2008 Dimension One Chairman II - Leaks and jets not working

[Garasaki]

I'm looking for some advice on my Dimension One Chairman II hot tub.  I bought it used and the owner said there was a leak near the heater and was quoted 400 for repairs.

So I got it all set up, electrical turned on, fired it up to evaluate the leak.  Decided I needed to throw a new heater in, did so, no more leak at the heater.

Went through decontamination, and finally filled it with what I thought was the final file a day or two ago.

I noticed a few things at that time.  First, some of the jets did not work.  In some cases, there was no water flow, in other cases it was just drastically less then other jets.  In some cases, the inoperable jets were part of a pair of jets, other time they were single jets all on their own.

Second, the flow from the heater (circulating pump for the heater) was very bubbly.  Thought maybe this was on purpose.  After spending some time soaking, I also realized the circulating pump has 2 outlets into the tub, however the flow is very uneven, with the "bubbly" outlet getting maybe 90% of the flow.  While I was soaking, I tried plugging the "bubbly" heater outlet, and flow started coming out of the other outlet faster...however, a few seconds later I also heard some water gushing out the exterior of the spa, or so I thought.  I was never able to visually confirm this, or reproduce the sound.

That brings me to the leak.  After the final fill, which was late one evening, I opened the spa up the next day and saw that the water level had dropped a few inches.  Oh crap.  Also, the ground on one side of the hot tub was still wet.  The next day, the water level had dropped even more, to the point where the heater had shut off, and I started to investigate.

On removing the side of the tub, it was clear where the leak was located, so I started to tear in.  I have pictures below, but what I found was that there was STANDING WATER in this cavity where some of the tubing runs.  I ran out of time and daylight to investigate further, but I'd love any advice on the topic of:

Why the jets aren't working, and how to fix them

What can I expect for leaks on this particular hot tub.

Am I looking at repairs so extensive that I should just give up??

Of course, we are also getting a winter storm as we speak and the OA temps are supposed to fall into the single digits.  Wish I had discovered this last week, when it was 60 degrees out...

IMG_20151120_170446310 by John Bixler, on Flickr

IMG_20151120_170114026 by John Bixler, on Flickr

IMG_20151120_170108917 by John Bixler, on Flickr

IMG_20151120_170103767 by John Bixler, on Flickr

[hottubdan]

Looks like you have done the hard part, identifying where the leak is.  Can't help beyond that.  Good luck.

[Garasaki]

Well I started to pull the foam out and found the leak very easily.  The foam was actually holding this pipe together, as I pulled it away water began to rush out of this cracked pipe.


It's in a very difficult to access area, and some of this foam is really attached so much to the inlet/outlet piping that I can't imagine being able to fix it.  But I'd sure like to try.


Does anyone know where I could get a plumbing schematic so I can try to determine what part this is, what it really looks like, and where all the connections are?


This spot was adjacent to the filter assembly.  At first I thought it was the filter assembly, but it's actually 3 or 4 inches closer to the center of the tub and there are definitely some tubes coming in and out, but it's so tight in there it's hard to really tell where one thing begins and another ends.


IMG_20151123_185625512 copy by John Bixler, on Flickr


IMG_20151123_190209029 copy by John Bixler, on Flickr


IMG_20151123_185620435 copy by John Bixler, on Flickr


IMG_20151123_185603247_HDR copy by John Bixler, on Flickr


IMG_20151123_185557281 copy by John Bixler, on Flickr

[Vinny]

Is it hard plastic or tubing? Sorry I really can't tell.

Is it cracked or broken off? I recently fixed a leak in my tub with an epoxy putty from Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/RectorSeal-EP-200-2-oz-Epoxy-Putty-Stick-97601/100124697

If it's a crack the stuff may work. What I did was rip the foam away from the part I needed to repair, used sand paper to sand the foam off of the pipe, clean it with alcohol, let it dry then applied the putty. I made sure it was mixed really well, rolling it into a ball then as a log and I did this a s long as it took to turn it grey color. Once I put it on I waited for about an hour before testing to give it time to set up.

It may work or it may not ... it was easier for me to repair then replace.

[av8r]

Acetone should melt that foam pretty quickly.  You could try that to clean the foam away from whatever you want to repair.  Maybe put some in a spray bottle (chem-hard plastics) and clean it up like that.