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Marlig Fix a Leak Procedure?


mscdman

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I’m going to attempt to use this product for a possible small slow leak. However the instructions suck. 
 

I have a 215 gallon tub so I’m guessing I’ll use 4-6oz in the skimmer. 
 

the challenge is circulating it.   Marlig says I need to run the HIGH pumps for 8 hours straight.  Can that be right?  First off, my pumps only run at 15 min increments. So am I supposed to go out there 32 times for this?

can I not out in the product on a fresh cold fill as just let it work during the 8 hours the water is already circulating and heating at low speed and maybe 1 per hour run at high for 8 hours?

also the instructions seem to say to **** off the system after the 8 hours for 24-48 hours.  How is that going to work?   If I shut off the system then the power is gone and the tub will cool off and could freeze etc.   do they mean just don’t use it for 24-48 hours but it’s ok for normal filter schedules and heating etc?

 

help!

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Two weeks ago I added leak seal to my 32-year-old spa, hadn't added any in a couple of years.  Yes, did seal the leak.  I have not been able to locate my leak, don't know if its in the plumbing or the shell, but the side with the leak is like 10" from my house, so no access, plus insulation is expandable foam type.

I likely used a competitors' product, right now I'm in underwear so not going outside now to check on the brand name.  I would imagine same product/formula sold under a different name.

So here's what I did, about 350 gallon spa:

I removed the filter cartridge.

I added about 4 oz. leak seal product while water was at about 100F - 104F (use temperature), added to the spa water as mine doesn't have a skimmer.  I ran with the jets on for a few hours, that's higher water pressure than just in "pump" mode and would recirculate the leak seal throughout.  Then I turned the jets off and set the timer to pump (lower pressure) overnight.

After 1.5 to 2 days I re-installed the filter cartridge.  Leak fixed; might have to repeat in a year.

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22 hours ago, mscdman said:

Thanks cusser. So you actually ran your jets at high for several Hours?  Or was this just recirculate?

Yes, I ran the jets (my jets are one speed only) for a couple of hours.  Then I ran on recirculate overnight, then returned it to its typical "few hours per day" operation.  Within 2 days the leak was stopped, and the ground dry.

I need to do this periodically, like maybe every 2 years due to my leak.

Without this leak seal stuff, my spa would've been in the trash years ago, or I would've tried to jack it on its side to find/fix leak, which likely would've cracked/ruined it anyway.

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3 minutes ago, Cusser said:

Without this leak seal stuff, my spa would've been in the trash years ago, or I would've tried to jack it on its side to find/fix leak, which likely would've cracked/ruined it anyway.

You don't have to yell...and put some pants on...lol

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hah! Very good.

I'm doing the same procedure today prior to a water change. I had imagined this stuff as dense blue globs that would quickly settle out, but it seems this stuff (light-straw colored thick liquid) just dispersed immediately in the water stream. Came back after the pumps stopped (20 min) and the water is just a hint cloudy and can't see anything falling out on the floor or skimmer bottom. Is this normal? I'm planning on draining in ~2 days, but I was assuming it would also be easy to just vacuum off the bottom (winter fix without draining). No complaints though if that's how it works as I was expecting some messing around to make sure the stuff got sucked up by the intakes over and over again.

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11 minutes ago, turbulentwaters said:

Hah! Very good.

I'm doing the same procedure today prior to a water change. I had imagined this stuff as dense blue globs that would quickly settle out, but it seems this stuff (light-straw colored thick liquid) just dispersed immediately in the water stream. Came back after the pumps stopped (20 min) and the water is just a hint cloudy and can't see anything falling out on the floor or skimmer bottom. Is this normal? I'm planning on draining in ~2 days, but I was assuming it would also be easy to just vacuum off the bottom (winter fix without draining). No complaints though if that's how it works as I was expecting some messing around to make sure the stuff got sucked up by the intakes over and over again.

I’m also curious about the answer to your questions and I am doing mine next week.   However I have a comment for you I got directly from Marlig.   They advised me NOT to do this right prior to a refill but rather as part of the new fill.  They stated that if you are using the product and then are draining it it should sit empty for 2 weeks to allow the product to cure prior to refill. I didn’t want to do this so instead as part of the new refill I will add it.    
 

