johnnyb60

I don’t want to take a chance on rodents, I read that a mouse can fit through a ½” hole so I made pretty sure the bottom was closed off tight, but I guess the bugs still can get in. I have my entire backyard dug up while doing some landscaping and installing a new sprinkler system so it has not been watered in almost 3 weeks and it’s pretty dry. I do have leaks in the tub and have drained the tub for repairs but the foam is still wet, so I guess the bugs are after the water. I haven’t seen anymore since I sprayed it all down with insecticide and I’m impressed with how effective this stuff is. I’ve started spraying all the way around the house just as a preventive. I still don’t know for sure what kind of bugs they are.

Thanks! I don’t know where else they are coming from. It’s almost all concrete surrounding the tub except for some fine packed shale rock in the back. There is a sheet metal bottom and they do appear to come from underneath, but its new concrete and I can’t imagine they would want to be under there. There are some places under the power panel and pumps that I can’t see where they might be. The surrounding concrete is exposed to the sun all day long and gets too hot to walk on with bare feet so they would have to walk quite a ways to get to the tub. I noticed them only about an hour after sundown and don’t believe they walked too far especially that many at a time so they had to come from the tub. I read about someone repairing leaks and finding mice burrowing into the foam so that's why I’m thinking they may be in the foam. I had the cover panels off for a few day while I was water sealing the wood and there were wasps really interested in the foam so I was rushing to get it closed back up. Anyway I just got back from the store after buying some roach traps and also a spray roach barrier. I’m going to give it a try 1st then I’m calling the exterminator before they get into the house.

I’m not sure what they are but I think they are cockroaches. When I first moved a tub a couple of weeks ago I noticed them running away as I was moving it and killed them by stepping on them. I removed the sides and didn’t see anything inside. I just happen to have a large spray bottle of insecticide for an ant problem and sprayed everything down except the foam. I didn’t know what kind of reaction there would be to the foam so I left it alone. Well the next morning I found about 6 or 7 of the bug’s dead around the tub and thought all was well. So then last night I saw about 20 or 30 tiny bugs perhaps babies of the bigger one I killed earlier eating a piece of dog bone. I think I heard somewhere that that they lay eggs every 7 days or something. Anyway I sprayed and killed them all and then sprayed all the way around the tub. I think they are in the foam and I’m hesitant to spray the foam because I just don't know if it will melt it. We don’t have bugs in the house and a neighbor said that he thought they were some sort of water bug, but i just don't know. I have seen some very large ones around our fish pond and I’m not sure if they are the same. Is this a common problem with spas? I’ve lived here for 20 years and I’ve never even heard of cockroaches in the area.

Well if my spa was working right now, I could find out what it will cost me through our power company. They installed a new meter this summer to the house that is accessible thru the internet. I haven’t tried it yet, but I understand that you first check the KW usage without the spa on and then with it on. Then you can get a good idea of what it’s going to be. Off course it would probably work best when its actually cold and monitor it overnight I guess. Like I said I haven’t tried it so I don’t know exactly how it works, but I remember hearing a story on the news about someone checking his power usage while away from home. He saw that his power usage was way over the top and called his daughter who was at home at the time to check to see what was going on. Then suddenly it dropped to almost nothing and when he got home, he found out that his daughter was throwing a huge party

DANG! Is there any water left? LOL

Well it has been over 5 years since I came up with that figure and I don’t remember now how figured it. My neighbor claims that they pay about $15 extra a month during the winter, but it’s just hard for me to believe that. I don’t know if they mean the whole cost of running the spa or the difference between winter and summer. I found a monthly cost calculator for spas and it was around $30 a month @ 15 cents a KWH in OK. I pay 25 cents a KWH here and I believe the climate is about the same. So anyway it looks like the spa is going to get fixed after all because I just had a new slab put in and I repainted it. My yard has been torn up for a while the concrete was being put in and I’ve made some major changes in the landscaping so want to get that done before making another mess from pulling out all the foam. I don’t plan on staying here in CA for more than 5 years and I’m not taking it with me so a new one is out of the question.

