shovelhd

What about the Jacuzzi shell do you consider "stupid"?

It's been well over a week since the leak was repaired. This morning, I was replacing the cover clips, so I had a chance to pull the corner panel to take a look at the leak area. All is well, no water inside the belly pan or outside. The foam on the bottom is still damp, and I was told that it would take a long time to dry out completely.

This is what they used to move my tub. http://www.spadolly.com/products/spatrailer.htm

I get my Jacuzzi parts at LPS Bath and Spa. http://www.lpsbathandspa.com/jpssensors.html The guy that runs the place is very helpful. There are instructions here on how to test your temp sensor and how to replace it. Most of the time you can chat with him but he's on vacation for a bit. Good luck.

I can't give you any impression on a Coyote spa as I've never been in one. The C25 looks like a basic 7' lounger spa. I bought a used spa from Craigslist recently which you can use for comparison. 2005 Jacuzzi J345: http://www.jacuzzihottubs.com/j-300/j-345.html Jacuzzi is well known as one of the best brands available. This spa is a 2005 model that was sold as a leftover in 2006. It was still under warranty when I bought it for $1800. I should have had the previous owner fix any known problems before taking posession, but I didn't. It wound up needing about $200 worth of easily replaceable parts. I paid $250 to have a Jacuzzi dealer move it. Then it sprung a leak in the first week, probably due to the move. This cost me $175 to fix. So I am into this spa for $2425.00. If I were you, I would focus on one of the major brands, such as Jacuzzi, Sundance, Hot Spring, Dimension One, Arctic and Marquis. Find out which brands have dealers nearby so that you will not have to pay for travel charges if it needs repair. Good luck.

I love my Jacuzzi. That is all.

If it is under warranty, by all means have a dealer fix it. It's an ugly job. I bought a used Jacuzzi and had it moved, and it sprung a leak at one of the jets. I used a 3/16" wooden dowel to probe the foam until wet foam was found. If the Sundance is like my Jacuzzi, there is heavy brown paper on the outside of the foam. The paper never got wet because the leak runs along the outside of the spa shell, behind the foam and paper. You won't see it unless you probe the foam. Probe at each seat near the top, middle, and bottom of the jet group. If one of them is leaking, the dowel will be wet. If you are lucky like I was, and a jet is leaking, then dig out the foam with your hands until the back of the jet is exposed. If you see drips, you've found it. I also dug out the rest of the jets in that seat to make sure I didn't miss a second problem. I chose to have a dealer replace the jet, but if it happened again, I'd do it myself. Once the jet was fixed, I used Great Stuff Windows and Doors (blue can) to replace the foam, and covered it with 5 mil plastic. If the leak is in the shell or in a fitting underneath the shell, it's a much harder job. I'm sure Roger has plenty of stories about those kinds of leaks. Good luck.

Your spa pack may have a jumper that can be set to whatever your spa panel can provide (40A, 50A, 60A). I have a three pump Jacuzzi and it needs a 60A panel to run all three pumps and the heater at the same time. Ask yourself this question. Do you think you will ever want to increase the water temp while you are soaking? If so, spend the money now on whatever panel your spa needs to allow the heater to run with the pumps. I keep our tub at 100 degrees for the family but I like it at 103. I can crank it up after they're done and be at 103 within 20 minutes while I'm enjoying the soak.

I would download the Victory Extreme manual and see how close it really is to your spa. I often use the diverters to tone down the massage in a particular seat. That should be a pretty standard feature of any spa with diverters. In the manual there should be a diagram showing what the diverters do.

The spa tech came by today to replace the jet that was leaking. They verified the leak, pumped the spa down, replaced the jet, put the water back, and checked for leaks. They come by again tomorrow to foam it back up. So far, so good, and I'm $210 poorer. Now I need to watch closely over the next several weeks to make sure that's the end of it.

I would try Spa Flush straight out of the bottle on a rag.

