sundance suntub

[burhead]

I finally got this old girl up and going. It took forever to find a pump and get everything rigged up. So I filled it up and turned on power. Everything seems fine so far. My problem is, the only oners manual I can find shows a different control setup. It shows a switch on the spa pack to swich from either continuous or time clock mode. My spa pack has no such switch, just a timer dial. My topside controls are different as well. I have a termostat type dial, a jet button (which switches high and low speeds) and a mode button. I assume the mode button controls continuous or time clock operation. when the mode button is pushed i get either a red LED or a green LED but I dont know which light is which mode. I know there is one member here that has had one of these tubs so I am hoping he knows. Anyone got any ideas? Thanks.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

That would be me :-) ........... ex gf wound up with it. Sounds like someone put in some aftermarket controls/controller. Got a picture of the spa pack and controls?

[burhead]

All the controls say suntub on them. I am thinking that maybe it is newer than 1994, which is the only one I can find an online manual for. Here are some pics.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Can you get a close-up CLEAR picture of the label on the bottom right of the box?

[burhead]

Ill get a pic tomorrow. I just got done draining it. It has a pretty good leak somewhere in it. I dont really know where to go from here as the bottom is copletely filled with foam so who knows where the leak is at.

[burhead]

here is the pic of the spa pack:


As for the leak. Anyone have much experience/ success fixing them? I did some reading on here today and think I have a pretty good plan of attack. I going to put it up on cinder blocks and fill it up and add some dye I got from the local spa place. Hopefully this will show me where it is at. I have a pretty good idea as there is a frozen spot on one portion of foam. Also the foam in this area is a much lighter density that the rest of the tub, so I am thinking that this spot has been repaired before. When I go to replace the foam, do I just use regular old expanding foam?

[Summitman]

Ill get a pic tomorrow. I just got done draining it. It has a pretty good leak somewhere in it. I dont really know where to go from here as the bottom is copletely filled with foam so who knows where the leak is at.

Leak in the foam?  hmmm you must have won the lottery!

Just kidding of course, hopefully its just a pump or heater union!

[burhead]

I cant get that lucky. I know it isn't at any of the visible fittings. I watched it while running and saw no leakage.

[SerjicalStrike]

The problem with the Suntub is that it has rigid foam on the bottom, making it very difficult to dig out.  IF you are going to attempt to repair it, I wouldn't bother testing to see where it is coming from.  More than likely it is at a glue joint.  There are not very many jets in that tub, so your best bet is to just dig out all the jets, dig out the manifold, and replace all the joints with barb fittings and a new manifold.  This way, you shouldn't have to worry about this happening again.  It will save a lot of headaches in the long run.

[burhead]

As for repiping the whole thing, Are the parts standard plumbing fittings that can be found at the hardware store or do I have to special order them? Im an electrician by trade and I despise plumbing. Is this something I should leave to a Hottub repairman. I was hoping for an easy fix but I do see the logic in your reply.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

The problem I see with this is that to replace all the old joints, you'll need to cut out, and then extend the pipes. Which adds a new additional joint for the extension to the new joint at the new manifold, to replace one old joint that wasn't leaking to begin with.

[SerjicalStrike]

The problem I see with this is that to replace all the old joints, you'll need to cut out, and then extend the pipes. Which adds a new additional joint for the extension to the new joint at the new manifold, to replace one old joint that wasn't leaking to begin with.

If done correctly, all the new joints will be rigid joints and all the hoses will be clamped onto barb fittings.  Even the manifold can be glued on using a pipe extender and a hose clamp so there would be basically 0 glue joints left to fail.  Then you won't have to ever worry about digging the tub out again.

either way though, its not going to be fun digging out that tub 

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

HA! I just "found" an original owners manual for your spa :-) A 96 SunTub. Contact me via PM with your email and I'll send you a copy. It's a pretty bad copy, that I'll probably retype at some point, but it is readable.

[wmccall]

HA! I just "found" an original owners manual for your spa :-) A 96 SunTub. Contact me via PM with your email and I'll send you a copy. It's a pretty bad copy, that I'll probably retype at some point, but it is readable.

Nice gesture, thanks.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

ahhh, but no PM yet....and I'm about 2/3's through retyping it. Only problem is the electrical schematic is SO smeared I can't completely read it to recreate it. With a little luck burhead can open the control box and snap a picture of the schematic that should be in there.

HA! I just "found" an original owners manual for your spa :-) A 96 SunTub. Contact me via PM with your email and I'll send you a copy. It's a pretty bad copy, that I'll probably retype at some point, but it is readable.

Nice gesture, thanks.