post a pic of the valves and plumbing, we can advise you better, and keep you out of trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat300z Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 will do as soon as possible...thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.