 

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Just got back from the tub after forgetting to restart the jets for about an hour and I did actually now see a lot of the product had fallen out as a gel-like sediment, so that's good to know. Stirred up easily by just the jets.

@mscdman, thanks for sharing. I did read in their instructions that I should let the tub sit for a while to allow curing upon draining (mostly pertaining to waterlogged foam-insulated tubs I interpreted), on top of the 48h hold after application. I really don't want to wait a couple weeks though as I've become addicted to bathing. I may try using the shop vac in reverse to gently blow out all the jet plumbing and hopefully hasten the curing while it's empty.

How can you put this stuff in at startup? It would certainly be picked up by the filter element and leak-stop that!

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40 minutes ago, turbulentwaters said:

Just got back from the tub after forgetting to restart the jets for about an hour and I did actually now see a lot of the product had fallen out as a gel-like sediment, so that's good to know. Stirred up easily by just the jets.

@mscdman, thanks for sharing. I did read in their instructions that I should let the tub sit for a while to allow curing upon draining (mostly pertaining to waterlogged foam-insulated tubs I interpreted), on top of the 48h hold after application. I really don't want to wait a couple weeks though as I've become addicted to bathing. I may try using the shop vac in reverse to gently blow out all the jet plumbing and hopefully hasten the curing while it's empty.

How can you put this stuff in at startup? It would certainly be picked up by the filter element and leak-stop that!

I will remove the filter during start up

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2 minutes ago, mscdman said:

I will remove the filter during start up

Also curious.  What is this 48 hour hold?   Are they expecting the tub power is totally turned off for 48 hours after the procedure??? Or can I just keep the power on after the product has completed circulation but not use the tub?  There is no way to totally turn off the recirculation

Lastly...how do you remove the leftover product after the procedure?

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On their website (http://www.fixaleak.com/hot-tubs-spas): "Recirculate continuously for 6-8 hours then shut system off...Allow 48 hours before resuming operation". Just turn off circuit breaker. I also already turned off the heater as a precaution, but I'm not sure if that is an issue. I'm assuming that this hold time allows some curing to take place, although their talk about foam-insulated tubs being waterlogged and inhibiting curing contradicts the usefulness of that. Maybe the curing happens when exposed to air on the outside of the leak (water evaporates from drips and the silicate salts form silica gel that binds the cellulose), but not likely if waterlogged foam is on the other side, which is likely why they recommend leave sitting if drained. Doesn't say draining/sitting is required though for foam.

I'm just going to try @Cusser's method first. My leak is a few gallons a week right now and I have no idea where from, but seems worse when jets are used a lot. It's freeze damage for sure and I've fixed proper all leaks in the equipment bay already. It sat drained (but not winterized) through a whole winter before I got it. Cross my fingers!

I think it will be easy to just hose the stuff down the drain, or just let it get collected by filter element if not based on how easily it is resuspended.

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10 minutes ago, turbulentwaters said:

On their website (http://www.fixaleak.com/hot-tubs-spas): "Recirculate continuously for 6-8 hours then shut system off...Allow 48 hours before resuming operation". Just turn off circuit breaker. I also already turned off the heater as a precaution, but I'm not sure if that is an issue. I'm assuming that this hold time allows some curing to take place, although their talk about foam-insulated tubs being waterlogged and inhibiting curing contradicts the usefulness of that. Maybe the curing happens when exposed to air on the outside of the leak (water evaporates from drips and the silicate salts form silica gel that binds the cellulose), but not likely if waterlogged foam is on the other side, which is likely why they recommend leave sitting if drained. Doesn't say draining/sitting is required though for foam.

I'm just going to try @Cusser's method first. My leak is a few gallons a week right now and I have no idea where from, but seems worse when jets are used a lot. It's freeze damage for sure and I've fixed proper all leaks in the equipment bay already. It sat drained (but not winterized) through a whole winter before I got it. Cross my fingers!

I think it will be easy to just hose the stuff down the drain, or just let it get collected by filter element if not based on how easily it is resuspended.

Turning off the breaker isn’t a smart idea for me as it would allow for potential of pipes freezing (it’s still freezing at night). 
 

what’s cussers method?

