Krulligo

Test trips are garbage don't rely on them let alone be dumping chemicals in a new spa based on your interpretation of their inaccurate results. Get yourself a good pool/spa chemistry drop test kit. You will thank me later. The one I use for both my pool and spa is the Taylor K2006C kit. Works great and never had better water or any issues once I started testing with this kit. Very consistent and accurate readings. You can do both chlorine or bromine tests (for bromine, multiply chlorine test value by 2.25). Once you get a good test kit and still don't understand what chemicals to add or how much, there are people here that will help out based on your accurate readings.

Unfortunately on the other side - Pickering area. My Spa is an old year 2000 Sundance Altamar. The size of the current cover is 81" x 86.5" and thickness tapers from 5 to 3" inches. We purchased the house 2.5 years ago and this is the cover that was on the spa but based on age of the spa, probably not the original cover. If I order these same dimensions, will the cover shrink slightly over time?

Cool Thanks. I am also in the GTA area. You say you sell spa covers? Do you have a website?

Anyone else that recently bought a replacement spa cover have any comments/tips? Would really like to purchase one but not sure yet where to buy and what to look out for.

Thanks. Do these online custom sized order companies typically do a good job and use high quality materials when they make their covers? Or should I look locally for a brick and mortar company that will make a cover for me? Also how do you typically measure size of the cover. My current cover seems to fit quite well should I go by that size? Will a new cover shrink a bit over time?

So I think it's time to replace my spa cover. The cover is one that the previous owners used when before we moved in 2.5y ago (the spa itself is 20+ years old, not sure about the cover). Although snow doesn't melt on top which makes me think the insulation properties are still quite good, the upholstery is in rough shape with some rips along the middle fold which I have duct taped, and the skirt is very brittle and ripped up. Looking into replacement covers, I didn't realize they were so pricy ($550-650 CND). If taken care of properly, what is the typical lifespan of one of these covers. The spa is in full sunlight and exposed to typically Canadian winters. Is there an option of reupholstering the insulation foam from the current cover? What should I be looking out for or avoiding when buying a new cover? Thanks!

You have a leak somewhere. Pumps can leak even when they are off. There are 2 main seals in the pump that can go, one is for the cap one is for the shaft. They are quite easy fixes and you don't to get a new pump for this. You said that the tub drains faster when the pump is running? If you have multiple pumps, figure out which one causes it. Might be a pump issue or in there piping. Just open the sides of your tub and see where the water is and inspect around the pumps when they are running. I had a similar situation where water would only go down when one pump was running. Turns out one of the tubes split on the pressure side of the pump. So when the pump was not running level was not really going down but pump running made the split gush out water (due to the increased water pressure). Was easy to locate and an easy DIY fix to replace that section of the plumbing, think it cost me $30 worth of parts and glue to fix. If not the pump or the plumbing could be a leak in one of the fittings. Where the water stopped going down (you said down to 6 inches) are there any fittings like suction ports, jets, lights, etc where the waterline stopped. If so there is a good chance your leak is somewhere at those fittings.

Hmm. That might explain the weir and suction covers which are in the water but not so much all the knobs yellowing above the water line. Even for the weir there are sections of it that are not submerged but the entire weir seemed to have yellowed at the same rate. So not sure if being exposed to bromine in the water is the issue of the plastics yellowing. It might just be how the plastics degrade overtime but who knows. Anyway I hope the tub does last several more years. I have heard really good stories with older Sundance and them lasting. It is now in a state were it is fully operating with no apparent water major leaks. I guess time will tell but will keep the water healthy and balanced. I do know that for one of the pumps there is a very small dribble leak out of the pump shaft seal but it's like 1 drop every few minutes so I am not bothered by it. If it gets worse I will have to repair it but looks like replacing a shaft seal is pretty straight forward.

Thanks ratchett, all that information if very helpful. However, I still don't understand how this happened since it's the UV from the sun that causes this and the tub is almost always covered (unless the previous owners had the tub uncovered for extended periods of time and the sun just did a number on the plastics). Anyway the peroxide + UV treatment is doing wonders and I got all the knobs, etc to be gray. Just finishing up with the 3 suction covers which seem to be taking a bit longer possibly do to being submerged in water (there was also some calcium buildup on them that I needed to remove before the bleaching process). So far they are coming along nicely. I was going to do the Weir assembly but after taking it off and closer inspection, there are a few areas that have cracked, and there is quite a bit of calcium buildup, so I ended up ordering a replacement (should arrive in 2-3 weeks). I can't believe that Sundance still carries most of the parts for the 20+ year old spa. Anyway, will reply with pics of when it's complete.

Thanks for your input. Yea I am aware that they have a finite life and mine may actually not be doing anything. However, I do still smell the fruity/acrid smell for a split second when I open up my spa cover. Would this indicate that it is still working? I am not sure but the ozonator might have been a recent addition or a replacement before we bought that house.

I moved into a house about 2.5 years ago that has an old Sundance Altamar Spa (year 2000). After some minor repairs such as a leak near one of the pumps, and a few O-rings replaced to get some air control jets working and fixing up a leak in the diverter valve, I have gotten the jet running to a point that I don't suspect anymore leaks, and all functions of the spa are working. Overall, the spa shell is in great shape. I just have 1 question. Most of the gray plastic pieces such as the weir and control knobs have discolored to a yellow (see picture). Is there anyway to restore this back to original grey color? I am currently trying to soak the parts in Hydrogen peroxide and leaving out in the sun to bleach. So far the results are looking really good and the yellowing in the plastics is nearly gone. My question is though, will this last? Or will putting the pieces back into the spa turn it back yellow in a matter of days or weeks? I use bromine as sanitizer and the spa has an ozonator. Thanks in advance for your input.