Hotspring Moto massage fault - no air

[paalwille]

I have a 2012 Hotspring Sovereign. My double Moto massage jets has stopped going up and down, and I have narrowed the problem down to the air flow in the moto massage compartment. No air comes out of the nozzle in the Moto Massage compartment.

I have already gone through the following steps:

-Changed the Moto Massage jets ( vertebrae tubes)
-Changed the air hose with manifold
- Turned all control valves in different directions
-Cleaned filters (Tri-X)
- Run the jets with filters off for a couple of minutes
-Checked the air inlet in the service compartment
 

All other jets works fine and are stable

 

Any suggestions from you??

 

Paal

 

[Hot Spring Official]

I do recommend checking out the air control valve to that seat. It's likely that you have a misaligned piston in the valve or an obstruction that is preventing air pressure from driving the jet up and down.

[paalwille]

Thank you for that. Will I get to the piston by dismantling the valve from the top..? Would appreciate it if you could explain closer how I get "under the hood" 

/Paal

*EDIT*

Found a How-To online. Will try tomorrow.

[paalwille]

On ‎12‎.‎10‎.‎2017 at 11:00 PM, Hot Spring Official said:

I do recommend checking out the air control valve to that seat. It's likely that you have a misaligned piston in the valve or an obstruction that is preventing air pressure from driving the jet up and down.

Hi again. I have checked the valve,and compared to the valve next to it,it looks good. When valve is removed,there is no airflow in the "valve hole" no matter what position the Smart Lever is in. 

Any other tips?

[r5ran]

Hi, I was wondering of you ever found an answer to your problem?

 I discovered the exact same issue with my single moto massage today. My neck jets (along with everything else that uses air) in that seat work fine, did yours? I was suspecting, since the neck jets worked, it was the air hose from the valve to the MM may have split or came off.  I have not opened the covers to check this out at all, (it's too cold out there today!) However, it would seem to make sense,  that a single air hose would feed both of the dials that control that seat's MM, then individual hoses would go from each dial to the shoulder/ back ports of the MM? Anyone know if my thinking is correct? 

I seldom use the single MM seat, so I may wait till it's warm again to tackle, but would appreciate any guidance.

thank you,

Randy

[romanheber]

You must ask the dealer from where you have bought this so that your spa massage business will not affect further in future.

[warsaws]

Did anyone find a solution to no air in one moto jet?

[r5ran]

Hi, I did find the issue, and it was a simple fix.

I popped off the air adj. valve dials (on top of tub, they just pry off) that went to the problem Moto-Massage and using an air compressor with an air blower end, blew air into each one. Bubbles came out if each air jet except for the problem MM. Assuming it was plugged somehow, I then took the air hose off the MM, and stuck the air valve into the jet, holding a towel to help seal around the air hose. This would reverse the usual air flow, and hopefully clear the line. When I released the air, it took a few seconds, but a piece of fuzzy garbage blew out of the removed air valve on top. So somehow, something got sucked in the air line and plugged that line.

So if you have access to an air compressor, it’s an easy fix.

Hope this helps, Randy

[tho]

I took the control knobs off leaving a white plate.  Should that come off too?  Does it pry off or possibly screw off?  I didn’t want to break it.  I have a 2006 Hot Springs Sovereign.

[r5ran]

Hmmm, mine is a 2008, but I would think they should be the same.....it's been a while so I can't remember exactly what it looks like now. However I did find this video that explains it better than I can in words. It may be slightly different than yours, but It verifies you need to remove that actual valve after removing the knob, too.  You should then be able to see an opening in the plastic that runs below each knob. Each opening has several other holes that are actually fittings that have hoses (that you can't see, cuz they are within the shell) that run to the various air jets.  I am not at my home currently that has the tub, or I would check for you. If you still have issues and can wait, I will be back there the end of next week and will investigate. Thanks, Randy

 

[tho]

Video and advice helpful but the thing that helped most was replacing filters.  I had been cleaning them regularly but all good things wear out I guess.  Thanksmuch.  th

[Chann]

Hello, 

I just purchased a Royal Sovereign II from my family and the moto massage hasn't worked since we had it moved. Also the knob for the moto massage does nothing. It doesn't increase the water pressure in the dual jets or decrease it. So I tried removing the knob and tried blowing air into the air tube and where the valve went. Nothing helped and then a few pieces of black rubber came out of the waterfall. 

