Hot Tub Leak

Ted

Ted

The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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So we bought a used hot tub, which has proven to not be the smartest move. We knew it had a leak, and it obviously had a number of the jets leaking. In the end I went through and resealed basically all of the jets, but it was still leaking.

This particular hot tub has 4 jets in the center of it by your feet in sort of a half-dome arrangement. The leak is coming somewhere from there. You can't get your hands at the underside of that area - there's a hole just big enough for the two hoses to go through. I tried sealing those jets (repeatedly) from the top.

I'm trying to figure out some way to just seal off the whole thing and I'm not coming up with much. I could try expanding foam in that cavity where the water is leaking out (basically making that cavity hold water with the rest of the hot tub), although I'm not sure how well that would work. Right now, the tub leaks about 1" of water per day (which is what it leaked out when we bought it).

The other option would be something to seal on the top part where the foot vents are. I don't care about using them as the ergonomics aren't very good with them.

And of course, I could also just sell the stupid thing, accept defeat, and buy another one. Call it a lesson learned.
 
Well, I'm not sure how feasible it is for you, but is there a way for you to pour in a liquid fiberglass composite material and seal it all up? We used a product called SeaCast to repair our fiberglass boat transom 5-6 years ago and it is solid as a rock, water-tight, and fills to whatever mold you put it in. It's basically a composite resin reinforced with chopped fiberglass that you mix up in a bucket and pour in. Cures in less than 24-hours. If you could find a similar material, I bet it would work fine.

http://www.transomrepair.net/produc...id=27&osCsid=9aacdd4c63a753511b9466d28d3c71e1
 
SoonerAviator said:
Well, I'm not sure how feasible it is for you, but is there a way for you to pour in a liquid fiberglass composite material and seal it all up? We used a product called SeaCast to repair our fiberglass boat transom 5-6 years ago and it is solid as a rock, water-tight, and fills to whatever mold you put it in. It's basically a composite resin reinforced with chopped fiberglass that you mix up in a bucket and pour in. Cures in less than 24-hours. If you could find a similar material, I bet it would work fine.

http://www.transomrepair.net/produc...id=27&osCsid=9aacdd4c63a753511b9466d28d3c71e1
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Some kind of filler I think sounds like a good idea and more or less what I was thinking. I think the question would be how to get it into the area I'm trying to fill and actually have it fully fill up. One idea would be I could drill some holes in the half-dome to fill it, which might work.
 
As seen on TV....

flexseal-300x250-1.jpg
 
My in laws gave me one. It had a leak. It turned out to be a hose (buried in the foam under the siding) that a rodent had chewed through. We had to take off the siding, dig through the foam and replace the hose (clear plastic, about 3/4"). I didn't buy it, but it cost me about $800 by the time had the leak fixed and the electrical stuff all done to code. It has been great since then, though (about two years). It doesn't leak any water at all now.
 
Shawn said:
As seen on TV....

flexseal-300x250-1.jpg
Click to expand...

A friend of mine suggested that. I've considered it, but thinking about how I'd use it. The foot half dome looks kinda like what's in the below picture:

Foot-Massage-Foot-Dome-From-Jacuzzi-Hot-Tubs.jpg


So I'm wondering how would be best to go about it. I could use the spray stuff (although probably need a bunch of it) to basically make a layer over top of the dome. One thing that I saw in some reviews is that it's not compatible with all plastics.
 
Shawn said:
Hey, if it can float Billy Mayes in a screen door boat...

Don't kill my dream.
Click to expand...


Uhh... Billy snored his way to a heart attack like, 10 years ago. He be pushing up daisies these days.
 
Unit74 said:
Uhh... Billy snored his way to a heart attack like, 10 years ago. He be pushing up daisies these days.
Click to expand...

Well there was cocaine involved in his death but I think that was just a cover to him dying from huffin Flex Seal!...It all makes sense now!
 
this doesn't answer your question but when I bought my house it had a crappy-ish looking hot tub in the back. I got rid of the tub but I yanked some of the pumps out first. I have no idea if they work or not (I think they do) but you can have them if you want them.
 
The trim escutcheons pop off. Probably two dimples in the jet fitting for a special wrench. I use needle nose pliers. The nut will be on the back side. You probably need to replace an O ring, a jet fitting is cracked, or the hose cracked at the connection. Jet parts are cheap on the internet. There must be access from the bottom. Somebody put it together.
 
Hmmmm.... Used hot tub.

I can't help but think that any used hot tub, no matter how much you cleaned it out, would still retain at least one pube from its previous owner(s) lodged within its internal components. A some point, that pube is gonna release into the tub - with you and/or a loved one immersed in that pube soup. I don't think I'd ever open my mouth in a used hot tub.

Queue the theme from Jaws.
 
Why cant you drain it, tip it on its side and access the jets from underneath?
 