I'm happy for you Raeven. I also bought a used spa (Jacuzzi J345) after checking it over very carefully. A few days after the first fill I noticed the water level dropping too fast to be normal. It was wet around one corner of the spa as well. During the checkout, I pulled the main cover panel and looked for water, but did not see any. When I checked it at home, I saw a little water on the left side. I started pulling panels and noticed water collecting in the left rear corner. The foam was soaked at the bottom. Fearing the worst, an underside leak, I called the Jacuzzi dealer who moved the spa for me. They were very helpful. They told me to pull all of the panels and use a wooden dowel to probe the backside of the shell for water. Sure enough, the rear corner had water up fairly high, too high for an underside leak. I cut the paper away and started digging the wet foam out, and found the main leak. One of the PowerPro MX jets was leaking where it contacts the shell. The leak rate seems to coincide with what I was seeing topside. I checked the other two MX jets in the area and they were dry. I'm not up for pulling the jet and fixing it, so I will leave this to the dealer. Hopefully, this is the extent of it. Wish me luck. Chris

I'm using the waterbear bromine ritual, which is similar to Nitro's. Just took the first soak this afternoon. The chlorine is high because I could not get all of the residual superchlorinated water out after the flush and decontamination. I tried 4 TBSP. of hydrogen peroxide but that didn't budge it. I figure a bit of bather load will help bring it down. Then the bromine and ozone should kick in. I do not have the floater in yet. All in all it's a great tub for what I've got into it.

I recently purchased a 3 year old Jacuzzi J-345 and I'm about to fill it for the first time. The filters were a month old, and I've cleaned them well so they look new. I'm doing a full decontamination this weekend. I've owned a spa in the past but after reading all the good stuff here I realized how lucky I was to do such a bad job and still have an enjoyable spa experience. My question is about water balance. I tested my tap (well) water out of the hose this evening using a basic reagent test kit: TA: 90 pH: 7.5 TH: 140 From what I have read, this seems pretty close to ideal. Should I adjust anything or just fill it and add bromine starter? I bought a prefilter but did not use it for the test. Should I still use it? Could it affect the water balance? What if I wanted to add borax? Would there be any benefit for my water? Thanks for your help.

So did you fire it up yet? I am waiting for the parts from LPS and some starter chems and a prefilter from Spa Depot. I got a nice deal on a slide-under handrail on eBay. I haven't heard back from the electrician yet but he hasn't been in the neighborhood, either. Must be on vacation. I don't need him right away anyway. I will be making a custom single step out o some composite scrap I have left over from the deck. If I get lucky it will be up and running in a week or so.

The best place is up to you. I am using LPS Bath and Spa. www.lpsbathandspa.com. They stock OEM Jacuzzi parts. My house used to have 100A service. I had it updated to 200A service and a 60A DP breaker installed for the spa panel. The ozonator should emit bubbles from the nozzle, which I believe is in the filter compartment. Good luck.

Must be the water . I also purchased a used 2006 Jacuzzi J-345 last week from a private seller. It has some staining on the outside of the cabinet, and one broken jet. It needs new pillows and pillow holders. I wet tested it before I bought it, so for the price I paid ($1800) it was worth the hassle. I contracted with my local Jacuzzi dealer to move the spa. It was at a house about 45 minutes away. They charge a flat rate of $125/hr. to move and place a spa using three men. How long it will take depends a whole lot on each location. My situation was easy-out and easy-in, so it took two hours and 10 minutes start to finish, although they only charged me for two hours. They looked the spa over, and showed me how to replace the broken jet. They took an extra few minutes to get it placed exactly where I wanted it. They were all nice and professional, so I gave them each a cold drink and a $20 tip. They used a special trailer called a Spa Dolly, so they hardly had to lift it at all. I had my electric service updated to support a hot tub, and I prepaid for the 60A panel, to be installed once I have a tub. If you have a 60A panel, you can run the heater and both pumps on high at the same time. The panel should be placed out of reach of anyone that could touch the tub water. I think the NEC says 5 feet but I'm not sure. I should have it wired up this week if we get a break in the weather. My tub came with a good 50A panel, which I will sell to recoup some of the cost. I had a hot tub in my last house, inside a walled-in room off the master bedroom. I used bromine and changed the water every two months. I never shocked it,and I never had any creepy crawly issues, but that was then and this is now, and with a CD ozonator, I want to start fresh with the sanitizer routine. There are two people on this forum who can help. Nitro is the chlorine guy, and waterbear is the bromine guy. I've read practically everything each has written on the subject, and I encourage you to take the time to become familiar with their methods, pick one, get the appropriate test kit, and give it a shot. I've decided to try the Nitro method first, because it's easier to go from chlorine to bromine than the other way around. Before I set foot in this tub, I am going to follow Nitro's decontamination routine, and purchase a second set of filters. The ones that came with the tub are 3 months old but I want to sanitize them before using as well. Good luck and enjoy your spa.