Thanks for the input. Whatever it is, it soaked into the foam because it get’s harder as I dig deeper and I may not be able get it all off without grinding it. My knife isn’t working on this stuff. There is no real support for the hoses and it might be that they were gluing everything to the shell then spraying the foam on before it was completely dry. I haven’t found any more, but I stopped working on it until I can figure out the easiest way to get the foam off the bottom jets. This was on the corner and I did not see any when removing the foam the sides. This is what the sides look like without the foam. Oh and no hard stuff

Not sure where you live johnnyb60 but using the tub in cooler weather, even snow, is one of the most enjoyable times to use it. Of course it varies from spa to spa, utility costs and how much you use the tub, but if you have a well insulated tub the cost for heating is not a major percentage of the cost of ownership. It could be different for you but where I live in Seattle, a mild climate with very reasonable electricty rates, I estimated before purchasing that my cost for electrcity would be about 15% - 25% of my cost of ownership over the life of the tub. I realize tha most people will pay a higher percentage. If you eliminate the winter use you will save $ on heating, but you will have to winterize when you shut it down, decontaminate when you start it up and you increase the liklihood of of problems. I am just a consumer but if that 60 in your name means what I think it might I think that spending a bit for enjoyment would be a good move, unless $ are tight. Great place to do a little stretching too - its good for physical health and mental health. Well my wife will argue with me on this but the last time I looked, it cost me about $200 to $250 per month to operate in the winter. She says it was a lot less and I can’t say for sure because she pays the bills. Our winters are not extremely cold, but it does drop below freezing and once in a while it snows for a day or two. I myself can’t take the shock of jumping out of hot water and running through freezing temps to the house although everybody else around here seems to enjoy it. My wife wants the tub and is willing to compromise on shutting it down in the winter. I admit I defiantly need it myself. I don’t have that many more years before retirement and with the economy today my retirement is going to hurt so I’m trying to save as much as I can now. If I did leave it operating all winter, I definitely need to buy the best cover they make and somehow insulate the bottom. Maybe I can fill it with foam or add 2” ridged foam insulation around the bottom of it for the winter.

I’ve been thinking about this leaking problem when shutting it down and I starting to think that maybe I should not have a spa at all, because there is no way I want to pay for heating this thing through the winter months. I’ve made a solar heater out of ABS pipe for the summer which works pretty good, but it doesn’t work very well in the winter

Oh now that sounds pretty logical and I can accept that. Thanks Bingo. The sealant around the jets is all nice and warm and snugly. Holds a perfect seal. Then you shut it down and let it get cold then warm then cold. Crack, split, deteriorate, leak. If it hasn't been run in 5 years then there is less than 5 years on the pump/heater. It may lest for a few more but the pump seal could go after a few days of operation. Then you might as well replace the pump, and hell if your in there might as well replace the heater. You want mostly trouble free for 5-7 even 10 years you better re-think. You want trouble free for 10-15 even 20 years you better go high end. Dimension One, Marquis, Hot Springs, Sundance in no particular order even though yes that's my preferential order. Thanks! Actually I did have to replace the heater within a couple of years after I bought it because I wanted to move it 2 ft and drained the water. I then turned on the power before it had water in it. At the time I thought there might be enough water in the pipes, but apparently not. I can’t remember now what it was but something else burned out at the same time and I had to send out for it.

Well I like that idea and i wished i would have thought about it. mhaleusa, i have to say that your tilt is a lot worst then mine was. I'm not sure but I believe I was told that mine was 1/4" per ft Update: Actually I just went out and measured mine with a 4ft level and it is 1/4” in 4 ft

I don’t know anything about the speakers, but I did have to remember about the neck jets and not turn on full power without being in it. I have recently after years of use put in another concrete slab that is level and moved the spa. I actually like the new location much better anyway. Plus it gives me a larger patio

I had the exact same problem when I bought mine years ago. Everybody that I originally spoke with advised not to prop one side up, so I just left it alone and pretty soon I didn’t even notice it any more. We always had the cover on or the jets were going and nobody could tell anyway.

Oh now that sounds pretty logical and I can accept that. Thanks

thanks for your input. So I’ve spent a couple of days searching and reviewing 2-3 person spas and the only one that I found that might be close to my needs is the AquaTerra™ Spas Toscano sold at Costco. But then it occurred to me that there is another problem and that is ‘water displacement’. I’m not a huge guy but at 200 lbs, I can displace some water. So if my wife and I both get in at the same time with only 225 USG, a good portion of the water is going to end up on the ground and there goes my savings in heating and chemicals for the water. Well now I’m back to being unsure of what to do. Oh and also the filter is much smaller than my 500 gal tub and I feel better with a lot of filtration.