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18 hours ago, turbulentwaters said:

I'm just going to try @Cusser's method first. My leak is a few gallons a week right now and I have no idea where from, but seems worse when jets are used a lot. It's freeze damage for sure and I've fixed proper all leaks in the equipment bay already. It sat drained (but not winterized) through a whole winter before I got it. Cross my fingers!

I think it will be easy to just hose the stuff down the drain, or just let it get collected by filter element if not based on how easily it is resuspended.

"What's Cusser's method"

I followed the instructions on my bottle of Leak Seal (from a competitor of Marlig) detailed in Post #2 of this thread, and copied below  And still leak-free.

So here's what I did, about 350 gallon spa:

I removed the filter cartridge.

I added about 4 oz. leak seal product while water was at about 100F - 104F (my use temperature), added to the spa water as mine doesn't have a skimmer.  I ran with the jets on for a few hours, that's higher water pressure than just in "pump" mode and would recirculate the leak seal throughout.  Then I turned the jets off and set the timer to pump (lower pressure) overnight.

After 1.5 to 2 days I re-installed the filter cartridge.  Leak fixed; might have to repeat in a year.

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1 hour ago, Cusser said:

"What's Cusser's method"

I followed the instructions on my bottle of Leak Seal (from a competitor of Marlig) detailed in Post #2 of this thread, and copied below  And still leak-free.

So here's what I did, about 350 gallon spa:

I removed the filter cartridge.

I added about 4 oz. leak seal product while water was at about 100F - 104F (my use temperature), added to the spa water as mine doesn't have a skimmer.  I ran with the jets on for a few hours, that's higher water pressure than just in "pump" mode and would recirculate the leak seal throughout.  Then I turned the jets off and set the timer to pump (lower pressure) overnight.

After 1.5 to 2 days I re-installed the filter cartridge.  Leak fixed; might have to repeat in a year.

How did you wind up “removing” the leftover product?  Did the filter just catch it and you then promptly removed and cleaned it?

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On 4/27/2021 at 7:50 AM, Cusser said:

"What's Cusser's method"

I followed the instructions on my bottle of Leak Seal (from a competitor of Marlig) detailed in Post #2 of this thread, and copied below  And still leak-free.

So here's what I did, about 350 gallon spa:

I removed the filter cartridge.

I added about 4 oz. leak seal product while water was at about 100F - 104F (my use temperature), added to the spa water as mine doesn't have a skimmer.  I ran with the jets on for a few hours, that's higher water pressure than just in "pump" mode and would recirculate the leak seal throughout.  Then I turned the jets off and set the timer to pump (lower pressure) overnight.

After 1.5 to 2 days I re-installed the filter cartridge.  Leak fixed; might have to repeat in a year.

@Cusser did you shut off your tub after the procedure for 48hs?  Also, did you have to clean your filter out soon after it filtered out the remaining stop leak?

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So attempting this now and crossing my fingers.  Still unclear on a few things:

1) added 4oz of product to 215 gallon tub as I think I may have an Uber small leak. 
 

2) going out every 15 minutes for next 4-6 hours to keep jets on high

3) after that I’ll keep it on low circulation overnight  

QUESTION TIME

do I just immeadiately drain and wait 3-5 days?  Or turn off power for 48 hours then drain and wait 3-5?

 

 

 

 

 

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15 hours ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

I think it starts with a couple of bottles of Strawberry Wine, a half dozen cupcakes and some birthday candles...lol

I think that resulted in my children....

 

16 hours ago, mscdman said:

@Cusser did you shut off your tub after the procedure for 48hs?  Also, did you have to clean your filter out soon after it filtered out the remaining stop leak?

No, I did NOT shut off the spa for 48 hours.  I ran the spa as I described earlier, then just switched it to the always on/"no freeze"/thermostat control of 104F so it actually runs like 1.5 hours a day.  In a couple of weeks I'll set the thermostat way lower and put on the timer function, as we don't add heat to the spa in the Arizona summer.  When the kids were little, we used the spa as our backyard swimming pool in summer, just didn't heat; there were times we had to leave the cover off overnight to cool the water, as just the Arizona heat would take the spa water over 100F.

No, I did not clean out the filter after the treatment.  But I did clean it while the filter was out of the system for the first part of the treatment.

 

 

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