[Chann]

Here's what came out.

[OwenSolana]

On ‎7‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 5:15 PM, r5ran said:

Hi, I did find the issue, and it was a simple fix.

I popped off the air adj. valve dials (on top of tub, they just pry off) that went to the problem Moto-Massage and using an air compressor with an air blower end, blew air into each one. Bubbles came out if each air jet except for the problem MM. Assuming it was plugged somehow, I then took the air hose off the MM, and stuck the air valve into the jet, holding a towel to help seal around the air hose. This would reverse the usual air flow, and hopefully clear the line. When I released the air, it took a few seconds, but a piece of fuzzy garbage blew out of the removed air valve on top. So somehow, something got sucked in the air line and plugged that line.

So if you have access to an air compressor, it’s an easy fix.

Hope this helps, Randy

Hi Randy,

Im suffering a similar problem

I injected air directly into the nipple next to the moto massage and nothing happened then after a short while air bubbles started to come out of the moto massage threaded hole.  surely this shouldn't happen.  it is an old Solana with single MM

[Foxy1]

The obstruction or "plug" could be something simple like a bit of rubber from an old air valve seal that has broken away from the valve seal and been sucked down the air tube or possibly, but slim outside chance... some silicon grease (small lump), again sucked into the air tube. This could happen from over application of the grease to the rotating valve, then constant turning of the valve then its sucked down causing a blockage.

[dlevitt]

Similar situation.  dual moto doesn't go up and down.  Air tube is collapsing due to vacuum from the jet.  First question is... is there a check valve (Hotspring Vanguard) in the air line from the valve to the air "nozzle" in the motomassage?  I tried blowing air with a compressor from the motomassage with the control valves removed.  It didn't seem to work.  When I blew air into the valve on top, bubbles did come out of the "nub" in the motomassage.  Is there a chance that there is an air inlet that could be clogged and not let air into the line in the first place?  This would explain the collapsing air hose on the motomassage.  All of the rubber seals on the valves look fine, so no rubber chunks should be causing the blockage.  Thoughts?

[r5ran]

Hi, I think it is clogged, as that was my problem. I removed the air valves, and found a wad of some type of fiber material (not sure where that came from) stuck in the hole that fed into that MM. I suspect yours is similar, but is further down the pipe. You may have to remove the air hose and use something to snake it out.

Hope this works. Randy

[dlevitt]

I'll keep trying to snake through the Moto massage to find the possible blockage.  I was curious to know if the clear tubing (with the chase string) is there to let air into the system.  Could this be blocked?  Sorry for the sideways picture...

[ratchett]

On 9/2/2022 at 10:19 AM, dlevitt said:

was curious to know if the clear tubing (with the chase string) is there to let air into the system.  Could this be blocked?  Sorry for the sideways picture...

That chase wire to run speaker wire to the optional speaker compartments - the pink line is installed at the factory to make life easy for dealer's techs to quickly run speaker wiring around the tub after delivery.   They are not connected to any air lines going inside the hot tub.

[dlevitt]

Thank you.  I'm sure it's a blockage somewhere between the flow knob and the moto air outlet.  Need to figure out the best way to snake.  

 

[r5ran]

Perhaps a electrical fish tape?

 

[dlevitt]

I may give a fish tape a try from the valve side.  I've been trying to "snake" from the small motomassage nipple with weedeater trimmer line.  Does anyone know if there is a check valve between the valve and the air outlet?