2006 Calspas Avalon leaking like a sieve

[striider]

I have come to the realization that aside from the original 2 leaks, all of this is my fault.  It turns out I was wrong about my tub not being exposed to the sun under my care.  After tracking the sun in my backyard more closely, I see that in the afternoon, the way my tub was facing when I had it up on it's side exposed all the blistered areas to pretty much direct sunlight for a 2 week period.  Yeah I know...don't say it!  

That being said...who can fix my tub?

Thanks,
Eric

[stuart]

Ive fixed a lot of blisters in my time...You simply drill a small hole, heat it with a heat gun and roll the blister down.

The way Hillbilly explained could work however it's kind tough to do and you could break the accrylic.

I don't know that I would try it myself if I were you. I will call my guy in Denver that's done it for years for me and see if he is still at it.

[striider]

Ive fixed a lot of blisters in my time...You simply drill a small hole, heat it with a heat gun and roll the blister down.

The way Hillbilly explained could work however it's kind tough to do and you could break the accrylic.

I don't know that I would try it myself if I were you. I will call my guy in Denver that's done it for years for me and see if he is still at it.

Hi Stuart - any luck contacting your acrylic repair guy?

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Ive fixed a lot of blisters in my time...You simply drill a small hole, [glow]heat it with a heat gun [/glow]and roll the blister down.

The way Hillbilly explained could work however it's kind tough to do and you could break the accrylic.

I don't know that I would try it myself if I were you. I will call my guy in Denver that's done it for years for me and see if he is still at it.

My husband yelled at me for forgetting to add the heat gun part of the method we were taught....sorry about that!

[Chas]

Well if it was a case of full foam then here's a funny fact...The footwell has little to no foam in it or at best the least amount in the whole tub. The blisters where only in the footwell...

The footwell also has the thinnest acrylic of the entire tub - and often is a good shape for focusing the heat of the sun.

 8-)

[striider]

SO if I drill a small hole- what do I use to fill the hole?  Also, in the footwell blister, I see cracks already...are these fixable?  What bonds the acrylic back to the fiberglass underrneath if I simply heat and roll it back down?  Won't these areas become a problem again at some point?

Inquiring minds wanna know!

[stuart]

I'm not so sure you want to tackel this by yourself if you've never tried it but I'm pretty sure you don't want to inject glue and go through the vacuum process.

If you do here is all that I would do in your shoes..

1. I would drill a small hole in the edge of the bilster
2. heat the blister with a heat gun
3. get a roller and roll the blister down towards the hole
4. get an epoxy and plug the hole

I've tried to get in touch with my guy in Denver but no luck yet, he's a school teacher (that may be retired) teaching shop.

He really is the best if we can get him.

[spaman--]

Shouldn't he insert an adhesive into the hole to make the acrylic bond back to the fiberglass? 'course what do I know?

I'm not so sure you want to tackel this by yourself if you've never tried it but I'm pretty sure you don't want to inject glue and go through the vacuum process.

If you do here is all that I would do in your shoes..

1. I would drill a small hole in the edge of the bilster
2. heat the blister with a heat gun
3. get a roller and roll the blister down towards the hole
4. get an epoxy and plug the hole

I've tried to get in touch with my guy in Denver but no luck yet, he's a school teacher (that may be retired) teaching shop.

He really is the best if we can get him.

I am thinkin' Gorilla Glue.

Hey Stuart did you ever get your royalty check from Gorilla Glue?

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Pool fix filler and glue is the product we have used, glues the acrylic back to the fiberglass so it does not blister back up, but it sounds like he has many blisters cracks to deal with.

Another dealer in the area has tried spray on bedliner in the footwell of a blistered tub. So far it has worked, we are giving it time to see what the chemicals do to the bedliner. Its been 4 months and no signs of chemicals causing an issue with the bedliner yet. We will see.

[spaman--]

Pool fix filler and glue is the product we have used, glues the acrylic back to the fiberglass so it does not blister back up, but it sounds like he has many blisters cracks to deal with.

Another dealer in the area has tried spray on bedliner in the footwell of a blistered tub. So far it has worked, we are giving it time to see what the chemicals do to the bedliner. Its been 4 months and no signs of chemicals causing an issue with the bedliner yet. We will see.

You have just revealed the secret to the next Super Dooper custom fallsaprt III. I would expect charges to be braught.

[stuart]

You can buy Acrylic repair kits from the internet or even Ace Hardware...that is the glue to use.

You probably won't be able to match color yourself but you can get the blister out and seal the hole.

Again, I strongly advise you to hire a pro and by no means should you heat the blister and then put a vacuum to it yourself. You could wind up with an even bigger problem.

[striider]

Howdy folks.  I have recently decided to tackle this project, as the weather really makes me miss having a working hot tub.  I also realized that I have a friend that has spent years repairing acrylic tubs, but not hot tubs specifically.  I am going to order some acrylic repair from multi-tech, since I have one bubble that has a crack in it in the foot well.   We are still debating whether to try to deflate the bubbles I have by drilling a hole and heating to lay them down, or not messing with the uncracked ones at all and hoping they never crack or leak.  Any ideas?

[stuart]

Howdy folks.  I have recently decided to tackle this project, as the weather really makes me miss having a working hot tub.  I also realized that I have a friend that has spent years repairing acrylic tubs, but not hot tubs specifically.  I am going to order some acrylic repair from multi-tech, since I have one bubble that has a crack in it in the foot well.   We are still debating whether to try to deflate the bubbles I have by drilling a hole and heating to lay them down, or not messing with the uncracked ones at all and hoping they never crack or leak.  Any ideas?

Once you grind those blisters out your in it for the long haul. If it were my tub I would heat them and roll them down with a dowel knowing that if they came back or got worse I could always takle the grinding steps later.

[Chas]

As an option - and I'm not saying this is the BEST option, but it will add to your choices - you can simply remove the blistered area from the Acrylic sheet.

I have done this on older tubs which had other cosmetic issues, or in rental properties or other situations where the look of the tub was not the major issue compared to the function of the tub.

Simply cut out the blister with a sharp utility knife or hobby knife, and then carefully sand down the edges. If the 'glass behind the blister is rough (common) then you have the choice of sanding it smooth or filling it. If you sand, be aware that you can end up sanding the area around the blister, which will dull the finish unless you sand it down again with wet-dry paper going step by step up to about 1200 grit and then buffing it out to get back the gloss. A lot of work, and it will all be next to an ugly area anyway.

So I have just cut out the blister, sanded down any sharp edges left by the cutting, and then filled it with a thin layer of Bondo. Use a squeegee to apply the bondo in a smooth layer so you don't have to sand IT later, or cover it with a sheet of plastic which you can peel just before the Bondo completely sets up. It is not a big deal if you have to do minor sanding on the Bondo later, but it is pretty hard stuff once it sets up.

Don't misunderstand: it looks bad this way. If you are doing a lot of blisters and if you can keep the Bondo inside the round circles left by the blisters it may look like it was supposed to be there, but most likely it will look odd. Keep in mind it will be under water, it will allow you to get back in the tub, AND you have a smooth surface to walk on, the edges of the blister are sealed, and it should not come up again.

 8-)

[striider]

I assume you use fiberglass based bondo and not the talc based stuff?  Also, are you putting a coat of sealer/acrylic over it when done?  I have pretty much decided to see if I can live with the blisters and just repair the one that cracked for the time being.