Hot Tub Cover Warpage

[Nat]

I've had my tub a little over two months and a corner of the hot tub cover has warped upwards, creating about a quarter to a half inch gap between to hot tub and the cover. Another corner of the cover has warped too, and the gap is smaller. This causes a small amount of moisture to escape and condense and run down the side of the tub. This is a Tiger River (Watkins) Spa.

Has anyone else expreienced this? I plan on mentioning it to the dealer.

I have placed a couple of bricks on the hot tub cover on the warped corner, and that pushes it down some, but I think its getting worse.

It may be possible I created the situation by opening the cover with the rear straps still latched (I forgot to undo them twice, and broke the catches), thus stressing it, but I am not sure if I caused any damage.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Dan.The.Spa.Man]

I've had my tub a little over two months and a corner of the hot tub cover has warped upwards, creating about a quarter to a half inch gap between to hot tub and the cover. Another corner of the cover has warped too, and the gap is smaller. This causes a small amount of moisture to escape and condense and run down the side of the tub. This is a Tiger River (Watkins) Spa.

Has anyone else expreienced this? I plan on mentioning it to the dealer.

I have placed a couple of bricks on the hot tub cover on the warped corner, and that pushes it down some, but I think its getting worse.

It may be possible I created the situation by opening the cover with the rear straps still latched (I forgot to undo them twice, and broke the catches), thus stressing it, but I am not sure if I caused any damage.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Is your spa 100% level? Covers are normally tapered from the seems out toward the edges to allow water runoff. If the tub is not level then the tapered cover may be counteracted by an unlevel tub causing rain water to pool up on the cover. If so it may be a case of the cover insert 'settling' in the middle which causes the corners to warp up. I've seen this happen many times.

If the tub is level and you have a tapered cover then I don't know. Either way, you can unzip the vinyl, remove the insert, and flip it around.

[Dr. Spa]

Part of the process to produce the foam for the cores involves the use of steam. If all the moisture isn't properly and completely removed from the foam during the manufacturing and drying process, the remaining small amount of moisture in the foam can cause it to warp, exactly as you're seeing.

[Shaamus]

Just flip the foam cores over. It should solve your problem. If doing so allows steam to escape from the middle of that side instead of corners, then the foam core is too bowed to be used and you should consult your dealer about obtaining a warranty replacement.

Unfortunately, as Doc alluded to, spa cover manufacturers can't reject everything but perfectly flat, non-bowed board. The costs of the foam (due to scrap costs) would skyrocket. The key is to put the bow going down so two things happen: 1) gravity will pull the bow down over time and 2) if a bow remains, the water will still run off. Now if the bow is so pronounced that a gap in the middle of the run is formed, then it must not be used. However, most bowing is very slight and can be used as long as the core is rotated properly.

In all likelihood, flipping your foam core over will solve the problem. It just should have been done at the factory. If you don't want to do it, ask the dealer to send a tech out to do it. It is literally a 5 minute job.

[Nat]

Thank you for your responses! I imagine flipping the core is something I can handle. You just unzip its cover, remove the core half and flip it over, reinstall in the cover and zip it up, right?

--Nate