Suddenly There Is Rust Chunks In My Spa

[SpaMon345]

Suddenly There Are Rust Chunks In My Spa

Hello everyone. I have a Leisure Bay model Chesapeake (model #L403SDRC2) spa purchased in 2006, and it has mostly been trouble-free.

One week ago I drained the spa, cleaned the spa and filter, then refilled it with tap-water, something I do every 2 or 3 uses since the purchase. I generally don't ever use chemicals at all except a little bit of powdered oxygenator here and there.

Today, suddenly I have found rust chunks on the surfaces of my spa and discolored water. My suspicions included the old waterheater I pull hot water from to clean out the spa and filter, then I thought possibly the city water itself was to blame. But neither seemed likely. I then suspected that the spa itself is rusting internally - perhaps the heater. But then I discovered that 4 of my 5 headrests have serious rust stains behind them. Check this out:

(Click picture for enlargement.)

How on earth could spa headrests rust like that? I don't really see how chunks of rusty material came out of them but I must admit that these rusty headrest seem the likely culprit.

Anyone else have this problem?

Does anyone know where I can find replacement headrests that DON'T CONTAIN RUSTABLE METALS?! My warranty states that "pillows" are wearable items, and further, are excluded from coverage. I assume that what I am calling "headrests" are indeed "pillows".

ASAP, I will drain the spa and thouroughly clean it out to try and get all of these rust particles out.

All thoughts and suggestions are welcome! Thank you.

[spatech (the unreal one)]

Are you SURE the rust isn't coming from the screws that hold down the pegs that those pillows latch onto. My guess would be low grade stainless screws are causing your issue rather than the pillow themselves.

[hottublady]

yeah def looks like the screws..

[SpaMon345]

Well I checked and I didn't see any screws on the spa-side:

(Click picture for enlargement.)

Am I misunderstanding the location of the suspect-screws?

[hottublady]

how does the pillows attach to the spa?

[SpaMon345]

how does the pillows attach to the spa?

There are 2 plastic pegs that protrude from the back of each pillow as seen in the first pic. The pegs are pushed into holes on the spa-side. The holes have plastic liners as seen in the second pic.

Basically the pillows appear to be held in by friction.

I suspect that on the inside of each of the pillows, there is iron of some sort for some unbelievable reason...talk about LOW quality!

I'm thinking to somehow allow the pillows to dry out, then saturate the base of the pegs with flexible goop (a sort of semi-flexible waterproof clear sealer), so that no water can get by the pegs and up into the pillows.

[DaveR]

I found replacement pillows on one site that indicated they were magnetic. Any chance to try and test them to dee if they either are magnetic or if a magnet is attracted to them.

Dave

[chem geek]

I suspect that the metal in the rings around the pegs on the spa pillow back is different than the metal in the spa itself where this pillow gets seated. Dissimilar metals can lead to galvanic corrosion with the metal lower in the galvanic series getting oxidized. Since it is the spa pillow backs that look corroded, I suspect that their metal is of a lower quality stainless steel or even worse is something like galvanized (zinc-coated) metal compared to a higher quality stainless steel in the spa where they attach.

How are you chlorinating your spa? Are you using any kind of saltwater chlorine generator system? How often do you change the water in the spa and how often does it get used?

[SpaMon345]

Last night I cleaned up the rust stains on the pillows as best as possible, and I squeezed the pillows and also used compressed air to blow out as much water as possible. I accidentally burst one of the pillows using too much compressed air. Then I used the goop I was talking about and sealed around each of the pegs. I'll post a pic soon.

I use tap water when I fill my spa. I change the water every 2 or 3 uses. I don't use chemicals except after it has been used I throw a little powdered oxidizer in there. Our water here is pretty "good". I run the spa an hour or two once each week when not being used.

I did clean up 99% of the rust chips in the spa this weekend. A magnet really helped. Unfortunately it was near the end of my cleanup job that I thought to use a magnet, lol.

I believe that the cause of this is that I may have had to water level higher than it should have been, and water creaped up to some of the pillows and rusted the internals. Nonetheless, it is still unbelievable how these pillows have rustable metal in them yet they are not sealed!!!

[DK117]

Last night I cleaned up the rust stains on the pillows as best as possible, and I squeezed the pillows and also used compressed air to blow out as much water as possible. I accidentally burst one of the pillows using too much compressed air. Then I used the goop I was talking about and sealed around each of the pegs. I'll post a pic soon.

I use tap water when I fill my spa. I change the water every 2 or 3 uses. I don't use chemicals except after it has been used I throw a little powdered oxidizer in there. Our water here is pretty "good". I run the spa an hour or two once each week when not being used.

I did clean up 99% of the rust chips in the spa this weekend. A magnet really helped. Unfortunately it was near the end of my cleanup job that I thought to use a magnet, lol.

I believe that the cause of this is that I may have had to water level higher than it should have been, and water creaped up to some of the pillows and rusted the internals. Nonetheless, it is still unbelievable how these pillows have rustable metal in them yet they are not sealed!!!

SpaMon,

I'm confused, you've been here since 2006, so you've got vastly more experience than I do. But changing out the water every few weeks? That sounds like a lot of effort. For example it takes me one hour to drain, one hour to fill. Given your use, that would be one hour of tub time for one hour of water maintenance. Wouldn't it be more efficient to use dichlor? I'm getting 4 months per fill, I think that's pretty standard, maybe even 6, but I too like clean water and it's not all that hard to change out and refill, but your solution seems like overkill. Just wondering if you could enlighten me on your process.

DK117

[SpaMon345]

I said that I change the water every 2 or 3 uses, not every 2 or 3 weeks.

What I did not state is that we don't use the spa very much. Maybe on average we use the spa once per month.

If we used it more frequently, then I might consider chemicals, but right now I prefer very little chemical.

The cost to drain and refill my spa is about $7 in water.

[DK117]

I said that I change the water every 2 or 3 uses, not every 2 or 3 weeks.

What I did not state is that we don't use the spa very much. Maybe on average we use the spa once per month.

If we used it more frequently, then I might consider chemicals, but right now I prefer very little chemical.

The cost to drain and refill my spa is about $7 in water.

ok, call me dense, but I'm still lost. You use your spa once a month. You then change water every two to three months. How do you keep your water fresh with little or no chemicals for three months even with just three uses? I'm not judging, just questioning how this is done.

DK117

[SpaMon345]

OK no problem. I just throw in a little powdered oxidizer every week or two. I also installed a shower near the spa so ppl we can rinse off before getting in the spa.

As promised, here is a pic of the pillows after I sealed the base of the pegs to the pillow:

(Click picture for enlargement.)

[SpaMon345]

OK no problem. I just throw in a little powdered oxidizer every week or two. I also installed a shower near the spa so ppl we can rinse off before getting in the spa.

As promised, here is a pic of the pillows after I sealed the base of the pegs to the pillow:

(Click picture for enlargement.)