Not sure what to do.......going away for months

[teach]

I'm am alittle concerned about what to do when I go south for 4 or 5 months during the winter. Live in PA. gets cold in the winter.  I have the opportunity to go south for 4 or 5 months this winter but not sure what to do about my hot tub.  Don't really have anyone in the neighborhood I could trust to look after it.  Question:  Do I drain it and try to winterize it myself and possibly risk freezing damage due to my incompetency in trying to get water out of every jet and line etc. or turn down the heater some, dump a bunch of dichlor in it, and deal with the crap water when I return and hope for the best. Got directions on winterization, but was told that it is not that great to do because of gaskets, seal and O-rings may dry out and leak when I refill.  Never have done winterization before and concerned about doing it correctly. The hot tub has Iodine crystle cartiridge and ozone.  I only add MPS as a sanitizer when I use it.  Anyone out there have any advise or personal experience with a situation similar to mine.  Is it difficult to winterize and not suffer damage from sitting dry?  Does it hurt anythng to blow out lines with air compresser?  Was told to use wet vaccum to suck water out.  Wouldn't blowing air through all the jets and lines work better?   Confused at what is best to do.     Thanks 

[D.P. Roberts]

Well, if you factor in what you'll pay in electricity to keep it running through the winter for 4-5 months, you could probably pay your dealer or a respected hot tub repairman to winterize it for you, and then replace any seals that dry out.

[Pathfinder]

You are best to winterize your tub.  An air compressor wont do much to clear the lines. A shopvac of at least 4hp will do the job. Drain your tub then take your shop vac  and disconnect  the lines from your pump if you have enough room use the vac feature on each of the lines.  Then hop in the using the blow feature put it on each of the jets starting from the top of the seat working your way to the bottom turning off each jet as you go down. After you do that go back to the bigger piping and suck the rest of the trapped water out. Be sure to drain your pumps. For your O-rings on your connections go to your local pool or spa store and get a tube of Jacks Lube made by Hayward you can put some on the O-rings and tighten the connections back up. If you feel you want extra protection you can use Plumbing anitfreeze to put in the piping. But it will take you a couple dumps and drains to fully get it out of the system in the spring depending on how much you use.