Ariel tub floor jets drain water when they are off?

[42Dodgers]

I have a 71 inch Ariel jetted tub. Whenever water is in the tub and the jets are off I hear a slow draining noise even though the plug is closed and no water is draining directly out of the tub drain. I have tested it (and also used a rubber drain stopper) and found that water very slowly drains out of the 8 jets located on the floor of the tub whenever there is water in the tub and the jets are off. This draining noise is is somewhat loud and irritating and the 80 gallon tub will drain completely in about 2 hours, even though the drain is plugged, except for the small area around the drain plug where water can't escape. When trying to listen to the tubs sound system the constant slow draining noise makes it difficult. I contacted Ariel and they can not recommend a single person in my area who could diagnose and fix this issue. Plumbers tell me they don't work on jetted tubs, and Pool company's tell me they only repair hot tubs. This metro area has 2 million residents! Any recommendations?

 

[Breplum]

to my general vast knowledge I've never seen jetted tub with the jet tubing connected to a drain. So if your tub is draining, I think it is ONLY via the drain itself. Jets and their pumped lines are NEVER connected to the plumbing drains.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jeff H Young]

agree those pipes only connect to the tub and not the drain system. the piping could leak around the tub but id expect that 80 gallons of water would appear somewhere and the tub couldnt leak below the lowest port . So look at the drain stopper

 

[42Dodgers]

You can pour a cup of water right on top of the plugged drain . A day later the full cup will still be there. The ONLY water that leaks out of the tub is that which drains down through the jet spout openings. I have tested numerous drain plugs and NO water drains past them when the drain is plugged. For some reason most plumbers seem to have very little experience working with jetted bathtubs.

 

[42Dodgers]

Just to be sure...I put a new rubber drain stopper in the tub, and covered the entire drain area including the plug with 1/2 inch of plumbers putty. An hour and a half later (I realize that plumbers putty takes several hours to fully set) I ran water into the tub and heard the exact same draining noise and watched the water level slowly drop. Your ideas make sense logically, and I understand that fiberglass tub drain seals do eventually fail, however I am absolutely certain that the water leaving my tub is not breaching the drain stopper or drain seal.

 

[Jeff H Young]

jetted piping leaking or the pump or unions and all the water is leaking into the ground ? its a long shot but based on your info thats the issue
jetted tubs have a panel to acces the pump look inside

 

[Breplum]

i will guarantee that the jet tubes don't connect to sewer. If you can't see where, how would a plumber ?
There is nothing for a plumber to work on except changing out a pump. Everything else are made and part of the tub maker's side and not typically available except online. Sure we can fix PVC, but so can any handyman. Lack of access just not worth paying us $250./hr to tinker.

 

[Jeff H Young]

right if the tubes leak it goes on the ground vegas is a desert presumeably sand soaks it up

 

[42Dodgers]

i will guarantee that the jet tubes don't connect to sewer. If you can't see where, how would a plumber ?
There is nothing for a plumber to work on except changing out a pump. Everything else are made and part of the tub maker's side and not typically available except online. Sure we can fix PVC, but so can any handyman. Lack of access just not worth paying us $250./hr to tinker.

Today I had a plumber come by and look at my tub. He had to cut another hole through my wall to view the drain. He said that the jets are connected to the drain (despite your guarantee that they are not!) He took several pictures and a video showing the connection between the drain and the jets. We ran water in the tub while he was here and there is absolutely ZERO evidence of any water leaking out into the desert sand.... however water was draining very slowly out of the jets when the drain was plugged. Unfortunately he said he would have to tear up my wall and new LVP floor in order to repair this Drain-Jets connection. The other access panel is on the motor/pump side of the tub. Sorry the video that clearly shows the Drain-Jets connection says that the file is too large for the server to process.

