Winterizing a Sundance Tacoma Spa

[Amature Spa Repair Man]

I own a Sundance Tacoma Spa, a very compact triangular 3-person unit.  I have been very happy with it.  But lately it has begun to get "watchdog errors" which typically mean bad temperature sensor or flow sensor.  When that happens the heating shuts off.  I have two problems: I live in a very cold climate, and I will be traveling for a few weeks.  I don't have time to figure out the reason for the watchdog error, probably requiring ordering parts.  So I have decided to "winterize" my spa -- which means draining ALL of the water.  The issue that I'm having is that I need to remove the drain plug(s) on the pump (according to the user manual).  But, due to the compact nature of the Tacoma, the drain plug(s) seem to be nearly totally inaccessible.  I can reach my arm all the way into the cabinet of of the spa and feel what I think is a drain plug on the pump, but there's no way that I could possibly remove it, let alone put it back.  I am wondering if anyone has ever "winterized" a Sundance Tacoma spa and if so, how the heck did you deal with the drain plug?

Many thanks,

Amature 

[CanadianSpaTech]

Might be easier to back off the pump unions and suck the water out with a shop vac. I am totally against winterizing hot tubs. Recommend you fix it before travel. If you don't get all the water out and it cracks plumbing you just turned a $100 job into a $1000 job. Make sure watchdog error is not just dirty filter related. Remove them and reset power and see if it runs without them installed.