converting spa to hot tub

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T

tagteamcomputing

Gold Supporter
Feb 7, 2017
296
Tulsa, OK
So i bought a house and asked several times if the hot tub worked fine etc, only to find out it was not a hot tub. It is just a "spa". There is a separate pump for the spa and the pipes that pull water from the spa and send it back do not run through the heater. The pool pump can pull water from the pool and send it back to the spa. However, the pool pump can not pull water from the spa. So the problem is that to heat the spa and make it a hot tub, you need to heat the entire pool


So I plan to reconfigure the pipes so it can run the spa water through the heater and turn it into a hot tub.


A few questions:
1. Should i configure it so that when I am running the heater for the hot tub and its own pump should i run that water through the filter.
2. Based on my setup, if i don't run the water through the filter then it seems I would not need to keep the pool open in the winter because the spa pump would be able to pull water from the spa, send it through the heater and back to the spa. Does this seem right?
3. Should I pay a plumber to do this or is this something a relatively handy person can do?


I have included a link to a picture of my pool equipment setup.

Shared album - Tate Goodman - Google Photos
 
WOW, that's a really strange configuration...

This is the more expensive approach but I would consolidate all the pumps into one pump. You buy a variable speed pump to replace the current POOL pump and then you plumb it so that the SPA drain is connected to the suction side of the POOL pump and you attach the SPA return line to the return side of the POOL pump. Those should be done with two 3-way valves so that the POOL pump can only pull water from the SPA side or from the POOL side. Same with the return water, it only goes to the POOL side or the SPA side. You have to think of the POOL and SPA as two separate bodies of water (even though they may be attached by a spillway) and then that drives the how you plumb the valves. The concept is, you only want to draw and return water from one body or the other. To get a spillover effect, you can still split the return water between the POOL side and SPA side returns, but you never want to draw water from both bodies at the same time or else you'll wind up draining the spa into the pool.

It's a bit of reworking with a lot of PVC cutting, prepping and gluing but it's not at all that difficult. Since you have no automation system to control the valves or pump speed, changes to the valve configuration and pump speed would have to be done manually at the equipment pad.
 
Could this still be done with my current pump and buy a variable speed pump later. From what I have seen those run about $1,000 - $1,300.

I drew on the picture below to see if this is what you are talking about. Basically, I would cut off the top of the spa drain and run a pipe over to where all the other drain valves are and use a 3 way valve on it? If I did that, then what about the spa blower?

Shared album - Google Photos
 
There are five lines coming up and going to the suction of the filter pump are any of the lines marked spa? The other pump is probably a booster pump for the jets and only on when using the spa. Can you take a picture of the labels on the top of the pipes.
 
Yeah, I am thinking the pump on the left is just for the jets and the pump on the right is what is supposed to be run in "spa mode" for circulation and to heat up the water.

Agree with the question on what all the pipes are labelled as.

Your filter pump may not be strong enough to run the spa jets.
 
Sorry for the late reply, sick baby.

There are five pipes and from left to right they are

North skimmer
south skimmer
Main pool drain
Cleaning - the one on the side of the pool i use to run the vacuum
Fountain

They funny thing is i can actually turn the little fountain area in to a mini hot tub because i can drain that water directly and shut everything else off and then heat it.

As you can see from the picture above there is not much room to tie the spa drain into the area where the other 5 drains are. It would be pretty easy to tie the pipe from the spa drain into the line just before the filter but now that I think of it I dont think the spa pump would actually work to suck up the water if I did that because it would be trying to suck it through the heater and filter which would not work. (not sure if you can follow me on that train of thought)

So it looks like the idea JoyfulNoise has may really be the only idea. I need to somehow re-pipe so that the spa main drain is in line with the other 5 drains so the pump will actually pull the water.


So please help me confirm something. There appears to me to only be two ways to make this work

1. reconfigure the pipes so that the spa main drain is in line with the other drains and the main pool pump can then pull water from the spa and run it through the filter and heater. This seems like the best idea because it would be the most normal, however, it would also be the most expensive

2. reconfigure the pipes so that the spa return is piped in just before the heater (or before the filter). The spa pump would pump the water and then send it back, i would put in a diverter to send it over to just before the heater and then it would flow through the heater and back through the spa return. This leaves me with needing two pumps but would be easier and cheaper to implement.
 
tagteamcomputing said:
Could this still be done with my current pump and buy a variable speed pump later. From what I have seen those run about $1,000 - $1,300.

I drew on the picture below to see if this is what you are talking about. Basically, I would cut off the top of the spa drain and run a pipe over to where all the other drain valves are and use a 3 way valve on it? If I did that, then what about the spa blower?

Shared album - Google Photos
Click to expand...

Tag,

I think Matt's idea is the best long term solution but you could probably get away with using your main pool pump for a while to defer spending. Basically you pipe it up the same way Matt suggests. Main pool pump takes suction and discharges into the spa in "spa mode". If you're aiming to close the pool and keep the spa during winter you really need the spa to go through the filter during winter. A photo of the pool/spa would help. Also a couple of questions:

  • When you say north to south which end is north?
  • Can you provide pool pump information?
  • It looks like the valve runs are curved. Is this correct? If so the connections could be over-stressed unless heat was applied to the pipe to allow it to bend. Both cases could be a future crack opportunity. I wouldn't do anything about it now but just be aware.

