2005 Hot spring sovereign leaking below moto massager

[Mike68]

Hi new to this site and see lots of useful info....awesome !! I have found a few links with a somewhat similar issue but different. My circ pump quit and had to order online as our Hot spring dealer is currently no longer. Due to a possible 14 day wait I decided to drain tub because of cold weather. I drained everything I possibly could unhook and blew out with air till water no longer appeared.

Upon firing tub back up I have got a slow leak behind moto massager corner which is coming out of the bottom of cabinet area but only seems to appear when the jets are off?? When tub is running in any configuration no dripping?? Any ideas before digging in?? The tub drops about an inch per day??

Thanks for any help!!🤔 

[Brian VT]

The likely culprit is the small hose nipple broke off the back of the MM box. It's a connector for a supplemental filler hose @ 1/4" i.d. You probably weren't able to get the water out of the MM box and it froze.

This filler hose is not very necessary. Some people just plug the hole in the box and plug the end of the hose.

You'll need to remove the corner skirt slats and dig the foam out to get to it.

You can fill the foam back in with spray foam or bubble wrap or whatever you have handy that's waterproof. I used bubble wrap. Reattaching the slats can be frustrating. Not much "meat" there to attach.

[Mike68]

Thanks for the info....gonna take a look at it this weekend....might have to wait for some warmer weather to do a repair though. I will post what I find!

[Brian VT]

It might be possible to plug the hole in the MM box by going in from the tub side?

If so, then you would just need to pinch off the clear tubing where it leaves the pump "closet".

Actually, you might as well pinch that hose anyway.

[Mike68]

Thought about that...gonna remove cover on back rest in tub and have a look hopfully this weekend? Still waiting for some decent weather to do this....from central Alberta Canada...we just broke a record 167 days of lows below freezing ...0 Celsius been a looooong winter!!

[Mike68]

So dug into the corner and didn't have to go very far....there are three pipes plumbed into the back of mm box and it looks like freeze damage at 90 degree angle on pipe to the right side of center when looking at mm box from the back side. It's white pvc probably 2 inch. It looks like it would be the fitting that goes to the smaller blue line in mm box that attaches to the end of massager. Can a person drain tub, clean up pipe and try to glue crack? Or cut out piece and replumb??? Thanks

Edited April 13, 2018 by Mike68

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

I would recommend to cut out the cracked piece and replace with new pipe.  There may be one or two people who have had success repairing damaged pipes, but from my experience most glued cracks don't last.

Unfortunately, if one spot is freeze damaged, it's not unlikely to have more freeze damage in the tub.  Hotsprings tubs can be a real bear to work on with all that insulation.

Dave

[Mike68]

Hi Dave.....yes this tub is a bear to work on......good choice of words. The foam is super dense.Well I do think that is the only leak as I  did blow everything out with air but think I missed this one by not opening the valve and maybe should have taken back rest cover off mm box when draining to look closer at things. It is the fitting that feeds the small blue line to the main massager unit. Doing a little utube searching I came across a guy that has done pool and spa pipe repair.The crack is right on the 90 degree elbow that goes to smaller 3/4 line that goes up to air valve that controls massager.After draining tub I took off the blue hose on small nipple in mm box and attached clear hose and blew air in to determine size of crack and which air valve controlled it. I then rigged up a shop vac to this hose and created a vacuum in line by opening and closing valve on tub. Note it is the right valve....the one closest to water fall control for future readers. So with this vacuum created when valve is closedand pipe all cleaned up i proceeded to apply pvc primer and then follow with pvc glue. Instantly heard noise difference in vacuum. As instructed by video repeat 2-3 times primer....then glue while vacuum is running. You may have to open valve let a little air through vacuum to cool motor but I did let it suck for a good 5 - 10 mins to make sure glue cured good.

We'll did this on Saturday and it Tuesday morning no leaks??

I do agree with you Brian wondering if it will last?? Thinkin may drain in summer when weather is nice and cut out and replace.....we'll see. Thought it was a hell of an idea and worth sharing.

Will keep ya posted....cheers!

[declanmanning@aol.com]

Hi is there any YouTube videos or photographs on this please, I've been topping up the tub for weeks now so I need to think about fixing it. Looked inside moto-massager unit but cannot seek any cracks or leak point. Is there any way of sealing the moto-massager versus lifting tub digging out foam and trying to find the spare parts? 

Regards

Declan 

[RDspaguy]

Hi Declan. You should start a new thread. Give us some onfo about your spa and include a few pics of the equipment area.

[PatB64]

I have a Hot Springs Souvereign that I’m looking for a leak in also. I think mine is leaking out of the bottom of the filter tubes. I removed the side panel which snaps on.  How do you remove the corner panels?  It appears they are stapled.