What was I thinking?

[CraigSA]

Good morning, all!

I have been given an old Beechport spa, and am getting ready to try installing it. The shell holds water just fine. I have an 8 X 10 concrete slab where I had planned to place it and build an enclosure around the shell. I was hoping to have all the equipment within the enclosure, but some of this stuff seems really big!

The label on the water pump says it is a swimming pool pump, 50 amp, Magnetek 1.5 hp, 120/240. The filter housing is more than 24" tall and about 8 inches in diameter. Is this normal? It seems like it truly is big enough for a swimming pool, and made me wonder if it was appropriate for a spa....same for the pump---huge! I was expecting more like 3/4 hp.

The heater is a Raytek, 48 amp, manufactured in May of 1988.

The air blower seems to be what I would suppose is normal size for a spa. Also, there is something I was told is called a "dryer." It looks kinda like another blower, but has a pvc pipe attached that goes straight up about 3 feet and then does a 180 back down to 3 or 4 inches below the "blower" and I have no idea about its purpose.

Also, I am wondering if anything needs to go between the footwell and the concrete?

Hope I don't regret getting into all this---any and all advice greatly appreciated---many thanks!

Craig

[Chas]

I doubt your pump is 50 amp - a one and a half horse pump should draw about 5 amps on 220 volts, so I'm guessing there is or was a decimal point there.

The 'dryer' is a way to assure that the water does not backflow into the blower.

Over the years, I have removed more blowers than I have replaced or repaired.  They are not that much fun after a while - noisy, tend to cool the water, raise a cloud of sanitizer to exactly eye level where it is easier to breath in...

I would pay a good repair man to come out and give it a look. Take careful notes. You may save many times the fee in the long run.

 8-) 8-)

[Spalady]

This is just a shell, not in a surround? You can not just set a shell on concrete without support. It has been years since we installed in-ground units, but when we did we put the shell in a hole, backfilled it around the benches for support. Or built a frame to support the shell at the seats/footwell.

I am sure there are some on this forum that still do custom installs that will chime in, but honestly I sometimes think things that are free are worth what we paid for them! You might have to put more $$ and time into this than just trying to find a good previously owned portable unit. (A heater from 1988, electric on a spa with no insulation.. not a good combo. IMO )