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Brand new Nordic Escape SE - Nice tub but not much pressure


heygreene

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Hi all, we just received our new Nordic Escape SE and the family is loving it.  

With that being said, there were no Nordics around to wet test, so we bought it without sitting in it.  First impressions are the size is good for our family of 5 (wife and I, and our 12, 10 and 5yo kids), and we could probably put one or 2 other kids or maybe 1 more adult in with no issues, so that is a good thing.

The whirlpool on high will almost blow you out of the seat, it's super intense.  However, when we turn it to one side or the other it's "okay" (not a huge amount of pressure coming out, but you can feel some massaging... kinda feels like what I would expect it to feel like on low).  When it's on both sides, you can barely even feel anything at all... absolutely no pressure/massaging, just warm water moving around.

I'm assuming this is normal for a 1-pump HT, but figured I'd ask before I called Nordic or my local dealer.  In hindsight I should have probably purchased the LS to get the 2 pumps but there was no ETA on when those were coming in, and I figured I wouldn't need it.  This is likely a mistake on my part being a first time spa buyer... lesson learned.  Is there any "help" for this?  I'm assuming "it is what it is".

Thanks,
Heygreene

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15 hours ago, Raskm42 said:

I owned the Nordic retreat SE and while it was a nice dependable hot tub it doesn't have near the pressure of my new Hot Springs.  

Thanks, I kinda figured that it is what it is.  I talked to Nordic and they were very helpful with just describing the air vents, how to adjust everything. etc but it really doesn't make that much of a difference.  Lesson learned, but unfortunately it's an expensive lesson (and long term one).  🙂  

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I bought it brand new and used almost daily for five years and never any issues.  Luckily I was the only one that used it and could direct most of the jets to my seat.  Nordic makes a great hot tub.  I sold with the house and wanted another Nordic but dealer no longer sold them so I bought the Hot Springs flair.  

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Upsize just the impeller much and you will burn up the motor. Upsizing the pump assembly (motor and impeller) might work, but might burn up the pump or damage plumbing parts.

I had a customer put in a higher hp pump and immediately blow the cap off of his diverter valve. Another blew a glue fitting at the manifold apart. Yet another collapsed his filters, or blew jets out in the spa. Others have had no issues at all, or it ran for a year before the motor went out. So, do you feel lucky? Roll them dice!

A pump has a flow rating (gpm) and a head rating. Head is the resistance to flow built in to a system by height variances and plumbing/components. So the size and number of jets, size of pipe, size of filter, etc, is all part of the equation that determines which pump to use. Putting a bigger pump on a system is like running it with the valves half closed while simultaneously increasing the system pressure and vacuum. If the pump was undersized to begin with, it will be fine, but if not...

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5 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

A pump has a flow rating (gpm) and a head rating. Head is the resistance to flow built in to a system by height variances and plumbing/components. So the size and number of jets, size of pipe, size of filter, etc, is all part of the equation that determines which pump to use. Putting a bigger pump on a system is like running it with the valves half closed while simultaneously increasing the system pressure and vacuum. If the pump was undersized to begin with, it will be fine, but if not...

The Escape SE has 30 jets with a 3hp motor.  The Escape LS has 45 jets, with a 3hp and a 2hp CD pump.   I'm thinking a larger motor/impeller will risk damaging the plumbing. Hell of a risk on a tub this new.

 

6 hours ago, heygreene said:

Thanks, I kinda figured that it is what it is.  I talked to Nordic and they were very helpful with just describing the air vents, how to adjust everything. etc but it really doesn't make that much of a difference.  Lesson learned, but unfortunately it's an expensive lesson (and long term one).  🙂  

Have you tried talking to your dealer?   You are not a satisfied customer, maybe your dealer might be willing to work with you?  Don't know what the chances, but it's better than being stuck with a tub which underwhelms.  Who knows they might let you trade in your tub for the Escape LS model.

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Update:  I'm only really concerned with getting a good massage from the jets when it's either just me by myself, or me and my wife in the tub.  For the last few nights I've just closed all other jets and opened the air vents for those 2 seats and it's been sufficient for us.  While there's no "wow" factor at how strong the jets are, they do the job and have been relieving some sore muscles from all of the yard work we've been doing. 

