maxweb Posted February 24, 2019 Report Share Posted February 24, 2019 Hello! My first post here, although I've been my own "pool boy" for a 10,000 gal in-ground pool for about 15 years. My 94-year-old neighbor is too frail to use his 2004 Hot Springs Sovereign I spa anymore, and asked me if I wanted it. I jumped at the chance to get a "free" hot tub! I put "free" in quotes because although the shell and cosmetics were in excellent condition, it needed a new circulation pump, ozonator, and some 3/4" vinyl tubing to replace brittle yellowed stuff. I decided I didn't need/want the ozonator so I disconnected it and the injector and just ran a straight piece of hose directly from the heater to (what I believe to be) the tub inlet. It heats up and seems to run great. But I'm a bit confused about something. There's something that looks like a circular drain on the bottom well under the water, a plastic insert perforated with lots of holes. I might normally expect water to flow into it from the tub, but in my case the circulation pump is pushing water *up* through this fitting. Is this correct behavior, or might my new circulation pump be causing water to flow backwards through the tub? I've read that when installed the ozonator injects bubbles that flow up from the bottom of the tub, so maybe this is the proper behavior and the only "drain" is through the filters. I mainly want to know if I might have hooked the pump and/or heater up incorrectly. The plastic "floor" insert occasionally pops loose from its hole, also making me wonder if there's supposed to be suction there (instead of heated water flowing upward from the bottom). Before: After: . Thanks for any advice! Shawn from Oakland, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxweb Posted February 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 I forgot to mention that I replaced the E5 circ pump with an E10 (seemed like a good idea from my reading). The jet pump works fine, but I don't use the jets much, and water flows up from the bottom of the tub even when the jets are off, so I don't think it's a missing check valve issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxweb Posted February 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 After more searching of the interwebs, I'm inclined to believe that the drain part is also the heater return, and that I should expect to feel a flow of water up through it. In that case I've got things hooked up correctly (yay!) and now I just need to figure out why the heater return / drain cover is loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxweb Posted February 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 ... and I figured out how to screw the drain cover in more securely. Case solved! (And as a bonus, when I uploaded the "after" photo I noticed that I forgot to install one of my 3/4" hose clamps, so that's now remedied, too. Time for a soak!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwyrick85 Posted February 25, 2019 Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 What your describing is the return for the circulation pump. Water is drawn through the filter that has the grey stand-pipe and cap, pushed through the heater assembly, ozone mazzei injector then back through the floor fitting. That fitting is also tied into one of the drains to help drain more completely. That cover just threads down into a wallfitting. I wouldn't be terribly concerned with it being loose unless the wall fitting itself is loose and your noticing water loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smspencer Posted November 19, 2022 Report Share Posted November 19, 2022 am i correct in assuming that the water flow from the circ pump enters the tub from the drain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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