Temp Outside Is 38. Tonight Will Be 27 And My Tub Is Leaking. Help!

[john44111]

Ok well I am sure you guys are getting used to my postings by now

anyhow.. So some of you might remember my little chemical battle last week and now we are on to something new.

I changed from a N2/MPS/Dichlor system because of what I think was an MPS allergy. I switched to the Dichlor/Bleach method.

anyhow. The wife and I were in the hottub last night and.. although my rash is mostly gone it was itchy last night... at 2am and it STILL was eating chlorine fast (That probably was just us using it) and I figured I would drain the tub today. Temp was 38. So I figured go for it at noon.

BAD choice I think.

Drained it fast all the way down.. got in cleaned the shell inside.. got all the water out with a sponge.. the cleaning took about 30 minutes.

Then started filling from the hose (nothing abnormal. I have done this before. ) took an hour and a half to fill.

I turn the breaker on and it goes through the prime cycle.. then.. I am fiddling with the top and

SNAP

the breaker blew..

well maybe it started heating.. it was too much so I reset the breaker and watched..

it started again.

(In retrospect this was probably dumb throwing it but it did stay on. Now I am betting it popped because of an actual ground fault) Well. live and learn on that one I guess.)

. water temp 38 degrees... it starts heating no problem.. so I leave and come back about 30 minutes later.

I notice water coming out of the front of the tub near the base.

I see it.. I wipe it away with my foot.. I can see a little rivulet of water coming from the bottom seam..

so I turn the power off completely

check the drain.. (it is all good)

then I take the panel off.

I mop up the water with a sponge.. let it sit for 30 minutes.. the water DOESNT come back.

So I am thinking cool . No big deal. I shoudl have put the hose on the drain.. I didnt.. maybe water leaked back in.

so.. I have the sides off and I start it up again.. as soon as the 2HP pump comes on water comes out of here.

Right at the place where the motor meets the pump. So, I dont know much but looks like to me that the pump seal is leaking.

I turn the water off.. NO leaks.. JUST when I have the motor on.

It has been off now 2 hours (I called the service guy's cellphone. Nothing yet.)

so.. here is my questions

1. Could something be frozen? Temp outside is 38F. The water was up to 40 when I shut it off.

2. What do I do now? Drain it?

3. Is it a bad pump seal only?

4. Why does it not leak when the water was warm?

5. The temp will be 27 degrees tonight. I am assuming the guy will call me back and tell me what to do.

Do I drain it?

DoI leave it alone?

Do I put the side panels back on and the lid?

Do I get a small space heater and put that inside to keep it warm tonight?

Thoughts?

kinda freaking out. The tub is only 4-5 months old.

[Dr. Spa]

1. no

2. no

3.possibly....did you run the pump to drain the spa? Did the pump continue to run after the spa was empty (even for a few seconds)? If so, probably yes

4. something weird things just happen

5. put a drop light in the equipment compartment and keep the spa tightly covered.

NO

Pretty much

YES. and a drop light near the equipment

A space heater might put out too much heat for so small a space....a drop light....75w to 100w bulb

[john44111]

This was a weird double post.. Ill comment in here too tho.

When I drain the spa first thing I do is turn the breaker off. So the tub is 100% off when I drain it from the breaker panel. I dont want ANY drama with electricity until the spa has the right amount of water. So it is 100% completely off. I remember reading the manual and it saying dont turn the power on until the water is halfway up the filter opening.

Another question however.

1. The water is like 38 degrees it is ALL new water

a. should I put chemicals in it? (probably not.. I am guessing it is too cold)

b. should I be adding HOT water to the tub? I think it is really close to freezing 38 degrees last time I checked. (when I discovered the pump seal is leaking.

Thanks in advance.

[john44111]

excellent

Thank you for the answer. Still no call back from the dude. What the heck it is saturday afternoon.. prolly has a family. Its cool just would have been nice to get the answer from him instead of this great forum. Regardless I covered it with the 10x10 ezup

and it is sealed up for the night with TWO 75 watt bulbs (you cant buy 100w anymore! I have all CFL bulbs in my house. I had to go buy a 4 pack of 75w bulbs for 1 dollar. )

The cover is on the tub. the lightbulbs are inside and sealed up with clamp lights (MY trouble lights are ALL LED now no more incandescent bulbs)

I also put one 75 bulb by the pump and equipment.(no pic I already sealed that one inside the case) so.. total 225 watts inside the sealed case.

since I took this pic I took out the left one in the picture leaving just 2 bulbs inside the sealed cabinet.

So.. here we go.

