1996 Sundance Spas Calypso 2 inherited from home purchase - worth rebuilding? Or scrap it?

[island]

Hey there! I'm new to the forum and I hope I'm posting in the right place. We have a 1996 Sundance Spas Calypso 2 hot tub in our back yard that is in need of some work and TLC. It seems to hold water just fine, but when I send power to it the breaker trips after a few seconds (likely the heating coil? not sure). Looks like the pumps are old too, and may need to be serviced if not replaced. From what I can tell the tub itself is super sturdy still. It seems to have been kept with water on it and a cover over it (needs a new cover though for sure). A couple panels are falling off the sides and one or two of those may need to be replaced too. And I'm not sure of the state of the insulation or how that holds up over time, or if more can be blown in, etc.

Do any of you folks think I could put $1000-$2000 into this thing and get it back to life and running reasonably efficiently for another 10 years or so? Or do you think the chances of that are pretty low?

 

Thanks for your help!!

[RDspaguy]

95-97 Sundance spas leak at the small pipe glue fittings at each jet and the manifolds under the diverter valve(s) and possibly buried in the foam under the seats near the footwell. And the ozone/heat return jets. I replumbed so many I had a $2500 flat rate for it 15 years ago. The leaks are small but many, and will destroy the frame.

You will not be able to rebuild it for $2k even without leaks to deal with, unless you are VERY lucky. I personally would not bother, as it's resale value up and running is less than you will likely spend to fix it. 

[contact634]

 water in it?  are you in an area where it could have frozen?

if so not worth it

if your handy and like to tinker  you can trouble shoot for little cost  and decide once you diagnose the problem(s)

 

for the tripping breaker  open up the tub panel (power OFF)  disconnect the heater wires cap them  take a pic so you remember where they go  turn breaker back on if no trip its a heater  if it still trips  disconnect pumps/ozone one at a time until no more trip

 

once you can get it to run  you will see what works and if it leaks and at this point only have time into it

[island]

18 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

95-97 Sundance spas leak at the small pipe glue fittings at each jet and the manifolds under the diverter valve(s) and possibly buried in the foam under the seats near the footwell. And the ozone/heat return jets. I replumbed so many I had a $2500 flat rate for it 15 years ago. The leaks are small but many, and will destroy the frame.

You will not be able to rebuild it for $2k even without leaks to deal with, unless you are VERY lucky. I personally would not bother, as it's resale value up and running is less than you will likely spend to fix it. 

Thanks for this - huge bummer haha. I'm guessing these spots aren't really accessible to be sealed unless I pull all the insulation out of the thing and tip it on its side or something eh? Sounds like a virtually impossible fix.

It doesn't seem to leak water though, with nothing running. It holds water for months on end, with no dripping underneath that I can see.

[island]

12 hours ago, contact634 said:

 water in it?  are you in an area where it could have frozen?

if so not worth it

if your handy and like to tinker  you can trouble shoot for little cost  and decide once you diagnose the problem(s)

 

for the tripping breaker  open up the tub panel (power OFF)  disconnect the heater wires cap them  take a pic so you remember where they go  turn breaker back on if no trip its a heater  if it still trips  disconnect pumps/ozone one at a time until no more trip

 

once you can get it to run  you will see what works and if it leaks and at this point only have time into it

Thanks for the response! I'm in Victoria BC Canada. It's possible it froze, but it didn't freeze during our most recent cold snap while we were here, and as far as I can tell it doesn't leak really at all when it's sitting with the power off. It has held water for months without any visible leaking underneath that I can find.

 

I'll follow your advice on disconnecting components one by one to try to figure out which parts are working and which are not. Thanks for the advice!

[RDspaguy]

The leaks are very slow and the foam soaks it up, holding the moisture against the wood frame. It will leak more under pressure (pump running), and may not leak at all with the pumps off. The manifolds are easy to get to, except the 4-port for the footwell jets if yours has them, but the valve and manifolds must be replaced, and every jet must be cut and have a coupler and reducer (or barb) installed to fix. And the filter hook has a pipe in it as well that will also leak.

I have replumbed around 100 of them, and am quite confident yours will leak as well. You can remove the side panel by the diverter valve and check for discolored foam and paper wrap at the manifolds to verify. They glue directly into the valve. 

Sundance said they got a bad batch of glue, but I suspect shrinking spray foam stressing the glue joints by pulling on the pipes. You will see the spray foam indented from the sides, where it was originally flat against the side panel. The paper was to keep it from sticking to the side panels.

It was so common that they make a fitting just for this, but I always used 3/4" couplings and widened them a bit with a dremel tool.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.myspapartsstore.com/parts/sundance-spa-parts/sundance-spa-jets/sundance-spa-jet-bodies-and-parts/sundance-spa-12-inch-jetback-hose-adapter-repair-fitting&ved=2ahUKEwiZmO3M7_DyAhWmaDABHfD8AcoQFnoECAgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0qgyxkTfp-sclM_NbRf-k8

[island]

2 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

The leaks are very slow and the foam soaks it up, holding the moisture against the wood frame. It will leak more under pressure (pump running), and may not leak at all with the pumps off. The manifolds are easy to get to, except the 4-port for the footwell jets if yours has them, but the valve and manifolds must be replaced, and every jet must be cut and have a coupler and reducer (or barb) installed to fix. And the filter hook has a pipe in it as well that will also leak.

I have replumbed around 100 of them, and am quite confident yours will leak as well. You can remove the side panel by the diverter valve and check for discolored foam and paper wrap at the manifolds to verify. They glue directly into the valve. 

Sundance said they got a bad batch of glue, but I suspect shrinking spray foam stressing the glue joints by pulling on the pipes. You will see the spray foam indented from the sides, where it was originally flat against the side panel. The paper was to keep it from sticking to the side panels.

It was so common that they make a fitting just for this, but I always used 3/4" couplings and widened them a bit with a dremel tool.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.myspapartsstore.com/parts/sundance-spa-parts/sundance-spa-jets/sundance-spa-jet-bodies-and-parts/sundance-spa-12-inch-jetback-hose-adapter-repair-fitting&ved=2ahUKEwiZmO3M7_DyAhWmaDABHfD8AcoQFnoECAgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0qgyxkTfp-sclM_NbRf-k8

Thanks - I guess my best bet is to look for my realtor's email offering to haul it away and accept that offer maybe. Too bad!