JOEY_G

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I will go to the hot tub store and see if they carry dow 111 or an equivilent, and it they don't, I'm finding a new hot tub store!

Get some majilube for the rubber gasket. Clean all mating surfaces. Go hand tight to start. Then use a strap wrench to get a little more until it stops leaking. Majilube? Where is it sold? I can't find a product description or web page on the web. Also, I found a gasket the same size that is called a "ribbed gasket". It is like a molded combo of a flat gasket and a o-ring. Sounds like a good way to use an o-ring without a gasket. Might try that too.

I just read at spadepot never to use a wrench on hot tub unions. Maybe I will not use one in the future...

Dave, I am not sure how your Caldera fits in the pump area, but mine is about 15 degrees off with no force on the flexible plumbing. If I had the fitting snug, it would allow the solicone to cure with a noticable "ramp" shape, since the pressure is higher at the back due to the alignment. I can try it like that, with the fitting mostly tight, and then wrench it after a 12-18 hour cure... maybe that will work. I will be shopping for some waterproof RTV tonight...

One is brand new, the other has been cleaned.

I went to the local spa store and I got a flat gasket (it matched the size of the flange exactly, and there was no o-ring groove). It still leaks, but a lot less. Any ideas? Call the manufacturer and try to get the original part? Replace the 90 degree elbow and flange to onw with an o-ring? Where do I get one?

Thanks. I will probably be up and running tonight!

I do not know about code, but from a safety standpoint, no. Everything downstream from a GFCI is GFCI protected. No need to add another. EDIT: I see you joined this morning. Welcome to the forums! : )

Hmm. I looked for one during disassembly and didn't find one. I will check again when I take it apart again. Is the groove on the bottom or top of the flange (in the sketch I posted)? thanks

Son of a !@#*()$&. I didn't think they looked like tapered threads. I am VERY unhappy with the local hot tub store. He said they use teflon tape, not any other method of sealing. Last time I go there. He is clearly a salesman and nothing more. So please enlighten me, does the o-ring or ribbed gasket go in between the pump fitting and the PVC flange (betweek the red and black)? That is where I would assume it goes. Or does it go under the PVC nut on top of the flange (between blue and red). If it goes where I think it does, it would increase the height of the assembly that the nut threads onto and allow more pressure on the nut/flange interface before the threads bottom out. Possibly preventing a leak between the PVC flange and nut. hmmm.... Thank you very much for your very prompt and informative reply. I appreciate your help.

Hey everyone, I had to replace a cracked pump housing on my ~2000 Caldera spa. The previous owners were NOT good at any kind of maintenance and I think they may have somehow ruined the PVC fitting on the pump. I installed a brand new aquaflow wet end, and reinstalled the 2" PVC flange fitting with 3 wraps of teflon tape on the male threads. I put it reasonably tight with a pipe wrench and it leaked out just about everywhere it could have. So I removed it, cleaned and dried everything, and put 6-8 wraps on the male threads, and installed the nut to the highest torque I was comfortable putting on plastic parts. It still leaked between the nut and the pvc pipe, but not nearly as much as before. There is purple residue (from the PVC cement stuff) in many places on the fitting, but it doesn't really look like it was glued on before, and it wasn't too hard to get off. I think it could have been from the original assembly of the piping in the system, but part of me is afraid the previous owner roughed up the PVC flange sealsurface with glue. Am I missing a step in the installation? I am going to cut the fitting off and replace it if I can't figure this out... Or just use solid PVC fittings that cement together. I am so sick of leaks. Images below: A similar pump, the white fitting on top is the one leaking: The sketch below shows the cross section of this fitting. the black is the pump (male threads), the blue is the flange nut (female threads) and the red is the PVC flange.

Well the previous owner's did a lot of things they should have never done. I don't doubt that they put a few tubes of silicone somewhere.

I wish I could be more help, I am new to this myself. My local dealer sells and recommends Baquaspa as well. I too have read mixed reviews, but have decided to try them out. If they don't work I will be going with bromine. I don't have enough experiece to comment on your build up issue. My used tub has a lot. I am also looking for a solution.

Hey everyone! I bought a house this year and it came with a Caldera Spa. I think it may be an Olympic. I don't what the old owners used for chemicals. The spa has an ozonator, and otherwize looks original. It also has a cracked pump housing, and had the unions to the heater loose. I have fixed the issues (save the motor housing), and I ran the tub after filling it with water. TONS of huge worm-flake shaped chunks came out of the jets. They are soft and somewhat rubbery, like way overcooked pasta. They are white and tan in color, and can be close to an inch long. they are not more than .25 inches wide, and are pretty thin. My best guess is that this is a growth from the lining of every piece of plumbing in the tub, and I have just released it from a long slumber (this stuff is suspended in moving water BTW, but 98% of it sinks when in stagnant water). This house was uninhabited for a year or more, and the tub was drained from when I first saw it. When I say drained, I mean there was less than 40 gallons in it. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the water left in the spa when we bought the house. Just a few leaves, worms, slugs, a small amount of suspended dark dirt and 2 frogs. We installed a new filter and siphoned as much of the white crap out as possible. Our plan was to run Baquaspa chemicals despite the mixed reviews. There are mild chemical odor sensativity issues with my partner, which is the only thing keeping us away from Bromine. Please tell me what these huge flakey things are if you can! And if they will plague me until I attack the source somehow... Thanks!