Order Of Procedures For Clean / Startup Of Used Spa

[pkillur]

Greetings, I recently picked up a Windriver Hurricane from a relative who leveled with me and said he didn't do "too much with the chlorine for the last 9 or so months" - which probably equates to a year or more (the test strips also expired in 2004...)

SOOOO, I have this predicament:

I have plast-aid coming to fix a few leaks I can get to (air valves over the controller box - good thinking on that one by the engineers...) and some leak-fix to repair any little bitty guys I'm not seeing anywhere else for good measure. I also have some whirl-away coming as well to nuke out the biofilm before I sterilize the tub. I'm trying to minimize my water usage because our water is stupid expensive out here (Parker, CO), but I spent 50 bucks on a ton of chemicals and don't want to waste chemicals over 10 bucks in water!

Here is my thoughts about the methods I'm going to use to fix the various issues sequentially:

#1 - Plast-aid on the leaks I can see.

#2 - Whirl-Away.

#3 - Sterilize (as recommended on this forum I think).

#4 - Drain.

#5 - Fill.

#6 - Stop Leak.

#7 - Drain (????)

#8 - Fill (Do I need to wait a few days?)

#9 - Shock & Balance.

#10 - Enjoy tub (FINALLY!!!!)

My question is whether or not I need to drain after the stop leak stuff or not. I can't really tell from posts anything other than "It's a temporary fix" - but I figure it'll stop any weird leaks that I can't see currently or at least minimize them until march or april once we're past "High of 30, low of 6" weather!. I don't see anything except the leaks that I plan on really fixing but I figure it's probably the best. It's not a full foam spa either - it's a dead air system that is also covered with the hard foam stuff (the stuff that looks like "good stuff" but is way more dense). Do any of you have a better suggestion that is faster perhaps? I would prefer to drain as little as possible because it's really freaking cold AND I have to pay for new water and the electricity to heat it up again.