grunt66

I like to get some input from the forum members, we have 2009 J-480 (built Sept. of 2009). Last week I noticed a water leak from the base of the spa and I also believe the waterfall is leaking. The spa only leaks when the right side pump is activated. When the right pump is activated it sends water to the foot dome and both right seats and I believe the rear center jets. The water leak is appearing at the right rear corner from under / bottom of the base of the spa. I have removed 3/4 of the outside panels ( front, left side, left and right rear) starting with left side where the water leak was found. the only moisture I found was in the rear middle under the waterfall. After drying the wet area I closed the valve for the waterfall and turned each pump on separately and that is when it noticed the spa leaking from the base with the right pump activated. i called my local Jacuzzi dealer and they will come out and trouble shoot it for $85.00 an hour. The rep told me it can take from 2-5 hours depending on how much trouble shooting is required. If the foot dome jets (located on the floor of the spa) are leaking the spa will have to be placed on its side to remove the bottom base to access the jets. He will have to call his spa movers to accomplish this at an additional cost of $200-$300. So I am looking at the high side of $725 for troubleshooting and then the cost of fixing the leak. My wife wants a new spa since we have had two pumps, main board, and temp sensor replace during the warranty period. In addition I had to replace the stereo power module once after 2 years of ownership and the stereo stopped working last year and I believe the stereo power module is the culprit again but I never fixed it. Next spa will definely not have a stereo. The dealer that sold us our J480 no longer sells Jacuzzi and now sells Bull Frog. We stopped at another dealer that sells Caldera and Bull Frog spas and my wife likes the Caldera Utopia Cantabria. I am thinking it is going to cost us around $1,000 to fix our J480. My concern is if there is two leaks will others manifest down the road. We where quoted a price of $17,200 for the Caldera Cantabria ( I did not negotiate since I was only looking). Part of me wants to fix the J480 which is the cheapest option but a new spa is enticing.

I have owned my J-480 since Sept of 2009, purchased it new with the stereo. Our stereo starting acting up just outside the warranty. The buttons on the stereo some how started operating different functions on the stereo, the power button still worked as advertised and the volume button did as well. Luckily the remote worked correctly. The power supply stopped working several years ago and I replaced it for under $200. I believe the power supply has stopped working again since the stereo is not receiving any power. I have also had to replace two JBL stereo speakers. Knowing what I know now I will not purchase a stereo when I go to replace the spa in the future. I live in San Diego county and the weather is not harsh and the J-480 has an overhead cover protecting it from the sun and limited rain.

Hi, We have owned our J-480 with the optional stereo system (J-1000) since October of 2009. Today I went to turn on the stereo system and nothing happens. I tried the remote and nothing. Changed the battery in the remote and still nothing. Consulted my owners manual and checked the fuse on the yellow wire and it checked good. Did a reset of the stereo next to the USB and nothing. Since Jacuzzi only warranties the stereo for 1 year I would like to see if there is anything else I can trouble shoot. I also turned the main breaker for the spa off and back on and still no power. Thanks in advance.

Hi, We have owned our J480 since October of 2009 and we live in San Diego County where the temperature never really gets to hot or cold. The only reason I bring this up is because the buttons on the stereo work sometimes and sometimes they do not. The remote control buttons work as advertised and we use that mainly to control the stereo. If we had to do it over we (my wife and I)would not go with the stereo. Within the first week a speaker had to be replaced along with the remote control sensor in the spa. We love out J480 but it has not been without issues. Just over a year the ozonator stopped working and I replaced since it was only covered for the first year along with the stereo. While I was replacing the ozonator I noticed one of the pumps was leaking. A service call fixed that issue since it was covered under warranty but I had to pay for a fuel charge ($60) along with the PC board since the indicators for the heater and ozonator were not displaying on the display panel. Then less then one month the other pump stopped working and a another service call and fuel charge ($60)fixed that problem. It appears service calls for the Jazuzzi require a fuel charge from the repair shop even though the pumps were covered under warranty. The fuel charges can vary from repair shop. I would speak with your dealer to see if they have an in house repair department to see what the fuel charges would be. We love our J480 when it works and hopefully there will be no further issues but not the spa is always 1 degree colder then the set temperature. Good luck with your purchase.

