What is this hose?

[stygian7]

Bought a used 2014 hot springs vanguard about a year and a half ago. Overall been great; though I’m suspicious it has developed a slow leak.  Not convinced yet as it is at our mountain cabin and we have not been here for several months.  Water level seemed low this time and I noticed water on the floor of the mechanical compartment.  That being said, it was surround 2 feet of snow, so possibly melting snow got in.  I’m hoping so, but leaning toward a leak as the likely cause.  I should know next time we are up for sure.  I’ll take careful note of the water lever when we leave.

anyway, that’s not what the post is about.  I noticed this hose when I had the door open.  The right side has what looks to be a pull string running through it, just as one would leave for electrical or data conduit.  Both side have a bit of tape to presumably close off the ends, though a pretty weak attempt at doing so.  Anybody know what this hose is for?  Every thing works except the smart jet diverted valve.  I figured that valve just needs to be replaced as I’ve run into that issue on an older sovereign tub.

thanks in advance 

[castletonia]

That clear hose with pink string is either for speaker wires or for ACE saltwater.  The tape is to keep the string in place and the string is to feed wires through the tube.

[stygian7]

2 hours ago, castletonia said:

That clear hose with pink string is either for speaker wires or for ACE saltwater.  The tape is to keep the string in place and the string is to feed wires through the tube.

That makes sense.  Seems like a nice idea, but looking at the add-on cost of the speakers and then the required components to get music to the speakers, not for me.  Too many good, cheap wireless speakers out there that take care of the music aspect.

[ratchett]

14 hours ago, stygian7 said:

That makes sense.  Seems like a nice idea, but looking at the add-on cost of the speakers and then the required components to get music to the speakers, not for me.  Too many good, cheap wireless speakers out there that take care of the music aspect.

That's a smart idea - speakers used in hot tubs are what would be considered "marine grade" - they're built for installation/use on boats.  They are not built for exposure to hot water water and chlorine gases. 

The speakers are a cool feature - I enjoy them on my Hotspring Highlife Jetsetter,  but one of the drivers already failed (luckily under warranty).   My dealer also told me that the pop-up spring mechanism is known to fail on these specific speakers making them basically useless once the spring fails.     (FYI - these are the specific speakers used on Hotspring Spas - https://polyplanar.com/product/ma7020g-oval-popup-spa-speaker/ )

But in reality - speakers are generally just an expensive gimmick for most brands - an external wireless speaker is much smarter choice.  (Although I know one brand is using transducer plates to turn the shell itself into a speaker, so there is no physical speaker and voicecoil to wear out - I'd love to hear those speakers in real life)

 

On 5/28/2022 at 11:59 AM, stygian7 said:

Overall been great; though I’m suspicious it has developed a slow leak.  Not convinced yet as it is at our mountain cabin and we have not been here for several months.  Water level seemed low this time and I noticed water on the floor of the mechanical compartment

FYI for what it's worth - I'm fairly certain that generation of spas had a notorious leak on the nipple used for the drain line on the bottom of the motomassager unit - Keep an eye on those two corners of the spa where the motomassager units are located - if the foam insulation is soggy/wet or you see water in that corner of the spa, you may have a cracked drain line nipple.  Sometimes you can drain the spa and use a flashlight to spot the crack without taking apart the spa - if it is cracked there are a few options for fixing it (official OEM repair kit, DIY fix, or simply plug the drain line completely and ignore the problem haha)