alaska_guy

It's been a while since my last update. The tub is working great and I enjoy using it quite often, especially in the winter months.

White is also more than likely due to mineral buildup/scale. If you are not using a water purifier/filter on your garden hose when filling up the tub I would look into doing that. They are cheap and reusable ($13).

What you are doing sounds like it may work... No way is it to code or safe. You should invest in the correct equipment. Spend a few minutes watching the video below. Using the method below with your 110v tub would be as easy as connecting to the 15a breaker.

Lets keep things simple. 220v = Two wires, Black and Red. 110v on the Black, 110v on the Red. To convert or move to a 110v circuit you simply only use either the black or the red on the circuit breaker. IE: 15A circuit requires a black and a white or a red and a white. The grounds always go to ground. If you had two 15a or 20a circuits you would have the following. Red wire would go into the circuit breaker and the white wire would tie to the GFCI pigtail off that breaker. (Usually the GFCI breakers have a white pigtail and that ties to the neutral bus bar). Black wire would go into the circuit breaker and the white would tie to the GFCI pigtail off that breaker. (Usually the GFCI breakers have a white pigtail and that ties to the neutral bus bar). The ground wire goes to the ground bus bar. By code any wet location is required to be GFCI protected. So you need your new breakers to be GFCI type. Hopefully that helps, I am a former electrician.

Sounds like the main board is bad. 120v controls the pumps, lights and control panel. The 220v controls the heater. I would pony up and contact a dealer and get the part ordered ASAP. We just got our first snow here and if the tub went cold for whatever reason the tub would be worthless come spring.

Controls are run off 120v Here is a video I did explaining how to test your control panel and jets on a Hot Springs. My understanding is that the heater element is ran using the 240v.

Usually most tubs require a 50amp double pull breaker from your existing inside panel. 6 gauge wire is usually used to feed this breaker and wired to run to your hot tub. This then feeds a disconnect box on the outside of your house. Depending how your tub runs, you typically have a 30amp 240v GFCI breaker inside and then usually a 20amp GFCI breaker for the 120v side. The disconnect needs to be 5' min away from the closest water part of the tub for safety and to meet code. The easiest method, but not to code would be below.... It sounds like you already have a 240v direct line and were using a plug to go into a 120v GFCI. What I would suggest is buying a spa disconnect box, wire your 240v into it with the correct sized breaker. If the cable is not long enough you could use a metal box and conduit to extend the wires to the location needed. I would then suggest plugging your 120v side of your tub into a regular 120v GFCI if you already have one close by and that's how your tub is setup. This would keep you safe. I used to be a commercial electrician before switching trades a few years back. The second method saves you about $50 and some time. The first method is the ideal method and meets code.

I would go to lowes or home depot and buy a bigger breaker IE: 50amp GFCI or whatever they carry and see if after replacing the 30Amp with a larger breaker if the problem still persist. If the problem is still there that means you are leaking voltage somewhere. IE: GFCI's work pretty simple. Voltage in to tub needs to come back out and be seen on the white wire to the GFCI breaker. If there is a difference in voltage the breaker trips. If it does not trip the 50Amp breaker then that tells me its not a GFCI issue with the voltage but something else drawing too much current.

Just wanted to post an update. Those with motomassage jets, you can use the $45 motomassage jets part number #77242. Should save you guys some cash.

Well after a few days of cleaning and draining I was able to take my first soak this morning. For such a little tub, the jets are POWERFUL. I had to turn the air setting down as these things can blast you out. Never owning a hot tub before (I have been in a few friends tubs) I found one problem with this tub as I was soaking. The motojet's push air but they do not go up/down. I assume I need new spines? I replaced the piece of pipe with the oring in between the two spines. I was unable to turn the jet rings to lower the power of the jets on individual seats (I will have service tech show me when he is here). Here are the quirks I found. This tub is small. 2 adults MAX. I am 6' and the only seat that fits really well is the seat next to the lounger with the motojet. Unfortunately this seats jets are pretty weak. The rest you are just sunken too far down in the tub and the chlorine from the tub gets overwhelming with the jets on and you have to move to the taller seat after 5-10 minutes. Pros: This tub seems well built and insulated. Great little tub with a powerful jet system! Super easy to use even for a novice like me. The foot jet in the lounger is AWESOME! Cons: Seats are not all that comfortable and due to the height when in the seats vs tub surround isn't ideal for long periods of time with the jets running as it creates a bunch of chlorine/steam. There is no jet for therapeutic massage for hamstrings, butt, calves etc. (If they would have placed a big jet in the center you could at least hover over it and get the offending sore muscle/muscles). If I get another tub in the future this is going to be a MUST. Seemed none of the jets would get anywhere near my upper back without soaking the back of my neck in the water and slouching and even then it was sub par at best. The smaller jets seemed to be less therapeutic and more of a jet stream (great initially, bad for long time soaking). All in all its a good bang for the buck tub, however if I paid MSRP for this tub I would have had buyers remorse. What I would change or suggest to someone looking for their first hot tub... WET TEST! I know I am probably not the only self conscious person out there that doesn't want to wet test a bunch of tubs. But if your buying this for its therapeutic purposes you NEED to wet test! I know if I go to purchase a new tub I will be wet testing. If you still don't want to wet test, this would be my suggestion. Sit in a few tubs dry and find where your head is relative to the water level if it was full. I would want almost a foot above the water line so I could rest my arms on the tub surround comfortably. This would be ideal for me and I imagine most people. I would also be looking for a tub that has a big center jet so I could get my calves, hamstrings, butt etc. I would look for a tub with calf jets. Am I happy with this "free" hot tub ($1000 into it when all said and done). I sure am!