One question:  If the LS has a 3hp and a 2hp pump, and my SE only has a 3hp pump, how would that affect me if I had the LS?  Would that just mean that instead of having to close off half of the tub jets to get it strong enough, it would be that strong with all jets open?  I'd assuming it may even be more strong on the side with the 3hp pump, since it would only have to feed half of the tub instead of the entire thing.

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Usually one pump works one half of the spa and the other the other half... then a lot of spas will have diverter valves where you can adjust the pressure of the said pump from say the lounger to the foot massage jets or an equal combination of the 2 if the valve is in the middle. 

Closing jets is not idea

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  • 3 weeks later...

I believe the diverter may be bad, but I'm not really accustomed to adjusting hot tubs so maybe I'm wrong.  When it's on the whirlpool setting, it will blow you out of the seat if you're sitting in front of it, so that one's easy to tell what position it's in.  Then there should be 3 other settings, one for left side, one for right side and one for both sides (each 1/4 turn away from each other).  However, it's not really easy to tell when it has "clicked" and went into one of the 4 settings.  I can normally tell when it's on whirlpool, or one of the two sides just due to pressure at the seats, but it's hard to tell where it 'clicks' into the position to turn on all 4 seats at once... you can never really feel good pressure at all and so it's hard to tell if it's even in the right spot or not.  Hope that makes sense.

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10 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

Post a pic of the diverter.

Here you go.  Maybe it's called a selector and not a diverter... my terminology could be wrong.  All I know is it doesn't really click into any of the 4 positions.  Therefore you can "semi" turn on multiple positions by just barely rotating the diverter.  It's just hard to know what position it's in since you can't feel it click in, and I'm wondering if that's what is making the pressure lower when it's on "all seats" setting (or at least what I "think" is all seats.. it's so hard to tell).

Diverter.PNG

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 Oh, diverter jet. Are you sure there are 4 positions? I have never seen a diverter jet with more than 3. Which does not mean they haven't made one, just verifying.

There will be no "click". It turns a gate inside of a cylinder. Anything molded into the fitting to "click" would create a gap, losing pressure on the selected port, or create drag preventing the valve from turning under pressure. 

If the one pump feeding that jet is being diverted to "all jets" there won't be much pressure. The diverter jet can only handle so much flow, and if all that flow is set to just it then the pump cannot have much more or it would burn out the pump. So you have a 1", maybe 1.25" nozzle with an area of 1.22sq" max being split up among how many other jets with what size nozzle internal diameter? Let's say, for fun, they are only 3/8" (smallest jet out there) then the area of each jet nozzle is .11sq", so 11 jets is the most you could have to keep the same pressure at each one as the diverter jet. I'm betting there are many more than 11. The math is not difficult. If you have 22, they are all at half pressure, if you have 33...

This is why we say to wet test before you buy. The number of jets or hp of pump is no indication of jet pressure. Likewise, jet pressure is no indication of enjoyability. Small jets at high pressure hurt (think power washer), and if you can't keep yourself in the seat from all the flow it doesn't matter. There is much more to spa engineering and design than just slapping in some jets and sticking a pump on them. 

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22 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

 Oh, diverter jet. Are you sure there are 4 positions? I have never seen a diverter jet with more than 3. Which does not mean they haven't made one, just verifying.

Here's the info on their site.  I was unable to wet test due to no Nordic dealers in 2hrs of my house having any tubs in stock.  It's not a huge issue, as most of the time when I want jet power it's only me and my wife in the tub, and we can just turn off all the other jets temporarily.  I was more just wondering if there was an issue.

As for "blowing you out of your seat" kind of pressure... I know what you mean, sitting in front of this whirlpool diverter is insane... like hard to stay in front of and almost uncomfortable.  A friend of ours has a tub that they hate running on high because it makes them itch it's so high of pressure, so I guess things could be worse.  :D

diverter 2.PNG

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13 minutes ago, heygreene said:

it makes them itch

Tell them to close their air control valves. Same thing happens to me, doesn't matter what brand (I have been in too many to count). If the air is on, even on low speed, I get itchy back in minutes. Close the air controls and I can sit for hours.

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