Tub Troubles Redux

[TimetoChill]

Hi again all,

I had posted about 1 month ago with a "check filters and check water level" mssg scrolling across my recently purchased 2003 D1 Chairman II.  This had happened after I changed filters.  Well, I was leaving town for 9 days, so I closed it and hoped for the best.  That's just what happened!  I returned home to find that my tub had healed itself, and was working flawlessly  Everything was fine till we had a power outage earlier this week.  Now I am back to the same error mssg  So I bit the bullet this AM and called the nearby dealer who ref'd me to the old dealer who gave up the line a year or 2 back because he said that selling D1 in western PA added about $400 to the selling price due to shipping from the left coast.  Long story long, I am sched'd to have a service person come out 1st thing 8/20 AM.  
I noticed that another D1 owner had the same problem, so I will perch on the tech's shoulder and relay the cause to you all.
Btw, the service call is $75 plus $75/hour plus parts.  Is this a good, average, or highway robbery price for service?

Thanks in advance for any info y'all can provide.

Cheers,

John - TimeToChill

[loosenupspas]

the pricing is about right......reseting the persistant memory could do the trick.  if that fails, you might need a new circuit board.  circuit board is around 500 dollars plus installation.  if the performance of the tub isnt effected by the message how much is it worth to repair it?  good luck....a suggestion....never squat on a techs shoulder.....they work better left alone.....but of course you have to trust them too...tom

[TimetoChill]

Hello again all!

I do apologize for not updating you all on the solution to my hot tub problem.  The tech came out expecting that the circulation pump was the culprit and had a spare with him in that event.  What happened next blew my mind.  The tech removed the service panel and inspected the guts.  He found that the circ pump was actually working, expect for one small(ish) problem.  He removed the circ pump, and removed a HUGE hair clog which had collected at the circ pump inlet.  Using a pair of needle nose pliers, he extracted the clog, re-secured the circ pump to it's mounting and switched on the power.  She sparked right up, and I have to say, I saw more O3 pouring out of the circ pump outlet than I had ever before seen.
Total cost....$125.00
Needless to say, I will use these guys again (but won't have to for the above problem)

Hope this helps any DIY'er who comes across the symptoms I had.

Best to all

John

[txwillie]

did they say how it got there? Doesn't the suction line to the circ pump draw thru the filter?

txwillie

[TimetoChill]

It should, yes.  Here's my guess as to how it happened.  The previous owner didn't bother to put the tub in standby mode (pressing the logo button for 5+ seconds) whenever he changed the filters.  As many here know, when you remove a filter, all the muck that isn't firmly pulled into the filter kind of "swirls around" when you pull the old filter out.  I don't think he was at all aware that he was letting all that swirly matter go right down the inlet and straight to the circ pump.  The 1st owner had a lovely family complete with long haired girls.  My wife and daughter know to put their hair up when they are tubbin'.  Oh, and there is a black snap on filter retainer for each of the inlets, and both were broken causing the filters to almost float in their respective housings.  I replaced both filter retainers already, so I don't think there will be any more opportunities for this tub to accumulate another hairball.

I don't know how long that hair had been building up there, but the tub is an '03.