Here is my latest video. Super excited to finally get it warmed up and running properly in its home.

Knowing nothing about spa chemicals... Is this a good deal? I basically am starting from ground zero and need items to get my tub up to speed. https://anchorage.craigslist.org/hsh/d/spa-care-kit/6600846157.html

Here is the latest video of my progress. Getting there!

I would look on the back of your control panel for any obvious burn marks on the board (black). I would check fuses to verify they are ok, also check for bad solder joints etc. If you have already done all that someone more knowledgeable than myself about the spa would have to chime in.

For your price range you could look at Hot Springs Hot Tubs. I was quoted $10,000 from my dealer for a CALDERA Paradise Martinique. Comes with lift cover, ozonator etc. https://www.calderaspas.com/shop/paradise/martinique If I was looking into a tub I think I would be looking into a bullfrog if you can find a dealer. They are packed with jets. https://www.bullfrogspas.com/spas/ As I have found already, the dealer will really make or break your decision after ownership. I have a used tub that I fixed and after multiple calls and explanations of them being 2 months out on service I wouldn't go through this dealer to buy a tub. Who waits 2 months to get service? My advice would be to call the dealer you are interested in going with a tub and then ask for some bogus service... IE: My tub leaks, how long would it take to get you to look at it? See what their response is. I LOVED the sales people at the local spa place, but their service center seems lacking.

Well, I was able to run the jets today and I couldn't see any obvious leaks after 10 minutes of running. I will give the "fix a leak" a shot. Sorry for the kiddo's excitement in the video. He was obviously loving the water.

I received a plumbing schematic of my tub. I am now on the right track. This is a drain line used for winterizing the tub. I filled the tub to just below the main light fixture to see if the area by the light still fills up. If it doesn't fill up that pretty much tells me that the drain lines are not leaking and my leak may just be the light fixture gasket. I am really hoping it's the light gasket.

If your tub is anything like mine, this is a drain line for a low area in your tub. After getting a diagram for my tub it looks like 1/4" lines like this are used for draining low areas of the tub that simply using the drain itself wouldn't normally drain. Look in the area inside the tub for a small drain nipple/hole. You can cap this drain line off if you want. It won't hurt the tub.

Does anyone know if this is a drain line? I capped off the line and the nipple on the motojet side but my guess is this might possibly be the same drain line that routes from the motojet to the pump? Can I simply cap this line off? My guess is this drain line is cracked somewhere.

Ok, got everything cleaned and filled the tub one more time. I checked the area by the batting after the tub was full of water and it didn't feel wet. So I am crossing my fingers that tomorrow when I check its still dry. I used both compressed air and a shop vac to clean out the electronic access panel area and everything looked to be in great shape except for the pipe that hooks into my fresh water III ozonator. The nipple broke off in the pipe. I ordered a new fitting online and hopefully it will be here by the 30th. So far for $20 and a bit of my time I am really happy I picked this tub up!

Pump can be wired as 120 or 240v after looking at the pump label. My guess is its wired as 120v since I didn't have the 240v wires connected to the tub. I drained the tub today, used my shop vac and sucked out all the dry nasty junk in the tub along with any other standing water in the tub. It started raining so I couldn't finish cleaning the shell. My next plan is to have the wife clean the shell while I try and suck out all the water that is in the one compartment area with the batting so I know it's dry the next time I fill the tub.

I drained the tub completely last night. There is still standing water in that area... I used a towel yesterday to soak up what I could and after filling the tub and then draining the tub, the level never seemed to go any higher... The tub holds water fine after 24 hours... I imagine it's either old standing water in the tub in that area... Or a small leak. My gut tells me its a small leak. Here is a video of me attempting to make sure the controls work and the electrical. All looks good. The extension cord tripped as the tub needs a dedicated 20amp and the cord was a 50' cord. So there was just too much voltage drop and amp draw, it tripped the extension cord. I don't think the tub is junk. After 5 years when the warranty runs out these are the types of issues one has to deal with one way or another. I would either be chasing them or a dealer would be.

Ok, I created a video as this is a little tougher to explain. After fixing the known issues I knew about I then filled the tub up and checked it this morning. Water level looks good! However, there is a leak somewhere by the main light. Any ideas? Is there another site I should be posting on to get repair assistance? Seems I am talking to myself. Which is very rare in this day and age with the internet.

Managed to fix the broken threaded connector for the drain using PVC coupling 3/4" to a 3/4" PVC piece and then finally to a 3/4" to threaded male connector. This allows me to thread on a standard garden hose cap. I then used the 2 part epoxy to fill both the drain nipple and the 1/4" pvc tube that was used as a drain tube. I filled my tub up and didn't see any leaks. I used the grease pencil to mark the water line, put on the cover and will check in the morning. I am hoping that was it!

I went in to my dealer today and they said they did the Devcon repair job in the motojet area. They suggested I plug off the pipe and the bottom side of the tub. I went to the store, bought some 2 part epoxy and filled the tube with epoxy along with the bottom side of the molded drain area. Waiting for the epoxy to set so I can tear out the pvc drain that is broken and then replace that with the proper screw style garden cap plug. Hoping that remedes my leaks and I can plug the tub in and see how it holds under pressure.