bcdudley

Thank you. I am not sure I would want to go the route of a recessed chamber as it would require a pump for the location it would be in. I will just build soem stairs up to it. Since we are planning on moving, I had not built or purchased stairs for it yet, so we have been using a 5 gallon bucket for the last month to get in and out. I think the wife is getting tired of that approach, so the deck or pavers or whatever will be forthcoming very soon. Thanks for the advice.

Thank you. I will consider that. I have done pavers before and I had considered them for this, but I was not sure they would support the weight. My intention was to put this in temporarily until I am ready to finish out the backyard with a deck, but I may consider using the pavers instead. I had also wanted to sink the tub into the ground about a foot whenever I do the work, but I am concerned about water flooding the electrical pack when it rains hard. I was considering the gravel base as a temporary measure, but I do not know how long it would be for, maybe a month, maybe a couple years. Would it still be a good idea to enclose the bottom with treated plywood, or should this be left open. Thanks, Brian

I have an older model hot tub that I purchased a few months back and put on my patio. I am moving next week and will not have a patio to put it on. It will need to go in the yard. I understand that it needs a flat and solid surface. The bottom of it is open and just 2x4's running here and there. My plan was to put treated and sealed plywood screwed to the bottom of it. Then place it on top of gravel. Would this work? Would closing the bottom cause problems like mold or something else? Can I use gravel and if so, how thick do I need to make it? Thank you.

I figured it out. It was the blower motor shorting out. The guy I got it from is bringing a replacement tomorrow. Now, the control panel on it is not working right. When I push the buttons, nothing happens. It looks like it is vacuum operated. When I look underneath it, I see a couple of clear vinyl hoses coming out of the control panel to the electrical panel that operates all the pumps and stuff. Also, the heater display shows 00. The up and down buttons do not do anything.

I just had a used Aries tub delivered by a friend of mine. He removed it from a house a few months back and it has been sitting under a cover in the back yard since then. It has a few minor leaks, but nothing I am too concerned about there. They all look fairly minor and easy to seal up. When I went to put power to it, nothing. The gfci breaker keeps tripping. It has a built in panel with a built in gfci breaker. If you push in the gfci breaker on the panel, it will run for a second, then shut off. The weird part is when I check the voltage at the connection, one of the legs is only showing 60v. If I check it for 240v, it also shows 60v. If I check the other leg by itself, it shows the full 120v. When I pull the wires, it reads correctly at 120v per leg and 240v combined. My friend is telling me it is being caused by a faulty gfci breaker in the panel. He is recommending bypassing it and putting a box in outside the tub. I had already planned on getting an external gfci disconnect, but I also know that you cannot have 2 of them in a circuit. I am not an electrician, but I am pretty handy and I have done enough electrical work in my life to know how to do basic stuff, including working with 240v. I have just never really worked with hot tubs. I know how to do everything from soldering small components such as caps and resistors on pcb's up to wiring up three phase industrial machines like cnc mills and lathes. I just do not know what to do with stuff like this when it doesn't work. I figure it is better to ask someone who does, especially when it comes to water and electricity. Any recommendations here? Thanks in advance. Edit: The control panel is an Aries A72-E if that makes any difference.