Hi, We have had our J-480 almost 2 years next month. This morning I went out to out spa and I went to activate the jets and only one side of the spa works. When I press the button for the jets on the other side of the spa I hear a buzzing noise and the jets do not come on. I reset the power to the spa and the same thing happens. I have already contacted Jacuzzi and they recommended I call the service center which I have already done and I am waiting for them to call me back since I had to leave a message. Any ideas what the problem may be? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, We have owned our J-480 since October of 2009 and I think our ozonator has stopped working. Since we have owned the J-480 I remember seeing the icon for the ozone system on the display being illuminated. Now I still get the bubbles but no icon. I have read the manual and it states that ozone symbol will be illuminated when the ozone system is being used. It also states the ozone system will be off when the pumps are activated and when the pumps are turned off it will take 5 minutes for the ozone system to turn back on. Also the circulation has to be on for the ozone system to work. Every time until today I remember looking at the display panel upon opening the spa cover and the ozone icon was illuminated. So, I call my dealer and he needs to call the factory tomorrow but he believes the ozone system is not always on but comes on as needed, hence the reason the ozone icon is not illuminated. I like to see if someone could shed some light on ozone system being on all the time or as needed. It just seems weird that I always saw the icon illuminated upon entering the spa or adding chemicals. I even waited five minutes one time after shutting the pumps off and the icon illuminated on the display. Maybe there is a problem with the display or the ozone system has stopped working. Through out the day I have gone outside and checked and the symbol is not illuminated on the display panel. Any input is appreciated.

I am using the Nature 2 stick with the MPS shock in my Jacuzzi J-480. The spa came with a start up kit that included the AquaChek test strips to check the MPS levels. I purchased some nature 2 test strips to keep in reserve for when the AquaChek run out. Here is the issue I tried both test strips while checking the MPS levels and the AquaChek states the levels are good and the Nature 2 states it is low. I use the Taylor test kit for all other readings in the spa. I know that test strips are not that accurate but I know of no other test to check MPS levels. So does anybody have any input on which test strips would be the best ones to follow and purchase in the future. Thanks

I have been following this post since I have been having the same problems with my Jacuzzi J-480. I am using the nature 2 cartridge and per my dealer and the nature 2 instructions it is a low chlorine maintenance cycle. I am using the Taylor K2006 test kit. My ph readings have also been at the 8 range. Using the Taylor acid demand test, I used two drops to get the correct color shade for the ph drop. I added the correct amount of muriatic acid per Taylor table (Table E). The next morning the ph is still at the 8.0 range. I have done this two times already and each time the Acid demand test takes two drops (R-0005) to get the correct ph level and I add the appropriate amount of muriatic acid. I am using MPS (Sea Klear Chlorine Free Shock) as a daily sanitizer. Now the interesting thing is I am using the nature 2 test strips to check the MPS level and it also checks ph and the ph reading on the strip is at the 7.6 level (ok area) when the Talyor test kit is reading 8.0. I have heard the test strips are not accurate but this interesting to say the least. The wife and I like to use the air jets in J-480 while soaking in the tub, I understand by previous posts this might raise the ph level. We have owned the J-480 for one month. The water is crystal clear in clarity. Here is the maintenance cycle that I am using per the dealer and Nature 2: - Using Sea Klear Chlorine free shock (MPS) daily, checked via nature test stips. - Chlorine (Sodium DichloroTriazinetrione Dihydrate) once a week, two teaspoons per dealer, Nature 2 says to add only when water becomes cloudy that I am not following. On a side note my Ta started in the 130ppm and it is down to 70ppm as of this morning and the Ph is still at 8.0. I did the Acid demand test and it took 2 drops to get the correct Ph color shade. Any and all help is appreciated.

Thanks for all the reply's. I received my Taylor K2006 test kit. Here are my initial results: FC: 5.6 CC: .2 TA: 70 ppm CH: 200 ppm PH: 7.6 CYA: 42 ppm It looks as though I have to use 1/2 ounce of Chlorine daily to keep the Chlorine level at 3ppm. The water is clear but after we turn the jets off the water looks cloudy and eventually becomes clear. We are also seeing a white line on the inner shell at the water level.

Wannago, Sorry to hear you had problems with your J-480. We have had ours (J-480) for a little over two weeks now. The delivery of our spa came with no remote for the stereo and no hardware to attach the cover lift to the shell of the spa and one of the stereo speakers did not work. We were off to a rocky start to say the least but we informed our dealer and everything was fixed within a week. I am not impressed with the quality control or who ever inspect the spas before they leave the factory. Once the issues were resolved our spa is great and me and the wife are enjoying it. In our search for a spa, we looked at the Sundance Cameo and the one thing I did not like was that lounger jets that are under your legs would blow cold air. The dealer informed us that air jets were pulling ambient air from outside the spa. There was a noticeable difference in the temperature of the air jets on my legs when I wet tested the spa. I was upset with the delivery of our spa after spending over 10K on it but the dealer / owner fixed the issue in a timely manner and even gave me his personal cell number if any other issues arose.

