Spa jet incorporating a rotating nozzle having a water lubricated bearing

A spa jet for delivering water from an upstream source of water under pressure to the interior of a spa, the spa jet comprising:

• a housing having an inlet tube communicating with the source of water and a chamber wall defining a chamber extending concentrically downstream from said inlet tube and having a relatively enlarged downstream end and defining an axis;
• an outer bearing fixedly mounted within said chamber wall adjacent its downstream end, said outer bearing having an internal cylindrical surface concentric with said axis and a central passage through which water from said inlet tube can pass;
• annular upstream and downstream end walls positioned at axially opposite ends of said cylindrical surface extending radially inward relative thereto;
• an inner bearing mounted for concentric rotation within said outer bearing, said inner bearing having a cylindrical surface facing toward and parallel to the said cylindrical surface and end surfaces facing said end walls of said outer bearing, said facing surfaces having sufficient spacing between them to define an annular bearing flow passage;
• inlet and outlet flow passages extending between said bearing flow passage and said central passage and between said bearing flow passage and the interior of the spa, respectively;
• and
• a rotor mounted in said inner bearing projecting axially downstream, said rotor having at least one nozzle passage which receives water from said central passage and directs it as a water jet into the spa thereby rotating said inner bearing within said outer bearing, wherein water flow through at least a portion of said bearing flow passage acts on said upstream and downstream end surfaces to urge said end surfaces out of contact at said upstream end and into contact at said downstream end.