I am betting I get a NO to this question

should I bother to add hot water with a 5 gallon bucket to the tub or because it is only forecasted to be 27 I should be "ok ish"??

Thanks again.. made me feel much better.

in retrospect.. I am going to call the service guy from a place I buy from on a saturday just to see what kind of response I get before I buy.

I thought of that before I bought from this big company that sells more than hot tubs. Oh well.. I just need to calm down. Everything is going to be cool.

4 hours isnt bad tho.. I thought I was in some IMMINENT danger...but apparently I am ok.

wife says parts and labor covered 2 years.. hopefully that is true.

[Apollo217]

You should be fine. 5 gallons of hot water won't do much. Typically pump seals aren't covered under warranty. If there is a local store open on Sundays take the pump out and bring it there probably able to be fixed in a hour or so.

[Roger]

I would keep heating it and running the pump. It may slow down leaking as it heats. Need a new pump seal ASAP though.

[john44111]

First off.. UPDATE.. it isnt leaking anymore.

Thank you for the ideas. I am getting more confidence with this job as time goes on. I could tear a car down to the crankshaft and not flinch tubs mystify me. That is fading.

Ok I have a STRANGE update. last night around 10pm I went out with a 100 foot hose and filled my hot tub with water from my 40 gallon water tank. I ran the house out a door and into the tub. I used the hot water until it was gone once. Waited 30 minutes and did it AGAIN. That made a significant difference in buffering the temperature. As everyone knows I went and put 2 75w clamp lights inside the case and buttoned it up.

anyhow come out this morning look at the tub inside. Take the two access panels off and.. dry as a bone. (not surprisingly) the water wasnt frozen. Some water I drained on the patio was however.

I flipped the breaker on.. it sat there priming for what seemed like an eternity.

then the pump turned on.

watched it.. no GUSHING flows of water!

I watched it some more. .. no so much as a drop is coming out.

I turned on ALL the pumps full blast..

No water is coming out.

umm..... so.. I am going to watch it now.. and see but..

Can I call this some form of Ice blockage?

It isnt leaking one bit at all

Just checked again it has been 30 minutes (When I started this post) still NO leaks.

[john44111]

ok so 2 days past.. no leaking.. the case is all buttoned up now. I am thinking this is one of two problems.

1. Maybe I had some ice in the system SOMEWHERE.

2. Air pocket. I did something that in retrospect seems dumb. When the tub was dry I changed the spa filter and replaced it with a perfectly new DRY (and previously cleaned filter) I have two and I rotate them weekly. Cleaning one then letting it sit for a week. Maybe that created some form of weird vacuum? I dont know for sure.

I am thinking I *MAY* have had an airpocket in the system maybe AIR in the lines dissappated with me letting the tub sit overnight.. maybe adding 80 gallons of 105 degree water unfroze something.

I guess we will REALLY never know.

I am going to pull the case off this evening and take a look I anticipate I wont see ANY water at all down there.

strange goings on there.. maybe everything is cool.

[n1oty]

Roger called it correctly. You have the beginning of seal failure. You want to replace the shaft seal sometime this spring before it worsens and leaks constantly, or worse, leaks into and wrecks the motor.

John

[john44111]

yeah I am really not sure about that. I watched for about 20 minutes with a flashlight to see if ANY water dropped or the shaft got wet.. NOPE. and I put a paper towel folded up underneath where the motor shaft enters the pump seal yesterday before I buttoned her up tight. It has been running now for almost 48 hours.

just took a panel off after I read that last post.

Bone dry.. not an ounce of moisture. all the puddles have dried up from the previous "flood" and well everything looks good. The funny part is it has been sleeting since about 9pm last night..but inside still no moisture whatsoever.

The part seems like it is 13 bucks or maybe as high as 30 but. Ill keep an eye on it.

looks good from here.

[Apollo217]

Replace it ASAP because chances are next time you won't be so Lucky

[Roger]

When the pump seal was contracted and cold it leaked. As it warmed up ,from running, it expanded and stopped leaking. See it all the time. Next water change it will leak again.

[john44111]

When the pump seal was contracted and cold it leaked. As it warmed up ,from running, it expanded and stopped leaking. See it all the time. Next water change it will leak again.

ok.. well.. that seems to be pretty unanimous.

so if I am understanding correctly under no circumstances should water EVER come out that seal?

and it CANNOT ever leak?

so I should be able to close the gate valve right in front of this pump and the water will NOT seep out the seal it will hold inside the pipes?

is that correct?

[Roger]

You will have to close 2 gate valves one upstream and one downstream of the pump to remove it.