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We're considering buying a used Tiger River "Bengal" jacuzzi, and have a few questions


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We are new members, and hope we are not out of order asking questions about purchasing-- the seller (Craigslist) doesn't know the year or model, other than that it's a Tiger River brand.  The dimensions, and the appearance seem to indicate the "Bengal" model.

Questions: 

1)  Are these dependable jacuzzis, and are replacement parts easily available for them?

2)  If the exact replacement parts are not available (we think the last Bengal tubs were made in 2015), is it common to adapt different components, like the circuit boards, heaters, pumps... to Tiger River jacuzzis?

3) Finally, we noticed that there was a recall of the spa heaters associated with this company.  We wonder if this will apply to the one we are considering.

We know that last question is problematic, since we don't know the exact year, and model of the one we want to buy.  The seller seems honest, says it worked fine for him till he had to move.  Now the jacuzzi is sitting dry, and we will just have to trust that it will work after our effort driving many miles, and setting it all up.  We appreciate your advice, thank a lot, Ian and Lizzie.

p.s. We don't know if we are allowed to add images from the Craigslist add, or from the links online.  Are there limits within this forum?

Edited by Harlen
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That is a Watkins Mfg. tub and in general, Watkins makes a good tub. Parts are proprietary and only readily available from a Hot Springs dealer. Some 3rd party suppliers have them but pricing is still comparable to buying it from a Watkins dealer and they are not inexpensive. A Pre 2012 (I think that's the right date) Watkins tub uses an IQ2000 spa pack, which is discontinued. You would have to replace it with an IQ2020 if it's bad or goes bad.

The worst thing for a hot tub is to let it get dry. Seals dry out, motors seize up due to corrosion, etc. Almost every used hot tub ad states it worked fine when stored. 

Rule #1 in buying a used hot tub. See it full and running.

Rule #2 in buying a used hot tub. See rule #1.

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We have a tiger River Bengal from 1999 that we just got running again after a prolonged storage in a previous owner's driveway. It seems to be a high quality tub. Maybe we were just lucky, but so far aside from a few leaks in the flexible plastic tubing, and some broken plastic fittings, everything has been working great. One thing that people don't like about the Bengal model is that it was a plug and play tub. That means that it runs on 110 electricity, and has circuitry that keeps the heater from working when the jets are on. We changed ours over to 220 volt and had a dedicated circuit installed. Unfortunately, there's no way to test it if it does not have water in it.

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Cranbiz and Euph., Thank you both for your helpful and timely comments.  We need to make a decision soon, and the price of $1650, is less than half of what we would have to spend on a new one from Costco.  We are hoping that we'll have your luck Euph.  Cranbiz, this tub sat empty for just 1 month-- this past April.  I don't know if it was tarped or not.  Is that enough time for a tub's seal and motor to dry and corrode?  

The rest of the seller's story is that he bought it 4 years ago for twice as much, and it ran fine.

We are perhaps trusting fools, but we just might ignore your very sound advice Cranbiz.  We will let you know how it goes.  Thanks again, Ian.

p.s. the "recall" issue was only for tubs set up with the 220 volt systems.  This one is 110-- BTW, might the fact that it's 110 volt help us date it?  When was 110 first used? 

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The Bengal was made between 1997-2010.  If you can get me the serial number I can look up the year.  Cannot comment on a heater recall because this was long before I ever sold Hot Spring.  Regardless, it's the same heater whether running 110v or 220v, only difference is how much power is being supplied to the heater.  

That price could be fair, but I personally would not suggest buying anything without seeing it running and up to temperature.  Most parts should still be available, but again, without knowing the year, I cannot guarantee.  If it was a 1997-2000 Bengal, those have older style electronics that would require a complete upgrade.  There is also a decent chance that if the hot tub is 2002 or older, that heater is different than the newer ones.

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Damn! All day trying to sort this out.  Thanks for your help too Castletonia.  So the presence of the 110 volt system doesn't date it? The seller may be able to get the serial number for us.  Our biggest question now is about the difficulty , and advisability of converting this 110 to 220V?  The seller says it worked great with the 110V, my electrician friend wonders about compatibility with the rest of the components.  I realize that I am a new, and great PITA in the forum, and I am sorry for that.  I am admittedly a "techno-peasant."  So Thanks a lot.  Ian. 

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As long as the conversion is done properly, should be no issue at all.  There will be a schematic on the inside cover of the control box.  
 

by converting to 220v all you are doing is changing the amount of electricity going to the heater.  Instead of the heater being a 1.5kW on 110v it will now be a 6kW on 220v.  The pump was and will remain 110v.

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There are manuals available for all years that explain it. If yours has the IQ-2000 controller, this manual will work:

 

https://www.thespaworks.com/sites/default/files/solana_owners-manual_00.pdf

There are also schematics inside of the cover for the control unit. It's basically a matter of moving one jumper on the right side of the board, removing two jumpers where the current power cord is connected, and connecting two circuits from a sub-panel. Do you have 220 service to a subpanel near the tub? If so, you'll need a 20amp 110 GFCI breaker and a 30 amp 230 GFCI breaker, and a liquid-tight whip with four leads and ground. 

 

For me, the most expensive thing was running 75 feet of 6 AWG romex, which cost almost $500 just for the wire. The breakers are around $90 apiece and the sub panel is less than $50. The whip was somewhere around $100. 

 

I never ran it on 110, but I can feel when the heat is on at the same time as the jets pretty much any time we get in, so I know we would have been disappointed if we had tried to operate it on 110. 

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