Just do like BiRon would do, smash it up and blame it on "a guy"




Then get a new one...
 
tecprotb said:
Why cant you drain it, tip it on its side and access the jets from underneath?
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That would also require cutting a hole (the bottom is solid), but might end up being the best thing to do. I'm also wondering if the plastic itself isn't cracked.
 
Be careful cutting. Probably better to find and release the attach screws. Hot tubs are assemblies of parts. Some degree of disassembly to reach the leak should be expected.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
That would also require cutting a hole (the bottom is solid), but might end up being the best thing to do. I'm also wondering if the plastic itself isn't cracked.
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You should be able to see a crack, my guess is its the seal. Someone installed the jets so they have to be removable. If you can't tip it, then slowly jack it up until you can safely get under it.
I'm putting one buried in my backyard, now you have me worried I might be digging it up some day. lol
 
What I've generally figured is that hot tubs are intended to last somewhere on the order of 10 years, which is about as long as a new buyer will care about. After that, they start leaking, the person sells it and gets a new one. I think that's more or less what happened to me.

I'll see if there's a way that I can jack this up to safely get under it. Given how heavy it is I think I'd probably rather put it on its side rather than get crushed. Or else just sell it as-is since I have enough projects. I bought it advertised with a leak, and can sell it advertising it better than it was but explain what's wrong.

@tecprotb , I like what you're doing, that looks like it'll be a nice setup. In Ohio we had a hot tub (came with the house) built-in to the deck. It was a very nice setup.
 
Handle with care as you tip it up or you may create another leak at one of the side jets. That advice comes from personal experience!
 
Stewartb said:
Handle with care as you tip it up or you may create another leak at one of the side jets. That advice comes from personal experience!
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That's a lot of why I'm thinking we may just want to cut our losses with this one.
 
I don't want to beat a dead horse but for a guy with your skill set fixing a hot tub jet should be pretty simple.
 
What brand is it? We sell to several hot tub manufacturers. If its someone I know I may be able to get some advice, etc.

Also what others have said about jets, hoses etc is true. If you can get to the back of it you should be able to find the source and fix it. Most are built/plumbed upside down with no frame or bottom. Then all that is added on later, so access to that stupid foot massager may be bad unless you start cutting stuff away. Is the bottom wood or plastic?
 
Stewartb said:
I don't want to beat a dead horse but for a guy with your skill set fixing a hot tub jet should be pretty simple.
Click to expand...

I've repaired over 20 of the jets on it so far with 100% success. The issue is the location of these last jets and how much I want to mess with it vs. the other things on the list (like work on the 414, build a tractor for my wife to compete in tractor pulls with, etc.).
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've repaired over 20 of the jets on it so far with 100% success. The issue is the location of these last jets and how much I want to mess with it vs. the other things on the list (like work on the 414, build a tractor for my wife to compete in tractor pulls with, etc.).
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Horse trough, fire box with wood... Redneckiest hot tub ever and you're done. Heh.
 
The FIRST thing I did after buying my runway home at Desert Aire, was to advertize....."FREE HOT TUB.......Come and get it.

It was gone in a day.
 
Used hot tub... hope you ran a ton of bleach through it before you touched it.
 
I put the hot tub up for sale and only got people low-balling. So decided to fix it.

We put the thing on its side (with 5 of us it was easy) and found the bottom had a plastic tub. I took the reciprocating saw and cut a hole in the center where the footwell was. The end result was that the 4 jets were extremely loose, probably that way from the factory, and the sealant was just not doing anything anymore. After undoing the nuts (which were only hand tight), they came out easily. Underside view:

unnamed.jpg


The hot tub side looks like this:
o-footdome.jpg


But the hemisphere is an additional piece of plastic, which is flexible, just held in by the jets being torqued down. As such, there was a gap between this hemisphere and the main hot tub base, which contributed to the leak.

I'm going to reinstall the jets, this time without that plastic hemisphere. Also putting some new hoses in. I have good confidence this will fix the problem, so in the end I'm glad I didn't sell it. Of course, it's also taken around 6 months to fix this and a bunch of frustration, but I'm looking forward to the end result.
 
Congrats! We use ours at least once a week, except when it is really hot out.
 
John221us said:
Congrats! We use ours at least once a week, except when it is really hot out.
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We're getting to the perfect time of year to use it. During the summer it was hot enough to not want to be sitting in a hot tub. :)
 
I had a hot tub last a long time, but I did have to replace many of the compoents: controller, heater, pumps, ozonator (three times), the jets, and the cushions. Never had any problem with the shell itself.
 
I let Mr. 24 Hour do all the upkeep and maintenance to my hot tub. Same with the swimming pool and gym equipment.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I let Mr. 24 Hour do all the upkeep and maintenance to my hot tub. Same with the swimming pool and gym equipment.
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Mine hasn't taken much maintenance. I dump a little chlorine in there once a week for the most part. Every few months I add a little water and then change the water once a year or so (it is only used by my GF and I).
 
(point being I use the jacuzzi at the gym)
 
I thought the thread title was directions on what to do, and the hot tub owner was REALLY mad. :)
 
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