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Watkins Circulation Pump Leaking


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I've got a Caldera Geneva hot tub that I bought new in the fall of 2012. Aside from replacing the cover this year, I've really not had any major issues with it up until now. Yesterday, I noticed water on the ground around the edge of the spa. I pulled the side panel off to check things out. There was water around the circulation pump. It was leaking out slowly. It appears to be leaking from the large ring that you can tighten with a pair of channel lock pliers. I tightened the ring but it did nothing to stop the leak.

My questions are:

  1. Is there an O ring that I can change within the large ring in the middle that I tried to tighten?
  2. If there is an O ring, where can I buy it?
  3. If there is no O ring, do I need to replace the whole pump?
  4. If I need to replace the whole pump, where is a good place to buy one?

I've attached pictures to show you what I'm dealing with.

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I'd contact Caldera support directly, there "has to" be an exploded/parts diagram available somewhere.

If there truly is a leak under that giant plastic "retaining nut", likely it is an O-ring making the seal. But that means draining taking it apart and then trying to match up with a new or slightly-thicker O-ring. Lots of pool stores, Ace Hardware carry a bunch of loose O-rings. I'd use a little pool silicone-type lube on the O-ring when I'd re-install. Should not need to super-tighten that big plastic "retaining nut" either.

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If it's a hole in the housing replacing the O-ring will not help- the plastic housing deteriorates under caustic water conditions. All that's needed is the wet end of a laing E-3 or E-5 circulation pump (new style) but I'm not aware of any company that only sells the wet end- Unless you find a tech that replaces many of these pumps, you'll be stuck replacing the entire pump. But if you contact a high volume service center- they may have a few wet ends laying around in decent shape that they'll sell very cheap.

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If it's really a single hole in the plastic housing and the remainder of the housing still looks OK, maybe try plastic welding kit from Harbor Freight. The heat unit gets hot enough to melt plastic (and plastic welding rods) but not so hot that the plastic burns. It has helped me a dozen times in last year (mostly on automotive stuff).

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