 

[Jeff H Young]

All bath tubs have a drain and overflow the black pipe goes to the ptrap the white connecting to the black is part of the drain . I see no evedence of the jets (which are 100 percent of the time indepedent of the drain ) being interconnected but yours I guess is the first. further Ive never heard of a drain -jet there is a drain and there are jets pressure and suction piping . thats just my experiance probebly installed around 100 I dont build them Ive fixed some leaks (a few) but nothing remotely close to what you are saying. the abs work with a vent 90 a bit hokey but I wish you would point out where the jets connect to the black pipe.
the brass pieces with a cable operate the drain something must be wrong there

 

[42Dodgers]

All bath tubs have a drain and overflow the black pipe goes to the ptrap the white connecting to the black is part of the drain . I see no evedence of the jets (which are 100 percent of the time indepedent of the drain ) being interconnected but yours I guess is the first. further Ive never heard of a drain -jet there is a drain and there are jets pressure and suction piping . thats just my experiance probebly installed around 100 I dont build them Ive fixed some leaks (a few) but nothing remotely close to what you are saying. the abs work with a vent 90 a bit hokey but I wish you would point out where the jets connect to the black pipe.
the brass pieces with a cable operate the drain something must be wrong there

 

[42Dodgers]

Water leaves the tub via the jets, as stated multiple times. This thread won't accept the video, post your email address if you want to see the video, bathtub water goes through the jets and out the drain, NO leakage! A licensed plumber who understands jetted tubs took the video.

 

[Reach4]

Use "conversations" messaging, envelope icon, if you want to send an email address.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Im a licenced plumber who understands jetted tubs . and so is Breplumb. Yes you said it multiple times but it still makes no sence . Your jets go straight down into the drain evedently downstream of the stopper assembly? . I just want you to know there is a pump that draws water through big round cover with holes in it in your tub then goes through a pump and gets blasted back in through the jets inside the tub. thats the end of the story normaly, and the tub is pre plumbed at a factory So us plumbers dont touch any of that.
Sorry for your nightmare but I cant see anyreason such a screw up would occur . Id like to see the video but dont feel real comfortrable sharing that on the site a bit paranoid I guess.
maybe put your video on you tube still shots were bad too I did notice an improper fitting the black vent 90 is wrong under there but not causing issue it might prevent cleaning out easily in event of blockage

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

You can post the video to YouTube and post a link to this thread. Easiest way to share it.

 

[42Dodgers]

Problem solved? This was part of the response I got back from the Tub manufacturer:
"Thank you for your patience and business. Please note there is a jet purging system so stagnant water does not sit inside the jets, which has a humming noise. I also included drain tightening videos that may assist. Please keep us posted."
I tightened a bolt (which was inside the drain and did not even know of its existence) and now I no longer hear the draining noise when water is inside the tub, and see no evidence of water leaving the tub while the drain is plugged.
I notice that both this tub and a shower drain in a different bathroom have drains that make sort of loud draining sounds for about 5 minutes after water has completely left the tub and shower respectively, this is not a issue since it only occurs after their use has finished. I had both of those drains moved when the bathrooms were enlarged and renovated a couple of years ago and wonder if this may have contributed to the noise? I don't remember if it existed before the renovations.

 

[Jeff H Young]

they generally are built to drain back into the tub itself. because it had jetts in the floor something Ive never seen and didnt catch in the title or other info even though it was there in the info . of cource it needs to drain out all other jetted tubs drain back into the tub and dont hold dirty water. A man with jetted tub background Im suprised red flags didnt go up seeing jets coming up out the floor . what was that guys suggested repair lol?
the noise i think is just the sound abs makes when drops make sound transmission my shower does it too ..

 

[42Dodgers]

Since I tightened the drain nut and the 8 tub floor jets no water drains out of the floor jets and no noise is audible when water covers the jets and they are off. However as soon as the water level in the tub reaches the level of the intake valve I hear the same old loud noise (drip drip drip drip swoosh) about every 3 or 4 seconds. Clearly water is entering the intake valve even when the jets are off. After removing the intake cover, there is a triangular shaped part made of hard plastic that I cannot remove. I have a video of a guy removing it with some sort of torque wrench that has adjustable prongs on the end of it but I can't seem to get the name of this tool or find one. Any suggestions? The video is on Youtube