leaking2015hotspringenvoy

This might be a good thread to have sticky as it seems a lot of people are having the issue...

On the ACE: We love the soft water feel of salt water. I knew the cell was a wear part, but did not know the cost. We will continue the expense as the water quality benefits are worth the price. We never use boost, and are careful with water chemistry. As it stands keeping water to treat in the tub and not on the patio is my first priority. 😄 The cell failed again just prior to draining the spa so it was a front-of-mind thought...

Thank you for the reply. My thoughts on the local dealer - The technician who came out has been honest, courteous, and very polite. They are overwhelmed with repairs and installs and backed up for months. There is only one dealer service group in Portland so I am going to have to wait for them unless I can do it myself. Not his fault, just the economy and pandemic. I would never blame the repair staff. In terms of warranty: Being a second owner should not be a rare occurrence given the length of time it takes to order a new Watkins product, and the residual value of the spa. Many will opt for a clean, modern example and should still be considered a customer asset to Watkins. I am clear that warranties do not transfer. That is why my ask has always been in terms of goodwill as this mess was not created by neglect of the spa by Aaron (original owner) or I. I am not asking for a free repair. If I need to chip in; I have already spent hours of my personal time finding the leak, removing the foam, taking hundreds of pounds of soaked foam to the dump, removing the spa from power, pulling the sides off, and more. If they would like to flip the fiscal responsibility where I cover parts and they cover the remainder of the labor (just for the leak repair, I can reassemble the spa) then an equitable and fair resolution will be met. I am certain my Tahitian was foam filled as I replaced the LED lighting. It may have been made prior to FiberCore. Thank you for the clarification. Our Caldera dealer is no longer in business so I have not seen the spas in a while. Other questions: If the precision jet is leaking at the shell would it send the water down the space between the jet plumbing and foam? I am thinking of replacing the topside jet body and seal prior to tearing the bottom off. The bottom is glued and has a ton of foam sticking to it. If I have to remove it, any advice? Also, what is the best/safest tool to use to chip into the hard foam? I have read a drill with wire brush can work... Respectfully, I am not claiming they offer poor support to dealers. My subjective take is unique to my singular experience and it is unique (newer top-of-the-line spa + second owner + manufacturing defect + Covid + poor customer service). I simply wish to share my experience as being handed a $3500 repair estimate along side a seven month wait is not ideal in any case.

Almost did the hard part.. Digging in further: In hopes of not having to completely remove the bottom pan glued onto the base of the cabinet I opted to dig out the foam on the adjacent side of the leak. Our technician thought the four-way manifold was the source; however, it was not. Once the new side was torn down it was clear the leaking pipe went up and around the manifold deep into the center of the tub. I refilled it, setup power, and chipped away to be sure. Looking at the plumbing diagram I mapped the leaking tube to the left-side (center most) hand massage jet in the captain’s chair. There is hard foam coating the pipe all the way back to the jet and I am slowly chipping my way back to see if it can be repaired without removing the bottom. Right now, I am unable to dig back far enough into the tub to get to the leak. The foam seems to get really hard the more compacted it is, and the shell is very tight in the armrest area. Chipping away with my Snap-On gasket removers has slowed to a crawl. Now that I am certain of the leak source, I am confident this was the result of a manufacturing defect. The plumbing is deep in the cabinet and tightly secured to the shell with hard foam. I have spent another three hours on this again attempting to mitigate the labor expense. I would also be happy to move the spa into my heated garage since the dealer does not have space until June in their workshop. I can keep consistent temperature in the space for the cure time of the glue. Also, what glue is used? Does anyone think this glue will not set in outdoor temps (35-55 in Oregon)?

When starting this journey back in November 2020, I had no idea how frustrating this experience would be. Today we were told by the factory service technician the following: 1. The earliest they will be able to fix my leak will be in JUNE, that means a seven month wait from when I reported the leak to Watkins. 2. They will not service my hot tub at my home. This was understandable given the size of the leak and them wanting the environment of a controlled temperature in a workshop. 3. The move fee would be $900. 4. The repair would be an 8 hour minimum, if I remove the bottom. The bottom is glued on and the tub needs to be flipped upside-down and weighted to glue back on. 5. The total cost of this repair will be $2500-$3500 and so far I have performed the foam dig out, identified the leak, removed the tub from power, cleaned up, and discarded several hundred pounds of soaked foam. I still need to remove the bottom and will have an upside-down hot tub carcass behind my otherwise pristine home for the next six months. Removing the bottom will likely take a full day. So in a nutshell: This is a foam-filled tub. Repairing leaks in it is a nightmare. It is going to be a seven month wait and $2500-$3500 in expenses, after my spending days to help mitigate the expense. I have spent hours attempting to mitigate this by performing a lot of the work to help the situation. Watkins has offered to supply plumbing diagrams and parts. Nothing more, they will not goodwill this as I am the second owner and even though the leak has clearly been there several years (per the factory-trained technician) they refuse to take any accountability as the leak was not reported in the warranty period. I am planning to reach out to others in this forum and others to find out how people in my position have fixed this, and their overall experience with Watkins (Caldera / Hot Spring). Did you just pay the expense? Did you sell the tub? Trade it for another brand? How did you come to resolve the issue? How were you treated along the way? IMPORTANT: If you are considering purchasing or have a Watkins tub on hold please consider the cost of repairs due to the IN FOAM PLUMBING and the lack of dealer support options. Watkins checked and they have one dealer in our area, and they are expensive and overbooked. If your spa fails, will you be able to stomach the investment as a sunk cost? Please let my experience help factor into your purchase. If you are expecting a first-rate experience or a company that would goodwill a manufacturing failure I would look elsewhere. Last, if we chose to keep it all of the handling will likely cause another leak. Back to square one... What an absolute nightmare