How much damage?

[Zep]

Ya know by now I have just come to expect all kinds of surprises, flakes,
disasters, and nightmares when it comes to contractors doing work at my
house.

It seems not showing up, being real late, last minute cancellations,
mistakes, not having the right part or doing damage to unrelated
stuff happens about 1/2 the time.

But what happened to me yesterday has to rank right up
there near the top as far as being "flukey".  

This week I am getting hardwood floors put in my den and living room.

Last night I get home after work & I am limited to my master bedroom
because they sanded, scraped, and gave my new wood floors a first coat
of stain.

So after I turn my TV off  @ 10:30PM and am laying in bed about to fall
asleep I hear a faint funny humming noise coming from my backyard.

I get out of bed to go look..…it’s dark…...I open the back door…and OMG….
my hot tub is running! ….And it’s been drained for the last couple of days
for a drain and scrub down of the shell

So the hot tub is running with no water in it!....Heaters? Motors?

So I run to my fuse box……of course the fuse box door is ajar as if someone
had opened it earlier…..and low and behold someone had flipped the switch
that turns the hot tub on.

So I figure sometime during the day yesterday the Mexican guy sanding my
floor with a big industrial sander must have tripped a circuit breaker…..
he probably found my breaker box and just started looking for anything in
the “OFF” position and flipped them all back on.

Except one of the ones in the “OFF” position was my hot tub. When he
flipped that to “ON” it would turn my hot tub back on with no water in it.

The hot tub probably ran for hours with no water in it…..could have burned
out a motor, heating element, ect....?

Life is just full of surprises….uh?....LOL

Spatech t.u.o. and others can you tell me what am I most likely
looking at as far as damage?  

[Mr._Bubbles]

Now that's just bullsh@t!  

[Chas]

The heater should have a high-limit switch which hopefully protected it. The pump may be another matter. It would depend upon how much water was trapped in the plumbing and the pump itself.

I would fill the tub and turn it on right away. Run it to temperature, and check all the pumps for leaking at the seals.

I would also get in the habit of marking the breakers or buy a lockout kit for your type of box so this can't happen again.





HTH

 8-)

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

As chas said, they damage most likly would be to the pumps. I would also fill it right away, check the wet end for leaks, listen to the pump(s), is it any louder? Bearings may have got hot. I am actually surprised the pumps running without water did not trip the breaker by going into thermal overload....maybe its a good sign.

[Spatech_tuo]

It would depend upon how much water was trapped in the plumbing and the pump itself.

Whether there was much water left in the pumps and how long the pumps were running is important. Fill it up, leave the front panels off to look for leaks. Then fire up the pumps.

[Tyheethan]

Please keep us updated.  This is a terrible scenario--nightmarish.

[Zep]

Thanks spatech and others. I did get word from my flooring company that they would cover "any and all repair costs". I have the conversation on tape since we tape all our calls at work. And they seem like nice fair people anyway. Chas you are right I do need to better protect my cutoff for my spa and make it "idiot-proof". I am leaving town and will not be able to fill until I return, but I will let you know how the story ends. Again, thanks to all for the feedback.

In about 24 I am heading up to Colorado and this hot tub!

[wmccall]

Floor refinishing is another job Americans don't want to do?    

[Zep]

re: "Floor refinishing is another job Americans don't want to do?"

yeah but they would if there was nobody willing to do it for $6 an hour
but wmccall don't get me started on illegal immigration
you know you dont like political warfare in here! --->LOL

ps: they are not finished yet...but my floors are looking pretty awesome thus far.

[mjb]

Nice view from that vintage Sundance Spa !

[Vinny]

The heater should have a high-limit switch which hopefully protected it. The pump may be another matter. It would depend upon how much water was trapped in the plumbing and the pump itself.

I would fill the tub and turn it on right away. Run it to temperature, and check all the pumps for leaking at the seals.

I would also get in the habit of marking the breakers or buy a lockout kit for your type of box so this can't happen again.





HTH

 8-)

It's funny, I'm lockout/tagout trained and I would have never thought that I would use it at home ... learn something new everyday.

Isn't there a disconnect around the spa? This is where I would have disconnected the electricity - only because it's convienient. And that has a tab to lockout!

[Vinny]

re: "Floor refinishing is another job Americans don't want to do?"

yeah but they would if there was nobody willing to do it for $6 an hour
but wmccall don't get me started on illegal immigration
you know you dont like political warfare in here! --->LOL

ps: they are not finished yet...but my floors are looking pretty awesome thus far.

There's a reason why illegal immigration is going on - there's a whole economy that's run because of them.

You'd be surprised what kind of services illegal's perform ... maybe even repairing hot tubs!

[East_TX_Spa]

[Zep]

"Isn't there a disconnect around the spa? This is where I would have disconnected the electricity - only because it's convienient. And that has a tab to lockout!"

Yes....there is.
And believe me I have learned my lesson.
I live alone, no kids, no wife, no dogs, no cats.
And normally no one is ever at my house when I'm not there.
So I got in the habit of just going to the breaker box and flipping the switch to off.
Plus remember normally the tub has water in it.....360 days a year.
This was a fluke...I wasn't there and the tub didnt have water in it.
But I now will always pull the disconnect and that would keep the fluke from happening.

Thanks again to all for the advice and feedback.

[Zep]

"There's a reason why illegal immigration is going on - there's a whole
economy that's run because of them"[/b]

Oh I know there is "a reason".....thats a given.

I just do not agree that mass chaotic illegal immigration and
uncontrolled borders are a net plus for our country and the
future of our culture.