You've got a very unusual layout for the valves and one thing that looks nice is they are spaced such that it may be a little easier than normal to tee into some of the piping. The plumbing isn't really that difficult to do but it can be surprising how much room it takes so I would lay it out carefully before you cut with your tee measurements. Measure twice, cut once. Also your runs will be short so you'll need to insert a union because it will be difficult to make the connections by bending the pipe to get the couplings in place.

Chris
 
What about the return pipes? Can the main filter pump return water to the spa?

It really seems like whoever did the plumbing really made a mess of things. Why would you have a heater that can't heat the spa?!?!?
 
THANK YOU jblizzle, yes THANK YOU. my point exactly to the realtor when after 3 weeks, a pool guy and a plumber we finally figured out that it was not a hot tub. They even had it mislabeled so that the pipes made it look like it could function as a hot tub. I even have a record of texts sent to my realtor, and then to theirs, asking questions about the "hot tub" and was never told it wasn't a hot tub. Anyway, I got my realtor to give me $600 for re-plumbing but their realtor wouldn't do anything or contact previous owners about it and I was only left with a small claims court option and that is not my thing.

So moving on to make my life better.

Yes, the main filter pump can return water to the spa.

Ok, I have labeled all the equipment

Shared album - Tate Goodman - Google Photos

I also have a picture of my pool. The north end is the end by the chimney

Shared album - Tate Goodman - Google Photos

Also' pictures of my pump, looks like a 1hp for the main pool pump and 1 1/2 for spa pump, go figure.

Shared album - Tate Goodman - Google Photos - main pool pump
Shared album - Tate Goodman - Google Photos - spa pump

It seems like i would have to re-route the pipe from the filter to the heater a bit to be able to have the spa pipe come in on the end of the north skimmer and remove that elbow pipe.
 
So there is a spa return that will then just spill over into the pool. That is not going to allow for a very warm hot tub when the water is pulled from the pool, goes through the heater once and then to the spa to then spill over to the pool. :D

I think to make this work the way that any sensible pool builder would have done :hammer:, you need to tee off that spa suction line and also get it connected to the main filter pump suction manifold so that you can recirculate the water in the hot tub and heat it up.

- - - Updated - - -

PS, I wish there was a way for you to embed the pictures directly in IMG tags so they would show up in the thread without having to click on links. Quickly looking at the album, I could not find a link that goes directly to an address that ends in ".jpg" as is required for the IMG tags.
 

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i have tried to embed the pictures but it says you are over the limit or something like that.

Maybe this will help with the pics. I am going to share the whole album with you, that should let you see all the pics

Pool - Google Photos

Yes, i need to be able to circulate the hot water and not have it go back to the pool. doing a T from the spa return to the main pump would do that but I am just not sure if I have the room for it in my set up.
 
Tag,

That sure is some weird piping... looks like they punched a hole in paver stones that you'd have to break apart then dig down to get room. Not sure where the tee needs to be added but it's a shame you lose the hot tub over this. Please let us know if you decide to take this on.

Good luck.

Chris
 
Oh, I am going to do it, that is for sure. Just trying to figure out the best way.

Do you think they cheap idea would work.

I put a T in the spa return, which directs the water back to just before the heater. Then a T when it comes out of the heater that can redirect it back to the spa return. I would have to turn the pool pump off for this to work but I would just do it when I am planning on getting in the hot tub. Then it would only pull water from the spa , heat it and then send it back.

See picture below

Shared album - Tate Goodman - Google Photos
 
Maybe, but not ideal. You would be sending unfiltered water through the heater. And I think you would be running into isolation issues between the spa pump and the filter pump.
And your heater may not be able to handle the high flow rates of the spa pump.

I think you would be better off Teeing off the spa pump suction line and tie it into the filter pump suction manifold.
 
Anything is possible ... it just is not going to be easy ;)

One option, cut out the 90 above the last valve, use a ram bit to drill out the pvc pipe in the valve (should salvage the valve), put a new pipe in with a Tee. It will be tricky since you not not have flexibility in the pipe to easily install the Tee with fixed pipe in 2 directions. Might need to put a union between the last 2 valves to make the install easier.
 
Ha, if only. That is part of what made me so mad. That label is wrong and that is the one that led me to believe the spa was a hot tub. Still the owner and Realtor felt they didn't need to explain anything to me. That label is wrong and is actually for the cleaner port on the side of the pool.


What about this idea guys.

What if I cut out the heater from the piping and just let the water come from the pool through the filter and back to the pool. I then turn the heater around and just connect it to the spa pipes only. That will mean I can't heat the pool and I have to run the hot tub without filtering the water but it would get filtered the rest of the time when I am running the pool pump as normal.
 
I am not an expert and perhaps never will but obviously, the Spa mode is missing from your existing plumbing. But what is done is done and if I am in your shoes I will consider installing a 3-way Jandy valve to split the SPA Jet suction line as shown in the pic. I normally run the Spa Jet pump while the Spa is warming up. Not sure if you can do the same based on the below config but perhaps, others can chime in!

2ngtst3.jpg


I will make an attempt to dig without breaking the slab hoping to give me the flexibility to install a T, but it's your call.
2z7j61y.jpg
 
Last edited:
Why not cut he joint between the 90 coming out of the pump and the first tee, install a 3-way valve and bring the spa suction around the outside of the pad. You will have to rambit the tee or use a fitting extender and you can also slide the pump a little bit to the right
 

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