I have a 99 Sundance Rio, just got it at the beginning of the summer. Its been running like a champ since then...however this past weekend when we went to use it we discovered the Air doesn't work any more. All the jets work normally, kicking out the mixture of air and water...also, air can be seen coming out the circulation vent and water is heating just fine.

Anyone have any ideas on causing the issue with the air/bubble vents or what I should check out?

Thanks in advance for any help or insight.

Does the spa have an air blower (makes a whining noise), ie: you press a button to activate it? If so this could be faulty. If you are referring to the air controls that make the jets more/less powerful by mixing air with the water, it could be a blockage here, or faulty mechanism.

The control panel on this spa has a button for jets and a button for air. Both appear to have 2 levels of settings, as the indicator light above each button can change from off to red to green. The jets work as expected...off, level 1 and level 2, with level 2 being stronger and more air mixed in. The air indicator on the control panel changes from off to red to green when you push it, however the air vents in the bottom of the tub and various locations in the seats don't have any air coming out of them, regardless of the level they are changed to on the control panel.

Last night I removed the skirt on the control panel side of the tub and there I see 2 pumps...the larger one kicks on when the jets are activated. Judging from this and the connection to the control board, it appears the smaller pump is for air. The tubes leading to and from the smaller pump are filled with water...not sure if this is normal or not...I'm not familiar or knowledgeable about spa technology. Is the smaller pump I'm describing perhaps the blower you described in your response...I do remember hearing a whining noise when the air was activated...or is there another blower/pump that I haven't located yet?

I think we have our problem, if its the Air button on the touchpad that no-longer works.

Blowers look like this:

This simply blows air up a pipe into a manifold that splits into smaller pipes or an air loop that the bubbles come out of.

As the blower is below the water level there is an anti-siphon device and/or non-return valve fitted to prevent water coming back down the blower line and flooding it.

So I suspect that the blower is flooded which can happen sometimes, especially if the water level gets excessivly high during use.

You can normally remove the blower quite easily, dry it out, then fire it up while disconnected from the pipe to clear it out properly. You can then reconnect and it should work, but you need to address the flooding issue first or it'll just happen again.

However, if this is the case, I'm surprised your breaker didnt trip when u tried to turn it on..?

Let me know if u think its a blower...

It is the air button on the control panel which no longer works. This past weekend quite a few adult got in the tub and I noticed the water level was very high...near the top of the tub...this would explain the water getting into the blower, correct. I'll take a look at this again tonight...prior to disassembling anything though I may post some pictures with some mark up of where there is water. I appreciate the quick response and great insight...I actually should have the pictures posted in about an hour.

Last night, with the help of a neighbor, I discovered what I thought was the blower actually wasn't. We located the blower and after removing it to test it we found the motor to be dead. Working on locating a blower motor this morning, unfortunately the one closest to me doesn't open for another 45 minutes. From the pricing I've found online it looks like this is going to be in the $75 - $115 range.

No probs.

Provided the apperture for the air exit hole is the same, equal or less powerful, and same power connector type, you should be able to use any make of blower to fix ur tub if ur having trouble finding spares.

Picked up the new blower and within 20 minutes I had it installed and everything back together...running like a champ again. Thanks for the help Spa World, greatly appreciated.