Mystery Leak....going Crazy

[drewskie]

Ok, so I recently repaired a leak in the plumbing, at the foot jet of my 2001 Sundance Altamar. Everything was fine for 3 months or so, then I started seeing lots of water underneath the tub, much more than from the previous leak. Now, it is constantly soaked underneath the tub and i have checked the equipment bay, and all sides of the tub, but the leak is coming from underneath. So, I lifted the tub on it's side, yet I cannot find the leaking spot, the foam was wet pretty much everywhere, bu none was saturated. So, how can I find the leak?? It's not like I can get under the tub while it's working.

[Spa Dude]

Have you tried drying it out, filling it up and adding some dye to the water to locate the source??

[wuice]

Ok, so I recently repaired a leak in the plumbing, at the foot jet of my 2001 Sundance Altamar. Everything was fine for 3 months or so, then I started seeing lots of water underneath the tub, much more than from the previous leak. Now, it is constantly soaked underneath the tub and i have checked the equipment bay, and all sides of the tub, but the leak is coming from underneath. So, I lifted the tub on it's side, yet I cannot find the leaking spot, the foam was wet pretty much everywhere, bu none was saturated. So, how can I find the leak?? It's not like I can get under the tub while it's working.

Yeah, the proper way to find it is to add a large bottle of food coloring, let it leak for 7-10 days, drain it, tip it up, and follow the color trail to the leak. Keep in mind leaks can travel along the curvature of a pipe (even through foam). When its all done a super chlorinate should remove all the food coloring from the tub surfaces.

[drewskie]

Thanks guys, I did the food coloring method, and I must admit, when the entire tub turned bright red, I got freaked out. Not only did it look rather scary, but I was afraid it was going to ruin something and instantly drained it.

Good news is, I was able to locate the leak, it's towards the middle of the tub, at one of the hose connectors, and it's leaking pretty bad. my question now is........how do i fix this? there doesn't seem to be a place to cut out and replace the piping, nor a way to put in a new "t" hose. It seems to be right at the connection where the blue glue is. Should i just use more glue? Will plast-aid work? maybe Roger can chime in. Thank you very much.

[Dnepr Dave]

The blue glue is just PVC cement. I fixed a leak in a multimedia sand filter PVC manifold with JB Weld (epoxy), that was five years ago and it still doesn't leak. I vee'd the leaking connection out with a Dremmel tool and smeared the epoxy in the groove, all around the fitting. The manifold had a lot of closely fitted valves and elbows, so I didn't want to cut it apart to repair it.

If you have room, you can cut the PVC pipe at the fitting and drill out he rest of the old pipe from the fitting (they make drills for that). Then glue a coupling and a short piece of pipe into the fitting.

Dave