Thanks for the info Firemedic. I called my dealer and he told me to add the shock after we get out of the spa. I told the dealer that the shock container had weekly on the front and the chlorine container had daily on the front. He told me that chlorine should be used weekly and shock every time we use it. On the back of the shock container it states to use 4 ounces for 375+ gallons and since the J-480 holds 570 gallons I asked him if I should use the 4 ounces and he stated to use no more then 2 ounces. I started to look for the chemicals (Spa Care Solutions) on line since the dealers is just over 50 miles away and it is not convenient for me to drive 100 miles round trip just to buy chemicals. I can not locate the Shock Oxidizer all I can find is Shock Treatment by Spa Care Solutions. I am wondering if they are both the same. Not much information when I google the company.

We have owned our Jacuzzi J-480 for little over a week now and me and the wife are enjoying it. They gave us a chemical start up kit that consisted of: Spa Care Solutions (Chlorinating Granules Sanitizer, Shock Oxidizer, ph & Alkalinity Increase) Nature 2 spa cartridge, and Aquachek test strips. My wife was at home (I was at work) during the delivery of the spa. For the first couple of days we kept testing the water with the strips and everything was in the OK area ( monopersulfate, pH, and total Akalinity) and the water is clear and we added no chemicals. Then my wife contacted the dealer and he said to add the shock oxidizer (potassium peroxymonosulfate) into the spa since we were using it twice a day for about 30 minutes. After the shock was added (4 ounces) we entered the spa later that evening and the next day my wife had little red itchy bumps on her skin were her bathing suit was at. I also had little red bumps on my skin were my bathing trunks were at. The rest of my skin that was exposed during the soaking was clear. I had about 6 bumps but my wife had numerous bumps. We keep the temp on the spa at 101. I am thinking we had a reaction to shock oxidizer since there were no problems when we just added the chlorine. I spoke with a spa tech and he told me to just add chlorine after we use the spa. I am considering buying the Taylor K-2006 chemical test kit. Is there a different type of shock that does not contain MDS that I should look at? Our spa has the ionic/ozone sanitation system. Does it sound right to just add chlorine after each use. Thanks in advance.

Our Jacuzzi J-480 arrived last week and we love it. I have no information on the other two hot tubs but we considered Hot Springs (Vista) and the Sundance (Cameo) and after wet testing each the Jacuzzi came out on top for us. Great jets and comfort. Wet testing each tub is imperative before purchasing good luck.

We just purchased a jacuzzi hot tub. We were also considering Hot Springs. The deal breaker was the wet test of the hot tubs we were considering. Try to wet test each tub you are considering. At least for us, sitting in a dry tub told us nothing. We had been looking since June of 2009 an we finally found a dealer that had the Jacuzzi and Hot Spring we were considering at the beginning of September. Good luck in your decision.

I searched the forums and visited many dealers in San Diego and Orange County California since June of this year in our search for our first hot tub. Sitting in a dry hot is different then sitting in a hot tub that is full of water. My wife floats and I sink when we are in water. After a exhaustive search we narrowed it down to the Hot Spring Vista and Jacuzzi J-480. Sitting in both hot tubs with no water they felt equal. Then we finally found a dealer with both hot tubs filled with water. The proof for us was in the wet testing. I am 5'10" tall and my wife is 5'4" tall. My wife could only use two of the seats in the Vista and I had a hard time staying in place while laying in the lounger. Maybe it was my height. In the J-480 everything was just right for us. All the research I did placed the Hot Spring line up at the top of my list. If my decision was based upon the information that I had found on the Internet and sitting in hot tun with no water I would have purchased the Hot Spring Vista no questions asked. The biggest obstacle that I had was getting my wife to wet test the hot tubs in the store. I would have to say that it is imperative that you wet test any of the hot tubs that you are considering. Also call in advance and they will set the temperature to your desired setting. We wet tested one hot tub and the temperature was set at 104 degrees and it was to hot to sit in for more then 5 minutes. I wish you the best of luck.