plannersteve

Thanks for the reply. I hope it is that simple.

This morning I found my tub nearly empty. Investigated and found a leaking connection to the spa heater. When I disassembled, the gasket between heater and tail piece on the piping had cracked. I attached a picture of the gaskets I removed. It appears that the gasket material is failing. I've read other posts where the material on gaskets is residue from oils and it appears some of the material on these gaskets might be that. But the gasket material is clearly eroded and softened as well. I replaced them both, but my bigger concern is all the other harder to replace gaskets that might be on their way to failure. I use the dichlor then bleach method. Starting point is around 110 ppm Ca Hardness and 80 TA. 50 ppm Borate as well. pH is kept around 7.5 with frequent testing. Use MPS shock every 10 days or so. Hot tub gets daily use by one person, me. The tub water gets replaced 3 times per year. The hot tub (Nordic Retreat MS) is closing in on 6 years in operation. Is there something I need to consider with tub chemistry to prevent this? Or should I be using some spa flush method to remove the residue? Could that residue weaken the gasket material? Thanks, Steve

Thanks for the response. The heater was two years old. The interior had no scale and the element looked like new (compared to the one I replaced it with). I would say that it did look discolored on the interior at the point where the grounding bolt is attached.

OK, did I break some unspoken rule with this post? Certainly some of you have seen a heater failure before? I'm looking for help so I don't repeat this if it is something I am doing wrong. I promise I won't call you as a witness in my dispute with my hot tub manufacturer.😁 Thank you!

I have just had a heater failure. It trips the GFI and when disconnected the tub pump runs. There is a build up of which crystalline material around one of the electrical connections and a support bolt. See picture. This white build up is new since I last changed water about a month ago, or at least there was none on floor below heater. While it appears that there was some leakage that formed this deposit under the heater as well, it was not leaking when I opened it. The brown material around the electrical connection has been there for at least a year. I'm using the Dichlor/Bleach method to sanitize my water and have been extremely happy with the results. I've got a Taylor test kit and routinely check pH and free chlorine. pH is almost always around 7.4 to 7.6, although I've had occasional episodes where pH might have gone high or low for a day or two. I usually test pH about 3 or 4 times per week. I maintain free chlorine around 2 ppm, maybe a bit lower. I add calcium increaser to get my CH up to 150-160 at start. I adjust to get TA to 80-90. Usually I don't have to add anything, that is where it falls out after increasing CH. My hot tub supplier told me that my warranty claim will likely be denied because this appears to be a chemistry problem. Whatever, I just want to get to the bottom of what happened so I'm not facing this again in a year. Any thoughts as to what causes this kind of failure appreciated. Also, what should I be looking for when I take this heater out? Should I be concerned that my pump is also at risk? Thanks.