Need Help With Leak In Hot Springs Grande

[hamholfarm]

Hello,

I have a 1999 Hot Springs Grande. I have a leak on the back side (opposite the control panel) down low. It is not the moto-massage unit itself. The leak is not up by the moto-massage unit.  But, as can be seen in the pictures, one of the tubes may be involved, I don’t know its name, but it’s the one that goes underneath the tub. Water is pouring out from around this tube where it goes under the tub. The water is coming from behind the brownish colored insulation. I need to do more digging to see what’s going on, but I have some questions.

Where does this tube go? Is this is a “known” type of leak that has happened to others – if so, please explain.

Can I flip the tub up onto the front side so the back side is in the air?

If so, will the tub stay in position by itself? Would I need to put shims under any portion of the side that will be on the ground to keep it balanced in place?

What is on the bottom of the tub – plywood?

How would I get the bottom off – are there screws, is it stapled on – any tricks to getting it off? 

Should I take the whole bottom off at once or work in pieces. By removing the bottom, and the foam, following the tube/leak, are the individual components, and the tub itself stable from breaking?

If I missed any obvious questions, please explain to me.

Thank you,

Chip

[Kev B]

 Welcome to the world of fully foamed hot tubs.... It is best to completely dig out the area around the leak and get to it from the side, not underneath unless it absolutely has no other way. Just keep digging until you absolutely identify the leak and make sure you clean the pipe really well before gluing.

[hamholfarm]

Here are some better pictures to show where the water is flowing from. At this point, it is flowing from between the foam and the tube. The leak has to be somewhere deeper under the tub. Please re-read (and try to answer) my questions from above.

 Thanks again, I really appreciate any help!

[Spatech_tuo]

You're mostly there, just dig a bit more to reveal what that part is and replace it.

[hamholfarm]

OK - I will keep digging,


thank you!

[Kev B]

 If it goes much further in, you may have to bring tub on it's side to do the repair so you can reach everything, but it is very important that you positively ID the leak before you drain it. Then you will have to break out the foam from the bottom. I don't remember if hot springs will have an abs bottom or not. If it does, they are usually stapled on and fairly easy to get off

[hamholfarm]

Kev,

Thanks for the additional info.

In fact, I was all set to drain it yesterday to prep to put in onto its side - sure glad I didn't !

Might be a couple of days before I can dig again as I just had a small medical procedure this morning. I'm going to be extremely sore for a while.

Thanks again for the help!

[hamholfarm]

I was finally able to get back at it today – and
I found the leak!

The leak is at the seam where the tygon tube goes into the plastic piece with the six sides on it (first picture). You can see in the second picture that this is from a foot well jet. In the third picture you can see how I determined the leak was at the seam. Left alone, the water was dripping further back on, off of the pvc pipe leading to the jet outlet. I felt that this was happening because the water was following the slope of the pipe. So, I held a putty knife up to the seam, and the water would drip straight down from the seam (in the pic you can’t see the water but it is dripping off of the bottom of the putty knife). I also did this while drying the piece of pvc pipe closer to the jet outlet, and it remained dry.

So, my question is – how do I repair this?

Thanks

[Kev B]

 Sorry I did not get back to you sooner. I hope you got it but if not you have two ways to go
 1- they make a tool called a ram-bit that reams out the pipe which looks like 3/4" but I am not sure
 2- get a new jet from backyardplus.com and replace the whole thing.
 Good luck

[hamholfarm]

I purchased a unit of Devcon DA291 "Plastic Welder White" to seal the interface of the two tubes. Have not put it on yet due to rain.

If it does not work, I might try the "Rambit". That is an awesome tool. I didn't know these existed.

Thanks for the lead Kev!