#Air venturi power booster portable#

The deeper the water, the greater the burden on the blower. The number of 90-degree turns: Remember these turns add to the work a blower must do to force air into the spa.Water depth: Water pressure bearing down into the air channel or air injectors must be countered by the force of the air pushed through the piping. For component systems, or those in which a spa pack was installed a distance away from the vessel, you need to accurately determine the amount of pipe between the blower and the spa’s air piping.

#Air venturi power booster portable#

For portable spas and spa packs, it’s usually not difficult to determine. The total length of the pipe run: The longer the run, the more power the blower needs. Beyond that, there’s a defined set of factors to consider in finding the best-sized blower for a given application: Units come in three basic sizes: 1, 1½ and 2 hp. Sizing the blowerīlower sizing isn’t all that complicated. Oversizing can cause a blower to overheat and melt or simply fail. Beyond that, effective blower replacement depends largely upon proper sizing.But you cannot always put a larger blower into a system. In replacing a blower, you must first consider certain design features: the unit’s operating voltage, the orientation of the exhaust, the need for various motor speeds and the blower’s position relative to the spa. To remedy that, either replace the blower with a higher-capacity model, or modify the air piping system. Nearly all blower problems can be traced directly or indirectly to incorrect sizing.įor example, if either the spa’s air holes or the blower’s distance from the hot tub are inadequate, the blower will work too hard. What is the most critical factor for a spa’s air-support system? Proper sizing of the blower to the air piping system. This minimizes the temperature differential between the water circulating in the spa and the (often) much cooler air being drawn into the system - increasing user comfort and easing the heating burden on the spa’s primary heater. 1 cause of blower failure.Finally, some blowers today feature small electric heaters that preheat the air sent into the spa. Air flowing through the blower must carry all the heat away from the motor immediately. Heat generated within the air blower is a matter of concern. Blowers are available in two- and three-speed models, allowing users to select the intensity of the bubbling action, with subsequent adjustments in noise levels. Also, air blowers have been designed for burial in the ground as a noise-reduction measure. This high speed has two side effects: noise and a lot of heat generated within the air blower.Several manufacturers have successfully reduced noise by using sound-absorbing materials around the blowers and by adding mufflers to the intake and/or exhaust ports. But air blowers typically rotate at 18,000 to 20,000 rpm. Water pumps normally operate at 3,450 revolutions per minute. Result: The velocity and pressure of the air flow increase dramatically. The air blower pump shares many features with its water-pumping cousin.Īn electric motor - directly coupled to an impeller (or impellers, in a multistage design) - adds energy to the flow of air passing through the blower as the motor spins. Various valve arrangements allow blowers to serve double duty, feeding an air channel for basic bubbling and acting as a hydrotherapy-jet booster, often referred to as “turbo-charging.” Understanding air blowers In simple terms, think of the air blower as nothing more than an air pump, forcing a thin fluid - air - through a piping system.In a spa, the piping system may lead to an air channel or air injectors installed in the floor, seat or walls or, it might be connected to the hydrotherapy jets in a manner that will enhance their hydro-massaging operation.

But when the focus is on the operation of air blowers, the pneumatics branch - the study of air and other gases - comes into play.įortunately, these two disciplines share many basic concepts. The pool and spa business primarily concerns itself with the hydraulics branch of fluid mechanics, which specializes in the properties of moving water. If the blower doesn’t work, follow this troubleshooting flow chart to identify the problem.