In ground pool hot tub drains when pump is on????

[NEPApoolguy]

Also....I'm guessing that your automatic system possibly was in spa mode.....sucking all the water from the spa and returning all the water to the spa.....then the system attempted to go into pool mode.......the return valve actuator turned.....but the suction actuator didn't......therefore putting all the spa water into the pool. Then the pump would have lost its prime. Usually once that happens.....it runs dry.....taking the little bit of water that remained in the pump and gets it so hot that it reaches near boing point. Usually then the fitting that is screwed into the front of the pump and the one that is screwed into the pump discharge become loose or damaged. Check if the fittings are loose. To check this....gently twist them with your hands.....if they are loose....you will see the slightly turn......if the one in front of the pump has loosened up.....this will cause a suction leak....causing your pump to run only half filled up with water in the basket. It may even have a difficult time priming up with water. The discharge fitting should leak water if it is loose. Hope I'm not confusing you.....with all of this info. But it sounds like what I explained above is possibly what caused all of this....I've seen it happen before.

[markphin]

I have had a similar problem with my actuators. Try removing the cover from the actuator itself, exposing the guts, first remove the valve handle. You will see four little wires attached to clips. Jiggle these wires, sometimes they become loose or get a bit of corosion causing them to lose connection. I actually take them off one by one and use a needle nose to close the clip a bit so it is nice and tight when I slide it back on the tab. Be careful though, these parts are fragileand be sure you put the clip back on the same tab you took it from. Otherwise the valve will try to turn in a different direction.

[mjlepak]

Wow thanks everyone for the help. It is the actuator and is a compool cva 24. I had the pool on spa mode the day before with the kids swimming and when we got done that night I turned everything off. So when the automatic control took over Sunday morning it drained the hot tub as the actuator did not work.

FWIW, I took the handle off the actuator, removed the 4 screws, and put the handle back on, and manually turned the valve. That took care of my problem and everything is working manually now. Yeah, that will keep the green stuff from beginning to grow!

I will go buy and actuator and replace it this weekend. I guess with everything being electronic now days I never learned how to actually operate my pool. (really I still don't know but I am getting better)

[markphin]

take a look at my previous reply. I really believe you are buying an actuator unnecessarily. Try my method first. I'm willing to be that is it. I had the same problem with my compool actuators.

[mjlepak]

take a look at my previous reply. I really believe you are buying an actuator unnecessarily. Try my method first. I'm willing to be that is it. I had the same problem with my compool actuators.

Thanks, I will try that first this weekend when I get a chance prior to purchasing an actuator. The pool is only 3 years old so it is definetly worth a try.